Risky Strategy ─ Understanding Risk to Improve Strategic Decisions

What is risk? Is it danger or opportunity? Can it be managed or is it something to be embraced and tried?

When companies are developing their business strategies, risk is often mentioned in passing (and frequently misunderstood), but is rarely seen as a core part of the strategic decision-making process. This can lead to unforeseen complications, as strategy is all about making decisions that concern an uncertain future, and therefore risk should play a significant role in this process.

The handling or understanding of risk is often delegated to specialists and much of what is written about risk is, due to its complexity, inaccessible to the majority of senior managers involved in making strategic decisions. This book aims to make the consideration of risk more accessible and understandable to those managers and, in doing so, develop a common language and understanding for talking about it.

The book is based on research carried out by Ashridge Business School, as well as live case studies of the strategic decision-making process in action, which really brings the subject to life.

By drawing on key elements of both strategy and risk, this book will outline how an understanding of risk can play a critical part in decision-making and offer long-term and profitable gain to organisations.

Jamie MacAlister is a member of the faculty at Ashridge Business School, and is an experienced commercial manager, strategist, facilitator and executive coach. He specialises in risk in strategy and commercial management.

Jamie has been a coach and facilitator of management teams for nearly 20 years. Previously he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers and has held senior management roles with Procter & Gamble, Comco and RM Education.