Mastering Catastrophic Risk: How Companies Are Coping with Disruption

Successful firms strategically manage and are more accurate in their assessment of large-scale risks. Mastering Catastrophic Risk provides practical insights into how companies are responding to this new reality and develops a framework for smarter thinking about events that can damage a business.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 24 February 2021
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

A comprehensive and insightful examination of how business leaders prepare for and respond to shocks and crises that pose a threat to their operations. Successful companies proactively manage and exhibit greater accuracy in assessing significant risks, a task that becomes increasingly challenging in the face of rapid change across various domains such as finance, technology, regulation, and the environment. In their book, Mastering Catastrophic Risk, Howard Kunreuther and Michael Useem, esteemed experts in risk management, strategy, and company leadership, offer practical insights into how large corporations are adapting to this new reality. They guide us on a groundbreaking exploration of the decision-making processes of firms, highlighting how enhancing readiness and resilience against future shocks has become an essential component of corporate strategy. Through the DISRUPT model they have developed, they identify the seven primary Drivers of disruption: Interdependencies amplify exposure; Short-term focus limits vision; Regulations necessitate change and constrain opportunities; Urbanization elevates the costs of disasters; Probabilities of disasters have risen; and Transparency has heightened public awareness of problems and their impact on firms' reputations. This revised paperback edition includes a new preface to address emerging or intensified threats to businesses in the past two years, encompassing existential threats like the coronavirus, self-inflicted calamities like the Wells Fargo customer account scandal, and natural disasters like the West Coast wildfires and hurricanes along the Atlantic coast. While some disruptions can be anticipated, others emerge unexpectedly, exerting significant stress on decision-makers, disrupting company operations, and potentially posing significant risks.

Weight: 388g
Dimension: 177 x 365 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197549131