The Failure of Risk Management: Why Its Broken and How to Fix It - Hardcover

Hubbard, Douglas W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470387955 ISBN 13: 9780470387955

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2009

Synopsis

An essential guide to the calibrated risk analysis approach

The Failure of Risk Management takes a close look at misused and misapplied basic analysis methods and shows how some of the most popular "risk management" methods are no better than astrology! Using examples from the 2008 credit crisis, natural disasters, outsourcing to China, engineering disasters, and more, Hubbard reveals critical flaws in risk management methods–and shows how all of these problems can be fixed. The solutions involve combinations of scientifically proven and frequently used methods from nuclear power, exploratory oil, and other areas of business and government. Finally, Hubbard explains how new forms of collaboration across all industries and government can improve risk management in every field.

Douglas W. Hubbard (Glen Ellyn, IL) is the inventor of Applied Information Economics (AIE) and the author of Wiley's How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business (978-0-470-11012-6), the #1 bestseller in business math on Amazon. He has applied innovative risk assessment and risk management methods in government and corporations since 1994.

"Doug Hubbard, a recognized expert among experts in the field of risk management, covers the entire spectrum of risk management in this invaluable guide. There are specific value-added take aways in each chapter that are sure to enrich all readers including IT, business management, students, and academics alike"
—Peter Julian, former chief-information officer of the New York Metro Transit Authority. President of Alliance Group consulting

"In his trademark style, Doug asks the tough questions on risk management. A must-read not only for analysts, but also for the executive who is making critical business decisions."
—Jim Franklin, VP Enterprise Performance Management and General Manager, Crystal Ball Global Business Unit, Oracle Corporation.

About this title

From the Back Cover

The Failure of Risk Management explains which risk analysis methods work, which don't, and how to tell the difference. The Failure of Risk Management discusses topics relevant to the management of any risk including: Financial Risks, Natural Disasters, Industrial Accidents, Product Safety, Technology Risks, Project Failures, Engineering Disasters, Pandemic Viruses, Computer Security, Fraud, Loss of Reputation, Litigation

Companion Web site www.howtofixriskmgt.com

YOUR BIGGEST RISK IS THAT YOUR RISK MANAGEMENT METHODS PROBABLY DON'T WORK.

THE FAILURE OF RISK MANAGEMENT

"Doug Hubbard, a recognized expert among experts in the field of risk management, covers the entire spectrum of risk management in this invaluable guide. There are specific value-added take aways in each chapter that are sure to enrich all readers including IT, business management, students, and academic alike."
—Peter Julian, former chief information officer of the New York Metro Transit Authority, President of The Alliance Group Consulting

"In his, trademark style, Doug asks the tough questions on risk management. A must-read not only for analysts, but also for the executive who is making critical business decisions."
—Jim Franklin, VP Enterprise Performance Management and General Manager, Crystal Ball Global Business Unit, Oracle Corporation

"Doug Hubbard's book should be required reading for managers and practitioners responsible for mitigating risk. If corporations and government are to regain the public trust, effective and broad-based risk management must be as natural as breathing."
—Ron Miller, FEMA CIO 2001-2002; former senior advisor, White House Homeland Security Transition Planning Office; Chairman, TeamRonMiller.com

"A seminal and timely book. The Failure of Risk Management challenges conventional wisdom and provides priceless support to decision makers navigating their company in these turbulent times."
—Dr. John F.A. Spangenberg, CEO, SeaQuation (an ING spin-off)

"Doug Hubbard really knows his stuff. He is not just an author who has learned enough about a current popular topic to write a book, but instead is a talented consultant in this area, who has learned how to write, and write well. He displays a deep real-world understanding that ranges from mathematics to everyday human behavior, a trait that is all too rare in this age of specialization."
—Prof. Sam Savage, Fellow, Judge Business School, Cambridge University; Consulting Professor, Stanford University School of Engineering

From the Inside Flap

The 2008 credit crisis, terrorism, Katrina, computer hackers, and air travel disasters all have something in common-the methods used to assess and manage these risks are fundamentally flawed. If risks cannot be properly evaluated, risk management itself becomes the biggest risk. The Failure of Risk Management shows you how to identify and fix these hidden problems in risk management.

Ineffective risk management methods, often touted as "best practices," are passed from company to company like a bad virus with a long incubation period: there are no early indicators of ill effects until it's too late and catastrophe strikes. Exploring why risk management fails—the failure to measure and validate methods as a whole or in part; the use of components known not to work; and not using components that are known to work—The Failure of Risk Management shows you how to measure the performance of risk management in a meaningful way, identify where risk management is broken, and fix it.

Respected expert and bestselling author Douglas Hubbard-creator of the critically praised Applied Information Economics (AIE)—uses real-world examples to reveal the serious problems in our current approaches to risk analysis. Hubbard skillfully illustrates how to use a calibrated risk analyses approach, and the many benefits that go along with it, along with checklists and practice examples to get you started.

One of the first resources to apply risk management across all industries, The Failure of Risk Management provides you with the tools you need to hit the ground running with radically better risk management solutions.

Here, you'll discover:

• The diversity of approaches to assess and mitigate risks
• Why many influential methods-both qualitative and quantitative don't work
• Why we shouldn't always trust assessments based on "experience" alone
• The fallacies that stop you from adopting better risk management methods
• How those who develop models of risks justify (in error) excluding the biggest risks
• Adding empirical science to risk management

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0470387955
• ISBN 13: 9780470387955
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 281