Chapter 6: Risk and Crisis Management

Unfortunate and largely unexpected events will occur in the life of any organisation. Globalisation and the associated increase in more complex communications and employee movement, along with changing social values have, however, created a context for an increase in the likelihood of unforeseen events. In response, risk and crisis management are now a common part of business strategy and implementation.

Financial risk management has been a long standing organisational priority. The Global Financial Crisis (GFC), however, increased sensitivity to financial risk exposure in the first decade of the twenty-first century. The second decade has been additionally characterised by increasing political instability that has had an impact on business continuity. The decision by the United Kingdom to leave the European Community, commonly referred to as Brexit, for example, has highlighted sensitivity to uncertainty (Hopkin, 2018).