The Public Sector Environment

Abstract

This book is about risk management in the public sector, in general, and particularly risk management in public sector organisations. Risk management in the public sector is a much broader topic than risk management in public sector organisations because it touches on many issues of a public nature that are not the direct or sole responsibility of any specific public organisation. Sometimes a public organisation must deal directly with such risks, but often laws and regulations can adequately address broader public risk issues, governments can participate indirectly and behind the scenes, or participation can be in collaboration with private and non-profit organisations. In some cases, government organisations play no role at all.

This chapter focusses on an important contextual issue; the environment in which risk management is practised in the public sector and in which public risks arise. In much of this book, the unique or unusual attributes of the public sector are shown to profoundly affect risk and the forms and functions of risk management. This chapter introduces some of these attributes and highlights their likely impact on risk management. The public environment is one with movable boundaries, and it essentially encompasses any action or object that a society considers public. Over time, attitudes can change about publicness, but a key point is that while government entities occupy part of the public environment, they are not its only inhabitants.

Citation

Young, P.C. (2022), "The Public Sector Environment", Young, P.C., Grima, S. and Dalli Gonzi, R. (Ed.) Public Sector Leadership in Assessing and Addressing Risk (Emerald Studies in Finance, Insurance, and Risk Management), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 25-42. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-946-120221004