Since the mid-1990s risk management has undergone a dramatic expansion in its reach and significance, being transformed from an aspect of management control to become a benchmark of good governance for banks, hospitals, schools, charities, and many other organizations. Numerous standards for risk management practice have been produced by a variety of transnational organizations. While these many designs and blueprints are accompanied by ideals of enterprise, value production, and good governance, it is argued that the rise of risk management has also coincided with an intensification of auditing and control processes. The legalization and bureacratization of organizational life has increased because risk management has created new demands for proof and evidence of action. In turn, these demands have generated new risks to reputation. In short, this important book traces the rise of the managerial concept of risk and the different logics and values which underpin it, showing that it has much less to do with real dangers and opportunities than might be thought, and more to do with organizational accountability and legitimacy.

About the Author
Michael Power is Professor of Accounting and Research Theme Director of the ESRC Centre for Analysis of Risk and Regulation at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and an Associate member of the UK Chartered Institute of Taxation. He is a former Visiting Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg, Berlin and at All Souls College, Oxford His publications include The Audit Society (Oxford, 1997) and The Risk Management of Everything (Demos, 2004). He is also co-editor of Organizational Encounters with Risk (Cambridge, 2005).

Reviews
Power's book is illuminating and bringing in the foreground a highly relevant topic for today businesses and society. As a preliminary exploration of the ideas embodied by risk management understood as risk governance, the book is really worth reading even if we will be missing the flavor of field studies, because Power's aim was so broad and ideational. Anyway, this book may help debunk many ideas about risk and risk management, written by a talented management accountant and philosopher. * Laurent Magne, Society and Business Review *
...getAbstract recommends this informed and informative analysis to risk management professionals and professors who will appreciate Powers depth of knowledge. * getAbsract *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199548804
Author Michael Power
Format Paperback
Page Count 268
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 157mm * 16mm