Public agencies and environmental risk : Organizing knowledge in a democratic context

Purpose – To derive from the environmental risk and knowledge management literatures a model that integrates organizational form, democratic vision and epistemological needs of public agencies responsible for addressing environmental risks. To analyze the knowledge management practices of the United States Department of Energy (USDOE) that is responsible for cleaning up landscapes contaminated by 50 years of plutonium production. Design/methodology/approach – The model was used as a framework for a case study analysis of the USDOE knowledge management practices. Findings – Conceptual: a vision of democracy and an understanding of the type of knowledge process can facilitate organizational constancy. Organizational forms should be matched to knowledge process and democratic vision. Empirical: USDOE has behaved erratically in addressing environmental risks viewed through this model of knowledge management. Research limitations/implications – The model idealizes democratic visions, epistemological processes and organizational forms. Care should be taken in making predictions for the success or failure of an organizational approach based solely on this model. Practical implications – Practically, the model aids scholars in making connections between knowledge management and public sector environmental risk management literatures; and provides managers with a systematic framework for relating democratic context knowledge production processes to particular organization forms. Use of this model particularly during agency restructuring may facilitate resolving environmental risks though improving organizational legitimacy, constancy, and knowledge generation capacity. Originality/value – This is a first attempt at integrating two related but so‐far disconnected literatures (environmental risk management and knowledge management).