The Treachery of Strategic Decisions
The treachery of strategic decisions. An Actor-Network Theory perspective on the strategic decisions that produce new trains in the UK. Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Michael John King. May 2021 Abstract The production of new passenger trains can be characterised as a strategic decision, followed by a manufacturing stage. Typically, competing proposals are developed and refined, often over several years, until one emerges as the winner. The winning proposition will be manufactured and delivered into service some years later to carry passengers for 30 years or more. However, there is a problem: evidence shows UK passenger trains getting heavier over time. Heavy trains increase fuel consumption and emissions, increase track damage and maintenance costs, and these impacts could last for the train’s life and beyond. To address global challenges, like climate change, strategic decisions that produce outcomes like this need to be understood and improved. To understand this phenomenon, I apply Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to Strategic Decision-Making. Using ANT, sometimes described as the sociology of translation, I theorise that different propositions of trains are articulated until one, typically, is selected as the winner to be translated and become a realised train. In this translation process I focus upon the development and articulation of propositions up to the point where a winner is selected. I propose that this occurs within a valuable ‘place’ that I describe as a ‘decision-laboratory’ – a site of active development where various actors can interact, experiment, model, measure, and speculate about the desired new trains.
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