Management of Extreme Situations

25Expeditions as a Legitimate Object in Management Sciences

25.1. Introduction

In recent years, there has been growing interest in the study of expeditions in management sciences (Aubry and Lièvre 2011). Several research groups are working on this issue. For example, the work of the Centre de recherche clermontois en gestion et management sur les expéditions polaires (Université Clermont Auvergne and Groupe ESC Clermont), the ESG-UQAM chair for project management, which focuses on expeditions in general and the Swedish research group on extreme environments, and Triple.ED from the École de gestion et d’économie at the Université d’UMEA, which carries out work on commercial expeditions to Everest, to name a few.

This goes hand in hand with the growing popularity of this type of activity. Previously carried out on a voluntary basis and considered the pinnacle of national pride, expeditions have become the tourism industry’s new windfall. Among other things, mountain expeditions are a sector of the tourism industry with social, political, economic and environmental impacts (Roberts 2011). For example, in 2012, the adventure industry, in which mountain expeditions constitute a large part, was estimated at around US$263 billion worldwide (ATTA 2010). This has contributed to the emergence of a financial ecosystem involving governments, manufacturers, insurance companies, organizers and the media whose – interdependence is increasingly complex.

The reasoning of researchers who decide ...