Global Risk Agility and Decision Making

In Global Risk Agility and Decision Making, Daniel Wagner and Dante Disparte, two leading authorities in global risk management, make a compelling case for the need to bring traditional approaches to risk management and decision making into the twenty-first century. Based on their own deep and multi-faceted experience in risk management across numerous firms in dozens of countries, the authors call for a greater sense of urgency from corporate boards, decision makers, line managers, policymakers, and risk practitioners to address and resolve the plethora of challenges facing today’s private and public sector organizations.

Set against the era of manmade risk, where transnational terrorism, cyber risk, and climate change are making traditional risk models increasingly obsolete, they argue that remaining passively on the side-lines of the global economy is dangerous, and that understanding and actively engaging the world is central to achieving risk agility. Theirdefinition of risk agility taps into the survival and risk-taking instincts of the entrepreneur while establishing an organizational imperative focused on collective survival.

The agile risk manager is part sociologist, anthropologist, psychologist, and quant. Risk agility implies not treating risk as a cost of doing business, but as a catalyst for growth. Wagner and Disparte bring the concept of risk agility to life through a series of case studies that cut across industries, countries and the public and private sectors. The rich, real-world examples underscore how once mighty organizations can be brought to their knees—and even their demise by simple miscalculations or a failure to just do the right thing. The reader is offered deep insights into specific risk domains that are shaping our world, including terrorism, cyber risk, climate change, and economic resource nationalism, as well as a frame of reference from which to think about risk management and decision making in ourincreasingly complicated world.

This easily digestible book will shed new light on the often complex discipline of risk management. Readers will learn how risk management is being transformed from a business prevention function to a values-based framework for thriving in increasingly perilous times. From tackling governance structures and the tone at the top to advocating for greater transparency and adherence to value systems, this book will establish a new generation of risk leader, with clarion voices calling for greater risk agility. The rise of agile decision makers coincides with greater resilience and responsiveness in the era of manmade risk.

Daniel Wagner is CEO of Country Risk Solutions—a cross-border risk advisory firm based in Connecticut (USA). Daniel has been a cross-border risk management professional in the private and public sectors since 1988, having worked for (among others) AIG, GE, the Asian Development Bank, and World Bank Group. He is considered an authority on country risk analysis. Having published more than 500 articles on risk management and current affairs, Daniel is a regular contributor to The National Interest, South China Morning Post, and Huffington Post, and many others. He holds master’s degrees in International Relations from the University of Chicago and in International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in Phoenix. Daniel received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Richmond College in London. His two previous books were Political Risk Insurance Guide and Managing Country Risk. He has traveled in more than 80 countries around the world.

Dante Disparte is an entrepreneur, business leader, and global risk expert. He is the founder of CEO of Risk Cooperative, an innovative strategy and risk advisory firm based in Washington, DC. Dante serves on the board of the American Security Project, where he chairs the Business Council. He is a frequent speaker and commentator on business and political issues shaping the world. From entrepreneurship, where he was invited by the White House to speak at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Kenya, to risk, economic competitiveness, and security issues, Dante’s wide ranging views are regularly featured in leading publications. A graduate of Harvard Business School, where he chairs the DC alumni association and sits on the global alumni board, Dante also holds an MSc in Risk Management from the NYU Stern School of Business and a BA in International and Intercultural Studies from Goucher College. He is fluent in six languages and has conducted business all over the world.