International Journal on Criminology Volume 4, Number 2, Winter 2016 | Page 108

International Journal on Criminology
strategic activity by the majority of organizations questioned. We explain this by the
fact that the movement to institutionalize security management in France is in fact still
developing.
Conclusion
We intend to continue this research to determine more precisely the outlines of a
profession which is still emerging. Yet in order to continue down this road we needed
to begin by demonstrating the fact that this new profession does indeed exist within
organizations in France. We believe we have shown that security is now seen as a real
function in the service of the organization. It is less and less conflated with safety, and
more and more institutionalized for its own sake. The professional literature sheds
a clear light on the difficulty security management has in finding its place within
the organization. Although necessary and increasingly allocated a place, it is not yet
really part of the functions recognized as central in companies. Some of the results of
our study relating to the hierarchical positioning of security management show that
it is the strictly hierarchical positioning of security management that often underpins
the institutionalization of the function. This entry route into the organization obliges
us to examine the perceived legitimacy of this profession within companies. Being
imposed from above, will security management not have difficulty being accepted
as a full constituent part of the organization? If we add to this the hybrid nature of
the function, situated halfway between the economic interests of companies and the
preservation of the economic interests of the nation, we are justified in thinking that
there will have to be a lengthy process of integration before the function ceases to be
seen as in any way an alien body in the organization.
Beyond the concrete reality of security management in the large companies,
we must now examine the place of private organizations in the provision of public
security. Political sciences and above all Law have already considered this question
very regularly. Besides its regulatory aspects, this contribution from companies to the
joint provision of public security must however be managed and it will no doubt be of
interest for management sciences to get to grips with the subject.
References
Berlière, J.-M., and R. Levy. 2013. Histoire des polices en France, De l’ancien régime
à nos jours. Paris: nouveau monde éditions.
Chandler, A. 1988. La main visible des managers. Paris: Economica.
Czinkota, M., G. Knight, P. Liesch, and J. Steen. 2010. “Terrorism and International
Business: A Research Agenda.” Journal of International Business Studies 41 (5):
826–843.
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