The paradoxes of externalization strategy in a safety critical industry.

• Main Authors: Masson, Léna, Brabet, Julienne
• Other Authors: Institut de Recherche en Gestion (IRG), Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée (UPEM)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: subcontracting; safety critical organization; control-based management; joint regulation; discussion spaces; IRG_AXE1; [SHS.GESTION]Humanities and Social Sciences/Business administration; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01765294; https://hal.science/hal-01765294/document; https://hal.science/hal-01765294/file/EURAM2018%20-%20MASSON%26BRABET.pdf

International audience How is the outsourcing of maintenance activities managed in the safety critical industries? What are the kind of difficulties created in this context and how can they be overcome? These are the questions we will try to answer in this article. We have built on an existing body of literature concerning safety critical industries, subcontracting, and joint regulation methods. We have had the opportunity to conduct in-depth empirical research inside the headquarters and the industrial plants of a large energy company. We analyze the ways in which safety imposes strong top-down procedures, while the local laws forbid direct management by the energy company of the subcontractors' employees; we observed some discrepancies between the official rules and the realities of field work that a more systematic investment in developing joint regulation may allow to minimize.