Resistance and power in a security certification scheme: the case of c:cure

Silva, Leiser, Hsu, Carol, Backhouse, James and McDonnell, Aidan (2016) Resistance and power in a security certification scheme: the case of c:cure. Decision Support Systems, 92. pp. 68-78. ISSN 0167-9236

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Abstract

Using the lens of Clegg's circuits of power (CoP) framework, this study examines the resistance to a UK information security certification scheme through three episodes of power that led to its withdrawal in 2000. The UK authorities sought to generate market competition between a generic certificate scheme with lower costs and international recognition and one based on technical rigor, but they failed in their objectives because of resistance from organizational players. This paper makes contributions to the understanding of the discursive nature of resistance to change in the research of standards and certification, and contributes to the literature by formulating the concept of discourse resilience: the property of discourses to resist change. It identifies the non-agentic nature of resistance in the absence of coercive power and presents a reflection on legitimacy as a required attribute for the acceptance of a certificate scheme. The research finds that what organizations deem to be legitimate is the result of power.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.journals.elsevier.com/decision-support-...
Additional Information:	© 2016 Elsevier
Divisions:	Management
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD61 Risk Management Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Computer software
Date Deposited:	24 Nov 2016 12:03
Last Modified:	07 Jan 2024 21:09
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/68348

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