Risk management in e-business

To conclude this chapter and act as a bridge to the final two chapters we review the problems associated with change when managing an e-business implementation. Risk management is intended to identify potential risks in a range of situations and then take actions to minimize the risks. We all unconsciously perform risk management throughout our lives. For example,

when crossing a country road we will assess the likely risk of a car approaching, or a silent cyclist approaching around the blind bend, and perhaps increase our pace accordingly. Activ­ity 10.5 is intended to illustrate these risks. Risk management involves these stages:

• Identify risks, including their probabilities and impacts.
• Identify possible solutions to these risks.
• Implement the solutions targeting the highest-impact, most-likely risks.
• Monitor the risks to learn for future risk assessment.

As an alternative view of risks with a wider organization context, Simon (1999) presents a simple risk calculator based on different types of risks faced at a company level (Table 10.6). This calculator can be usefully applied to e-business change or a high-growth dot-com com­pany since significant change may accentuate these risks.

Source: Dave Chaffey (2010), E-Business and E-Commerce Management: Strategy, Implementation and Practice, Prentice Hall (4th Edition).