Beyond Bad Apples
Risk Culture in Business

Argues that risk culture is driven by institutional forces – not “bad apples,” as prevailing opinion holds.

Michelle Tuveson (Edited by), Daniel Ralph (Edited by), Kern Alexander (Edited by)

9781108466882, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 May 2020

275 pages
22.7 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.44 kg

'This book presents excellent insight and analysis into the rationales and needs for any organization to develop a positive risk culture. And it succinctly explains and addresses the complexities associated with evolving marketplaces, and the need for corporations, individuals and regulatory initiatives to plainly respond, while pointing out the clear benefits derived from building a positive risk culture.' Rich Apostolik, President and Chief Executive Officer, Global Association of Risk Professionals

The one bad apple spoiling the whole barrel has become a common metaphor used with reference to risk culture in organisations. This “inside-out” perspective begins with the individual as the unit of analysis and follows with inferences to the broader environment. Since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008, risk culture for many has become the explanation for shortcomings, poor decisions, and moral failures in organisations. This volume presents an institutional perspective of the forces that shape risk culture, and culture more generally, in organisations through a multi-disciplinary examination from a variety of leading academics and subject specialists. The authors demonstrate that firms play a role as manufacturers and managers of risk and they challenge common conceptions that attribute risk to chance circumstances or rogue behaviours. The foundational concepts needed for an institutional view of risk culture are highlighted with subsequent links to significant developments within society and firms.

Introduction Michelle Tuveson, Daniel Ralph and Kern Alexander
I. Risk culture conceptual underpinnings: 1. Individual agency and collective patterns of action: organisational culture through the lens of organisational theory Jennifer Howard-Grenville
2. Risk culture and information culture: why an “appetite for knowledge” matters Michael Power
3. A network view of tone at the top and the role of opinion leaders Michelle Tuveson and Daniel Ralph
4. Rethinking risk management cultures in organisations: insights from innovation Stelios Kavadias and Kostas Ladas
II. A view of risk culture concepts in firms and society: 5. The changing risk culture of UK banks Duncan Needham and Anthony Hotson
6. Regulating agency relationships and risk culture in financial institutions Kern Alexander
7. What does risk culture mean to a corporation? Evidence for business value Andrew Freeman
8. Values at risk: perspectives on the ethical turn in risk management Anette Mikes
conclusion Michelle Tuveson, Daniel Ralph and Kern Alexander
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: Organizational theory & behaviour [KJU], Corporate governance [KJR], Business ethics & social responsibility [KJG], Business & management [KJ], Corporate finance [KFFH]