PhD Defence: Francesco Oliviero Caccioni
In order to obtain the PhD degree, Francesco Oliviero Caccioni has submitted his thesis entitled:
Collective Action in Crisis: Search and Rescue Operations in the Central Mediterranean Sea
This dissertation examines how collective action emerges, evolves, and sometimes erodes in creeping crises through a multi-level study of search and rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean Sea. Drawing on extensive archival data and field research conducted in Lampedusa and Agrigento, I investigate collective action across three complementary levels. The first study introduces the concept of authority work, revealing how professional responders establish coordination with spontaneous volunteers during rescue operations. The second demonstrates how specific characteristics of wickedness create persistent barriers to frame convergence despite recognized urgency. The third develops the construct of role attrition to explain how corporate roles transform through interaction between operational demands and institutional expectations. Together, these studies advance theory by showing how collective action in creeping crises emerges through operational coordination, changes meaning through framing contests, and transforms as organizations adapt their roles over time.
The thesis will be available from research.cbs.dk
Primary Supervisor:
Associate Professor Jasper Hotho
Department of Management, Society and Communication
Copenhagen Business School
Secondary Supervisors:
Associate Professor Verena Girschik
Department of Management, Society and Communication
Copenhagen Business School
Assessment Committee:
Associate Professor Julie Uldam (Chair)
Department of Management, Society and Communication
Copenhagen Business School
Prof Dr. Arno Kourula
Strategy and International Business
University of Amsterdam (UvA)
Associate Professor Derin Kent
Organisation and Work Group
Warwick Business School - University of Warwick
Date: 11 June 2025
Time: 13:30-15:30
Online: TEAMS
*Please note that the microphone and camera of all spectators must be turned off.
Location: Dalgas Have
Room: DH.Ø.0.89
Reception: Faculty Club (ground floor next to canteen)
*The CBS PhD School will host a reception, which will take place immediately after the defence.