An investigation into the mechanisms, barriers, degree and sphere of risk influence in corporate security

This study investigates the sphere of corporate security risk influence within organisations, addressing the conceptual and practical ambiguity surrounding the activity’s capacity to shape organisational decisions, behaviours, and risk priorities. While corporate security’s protective role is widely recognised, its broader organisational risk influence remains under-theorised. The study defines the sphere of risk influence as the range of organisational stakeholders and environments with which the corporate security activity interacts, and within which it may engage, persuade, and mobilise action. This sphere is analytically constituted through the intersection of three dimensions: the mechanisms through which influence is attempted, the barriers that constrain those efforts, and the degree to which influence is observable in practice. A three-phase qualitative design was employed: Phase One consisted of a framework analysis of security literature to identify the task-based mechanisms of influence; in Phase Two, embedded case studies of security failures were examined to surface structural, cultural, and organisational barriers; Phase Three involved engagement with expert focus groups to interpret how influence is perceived and enacted in practice. The findings reveal that corporate security’s risk influence is highly contingent and uneven, with limited integration into strategic risk governance. Risk influence tends to be activated in compliance-driven or crisis conditions but is rarely embedded as a consistent capability. To interpret these dynamics, the study introduces a diagnostic model that maps the interaction of mechanisms, barriers, and degree across organisational settings, supported by a four-sphere typology of corporate security risk influence. The thesis offers a grounded conceptual framework that clarifies where and under what conditions corporate security can exert risk influence – thereby contributing to the professionalisation of corporate security and informing its strategic integration within organisational resilience and governance systems.