Outsmarting Risks in Public and Private Organizations

Health crises, geopolitical issues, cyberattacks, the Great Resignation...

Risks are more present than ever and come in various forms that companies try to control and interpret to avoid bankruptcy. However, the methods and techniques used so far, have proven to be quite ineffective. How can risks be identified? Which frameworks should be followed? How can they be assessed? Who should be in charge of risk management? What importance should this discipline hold within companies?

By focusing on five key misconceptions, this book explores these common methodologies, highlighting their limitations and providing real leads so that all risk and crisis professionals, as well as organizations and their ecosystems, can truly thwart risks. Risk management has gradually become integrated into corporate management, but in an era of uncertainty and unpredictability, only a shared risk culture will be able to meet this strategic challenge.

Raphaël De Vittoris is Associate Professor of Strategy, Organization, Crisis and Risk Management at Clermont School of Business (France), and researcher at the Clermont Research-Management (CLERMA), specializing in geopolitics and behavioral analysis in crisis contexts. With over a decade of research, he focuses on decision-making under uncertainty, organizational resilience, and risk anticipation, emphasizing cognitive biases and group dynamics in critical situations. His PhD in Management Sciences, under Prof. Sophie Cros, dealt with crisis cell management performance at Michelin Group, shaping his work on sensemaking and decision-making quality. His research, published in academic journals and his three books, explores the intersections of crisis management, resilience, and antifragility, with a focus on the psycho-cognitive aspects of decision-making under uncertainty. Alongside his academic career, he has held key corporate roles, including Group Risk & Crisis Director at Symbio (2023–2025) and Group Crisis Management Director at Michelin (2015–2023). These hands-on experiences inform his reflections on bridging theory and practice, and the importance of contextual adaptation in risk and crisis management. His recent work emphasizes pedagogical innovation (serious games, simulations) and personality traits analysis in crisis teams.

Sophie Cros is Professor of Management Sciences specializing in Public Management at the Sorbonne School of Management at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, and a researcher at the PRISM-Sorbonne. For over thirty years, her research has focused on global risk assessment and crisis management. She has authored seven books and more than 150 academic publications on risk diagnostics and crisis management tools. She serves on the Board of Directors of the International Association for Public Management and on the editorial boards of Gestion et Management Public and the Korean Journal of Policy Studies. Her current work explores decision-making, risk perception, and the anticipation of the unlikely, particularly in the areas of environment, security, defense, and public education. She views risk as a dual concept combining both opportunities and vulnerabilities, and argues that decision-makers’ responses to risk depend on their individual perceptions and representations. She emphasizes understanding context and stakeholders before applying risk management tools and is the originator of the concept of “senselistening.” As a professor of Management, she collaborates closely with managers across various industries, bridging academic insights with practical applications.