Management Control, Regulation and Investment Uncertainty in the UK Electricity Generation Market

Thus far, this book has directed significant attention towards issues of uncertainty, management control and controls; however, to understand their true complexity, these matters benefit from further examination in the context of real business practices. This chapter will draw on issues discussed elsewhere in this book and explore their relevance within the UK electricity generation industry. Issues, such as the human reaction to uncertainty, as discussed in Chapter 6, and how it can be addressed by reducing exposure to it and attempting to benefit from it will be addressed in this chapter. Chapter 10 introduced issues relating to how controls are often introduced when new external regulations emerge within the industry, and this is discussed further by exploring how companies can reject new controls by choosing not to comply and/or by holding back investment. Chapter 11, meanwhile, calls for more research into the practice of strategic decision-making in its sociopolitical, organizational context and how this influences how managers assess the likely risks to a project before approving them; this chapter will examine how in the electricity generation industry it was not risks per se that led to the holding back of approval but rather uncertainties, leading to a push for consultation on a new public policy.