Table Of ContentALEX MURDOCK
PRIVATE ACTION FOR
PUBLIC PURPOSE
Examining the Growth of Falck,
the World’s Largest Rescue Company
Private Action for Public Purpose
Alex Murdock
Private Action for
Public Purpose
Examining the Growth of Falck, the
World’s Largest Rescue Company
Alex Murdock
School of Business
London South Bank University
London, UK
ISBN 978-1-349-95213-7 ISBN 978-1-349-95214-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-349-95214-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017937724
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Preface
Aim of Book
The book has two linked objectives.
The first is to examine, using the example of Falck, the provision by a
private company for key public services. These are largely in the setting
of Emergency and Rescue services which constitute the majority of the
company's activity. However, the book also examines the wider range of
the company's activity and aspects such as governance. Also, the book
examines the internationalisation of the company. Four detailed case
studies were developed for the book.
The second objective is to examine aspects of Emergency and Rescue
provision and in particular, the issues around reliability and risk for
such organisations. Innovation and culture are also explored in the con-
text of Emergency and Rescue services.
vii
viii Preface
The Book’s Background and a Brief Comment
about Denmark
This book originally had its inspiration over 30 years ago when the
author had occasion to visit and work in Denmark. This work was
focused on aspects of the Danish Education system where he was asked
to undertake an analysis of reforms involving new ‘short cycle’ pro-
grammes in business vocational education where the tertiary business
colleges (the equivalent of community colleges in the USA or Further
Education colleges in the UK) had been accorded a significant role.
The author commented at the time that he had limited knowledge of
Denmark and an even more limited knowledge of Danish. The senior
civil servant commissioning the work responded ‘that also is an advan-
tage’. The outside perspective was what was being sought as opposed to
using one of the many well-qualified Danish business academics.
The relevance of this anecdote for this book is that even after some
30 years of acquaintance with Denmark which includes being mar-
ried to a Dane and having lived and worked in Denmark, the author is
conscious that he is still, to a significant extent, an outsider. His knowl-
edge of the language is limited though the amount he possesses prob-
ably places him in a rare category of non-Scandinavian academic who
has some acquaintance with both the Danish language and customs.
He probably has some appreciation of Hygge (a familiar word trans-
lated imperfectly as ‘cosiness’) together with the tradition of the ‘second
thank you’ of which few foreigners seem to have any awareness.1 The
perspective of an outsider is useful for this book which is focused on
a Danish company, which in Denmark is generally very well-known.
However, despite its presence worldwide, Falck is less well-known out-
side Scandinavia. This book will hopefully help to address this.
The image of Denmark is of an open and liberal country with a high
standard of living and a high level of equality and strong (and moral)
values. This in the opinion of the author is largely well-founded but
it should not be taken as representing Denmark as utopia. There are
always criticisms of any society and Danes would certainly accept this.
Preface ix
An openness to dialogue is part of the culture of Denmark. This open-
ness was essential in the research for this book, and the assistance of
key people is duly acknowledged at the end of this preface. However,
any errors of fact or expression of opinion are the responsibility of the
author (and the contributors listed for various chapters).
Reasons for This Book
The area of Emergency Response and Rescue services is not well served
by current academic texts especially from a business perspective. Falck,
a Danish company, is the largest global private provider of Emergency
and Rescue services in the world. It is not as publicly well-known in
respect of its global reach as an equivalent in another sector or prod-
ucts or services (for example, Ford in cars or Microsoft in Information
Technology). The services which Falck provides (in Emergency
Response and Rescue) are perhaps of a different nature. But Falck has
extended its reach to 44 countries and six continents, and the company
has largely stayed close to the values of its founder set out in 1906.
The subject is well covered in terms of other media with a range of
television offerings about the work of rescue services. There is also a
considerable amount of literature which provides accounts of the his-
tory and exploits the well-known rescue services (such as the Royal
National Lifeboat Institution). There is also a rich literature which cov-
ers the actual vocational and professional skills required in Emergency
and Rescue services (especially with regard to aspects such a paramedics
and fire responders).
The nature of such services is that they tend to be seen in the pub-
lic space (both funded and delivered by public employees) and also are
usually nationally or locally based in that the service is provided within
the boundaries of a country or political entity. There is not a tradition
of private provision in this sector which reaches across national bound-
aries as you may find in other industrial sectors such as Information
Technology or business services.
x Preface
The Focus
The book examines key themes in the emergence of Falck, the worlds’
largest global rescue company. The themes are approached from a struc-
tured academic perspective informed through close cooperation with
the company. The analysis is especially relevant to all organisations
involved in emergency response and disaster or crisis management.
This sort of provision is common to all countries, and Falck is unique
in respect of the number of countries in which it works in this area of
service delivery. The book represents the first independent account of
Falck published in English. The book draws not just on documentary
sources but also involved interviews with members of the Falck family
and senior managers and current and former CEOs of the company.
The four case studies were all prepared following country and site visits
and interviews with key staff.
As the book will engage in themes relating to areas such as interna-
tionalisation, public sector contracting, growth through merger and
diversification and quality and performance management, it will have
relevance to a wide range of organisations in both the private and public
domain. It will serve to span across public, private and not-for-profit
sectors as Falck has both taken legal forms and engaged in activity
which has taken it across these sectors.
Thus, the book will operate well to support a range of programmes in
Business and Management. In particular, it is intended for programmes
which may encompass
• International and strategic management
• Analysis of organisational culture
• The interaction between the public and private/not-for-profit sectors
especially around provision of core services and contracting
• The evolution of companies through different governance structures
and both through growth and diversification
• Analysis of decision-making especially in terms of risk, collaboration
and merger
Preface xi
The book has brought in the expertise of contributors to the vari-
ous chapters and in particular researchers who have been involved in
Emergency and Rescue services and organisational culture and public
policy. This is described in more detail in brief accounts of the different
chapters.
Brief Outline of Book
Chapter 1 of the book examines the emergence of Falck. This chapter
draws on corporate history and direct accounts from key company and
family sources. It covers the development and evolution of the company
during its family ownership, and also draws on the literature relating to
family firms. This chapter was written with the invaluable assistance of
Frederik Madsen of Falck.
Chapter 2, by Dr. Anton Bradburn, explores the nature of reliability
and risk and its applicability to Emergency and Rescue organisations.
This chapter utilises academic literature on highly reliable organisations
and takes a general approach using sources from the UK but with some
reference to Falck. There is also an initial examination of the extent to
which there is a universal culture which is applicable to all rescue organ-
isations.
Chapter 3 draws on the doctoral work of Christiane Stelling who is
the chapter author. It examines in particular the concept of trust and in
this regard is based on the extension of the work of Falck into ‘return to
work’ of people who have been on long-term sick absence contracts in
Denmark. This chapter gives an account of issues which emerged with
these contracts, which illustrate attitudes towards private delivery in the
public domain.
Chapter 4, written jointly with Prof. Stephen Barber, examines inno-
vation in the rescue and emergency context. It draws on innovation lit-
erature and suggests that such literature has been significantly product
based. Innovation in rescue and emergency services is seen as having a
social aspect, and an approach to assess social innovation is utilised with
examples to identify and describe innovation in Falck.
