Leading Organizations in Hazardous Times: The Social Dynamics of Risk

Does your organization have the capacity to respond to risk it has not anticipated or prepared for? Is its approach to risk explicit and understood by employees? Does it have a robust risk culture? Do employees take responsibility for managing risk? If your response to these questions is guarded or uncertain, this book will have value for you and your organization.

Organizations and leaders in a widening risk environment face four realities which challenge their ability to manage risk: (1) the two-dimensional nature of risk--risk itself and behavior in response to risk, (2) the diversity of attitudes and behavior in relationship to risk, (3) the influence on behavior of cognitive, psychological and contextual factors that are part of social dynamics and (4) the compounding effect of social dynamics that make risk difficult to manage. These realities add up to a conundrum: The challenge for organizations and leaders lies not in risk itself but in social dynamics that shape behavior in response to risk.

Whether triggered by an internal problem or external event, risk management failures often result from a lack of understanding of causative factors and behavior in response to risk. Effective leaders make risk a core part of their agenda. They put people at the center of strategy and face challenges head-on that impact their organizations’ ability to manage risk. Among the challenges are:

◾ the toll on organizational resources of a growing array of risk factors

◾ risk ＂blind spots＂ in the organization warranting attention

◾ cultural weaknesses and vulnerabilities elevating exposure to risk

◾ employee disengagement from risk and responsibility for managing it,

◾ variation in attitudes and behavior that make risk difficult to detect and mitigate,

◾ turning risk into advantage by envisioning it as an opportunity or strength in contrast to a threat or weakness.

Leading Organizations in Hazardous Times: The Social Dynamics of Risk builds capability in risk management by enhancing leader understanding ofrisk behavior and factors contributing to risk culture. It encourages leadersto invest in continuous learning to navigate asymmetries of attitude andbehavior, managing, and leadership style that underlie organizational successand failure.

Richard Alfred is Emeritus Professor of Higher Education at the University of Michigan. Prior to joining the graduate faculty at Michigan in 1980, he served as an executive officer in the City University of New York and the Metropolitan Community Colleges in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the author of numerous books among them Catastrophic Risk: Business Strategy for Managing Turbulence in a World at Risk (2021), Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders: Context, Challenges and Capabilities (2015), Performance: The Dynamic of Results in Postsecondary Organizations (2012), and an award-winning book on organizational strategy, Managing the Big Picture in Colleges and Universities: From Tactics to Strategy (2006). Over the course of a 50-year career in academe, he has consulted with hundreds of organizations in the areas of strategy, organizational effectiveness and performance, and management and leadership. Foresight into the future--a hallmark of his books and written works--has shaped management and leadership practice in colleges and universities throughout North America.
Dick holds a bachelor of arts degree from Allegheny College and master’s and doctoral degrees from Penn State University. He and his wife Pat reside in Ocean Park, Maine.

Kathryn Thirolf is Collegiate Associate Professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus where she works with thought leaders throughout North America in preparing student-centered and equity-minded community college leaders. She has twenty years of experience in helping organizations perform more effectively through service as a consultant at Accenture, a University Management Fellow at Harvard University, Chief of Staff at Washtenaw Community College, and Vice President for Instruction at Jackson College.
Kate is co-editor of the Futures Series on Community Colleges published by Rowman & Littlefield and co-author of Performance: The Dynamic of Results in Postsecondary Organizations. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, her master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and her doctorate from the University of Michigan.