Risky business.(Operational Risk Management: A Case Study Approach to Effective Planning and Response)(Book review)

Operational Risk Management: A Case Study Approach to Effective Planning and Response

By mark D. Abrowitz

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

2008, 278 pages, $50

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Risk assessment is an important responsibility for the governmental manager. Preparing for multiple contingencies can be an intimidating task--particularly in these uncertain times. Operational Risk Management: A Case Study Approach to Effective Planning and Response identities risk factors that governments may face and offers solutions to these challenges through individual case studies.

Abkowitz prefaces the case studies comprising this book with a discussion of why disasters happen. In answer to this question, he organizes disasters into three categories: 1) accidents that result from some human action or inaction; 2) terrorist acts that are purposefully destructive; and 3) natural disasters that are mostly the result of weather or earthquakes. The inevitable human tragedy that results from these three types of disasters is invariably aggravated by certain risk factors that are often overlooked or ignored, ultimately compromising the safety of citizens and often worsening already-desperate conditions.