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The theory of finance is built around return and risk concepts and a basic tenet of finance is that there is a trade off between the risk and returns of assets. As such the measurement of risk goes to the very core and foundation of the theory of finance. Given that the main theories of finance have been maturing over several decades of discussion and debate, one would imagine that a concept as fundamental as the measurement of risk would be a well settled issue by now. On the contrary, the recent finance literature shows ample evidence that risk measurement and risk concepts are drawing continued scrutiny from academic researchers. This is because there are several alternative, and competing ways in which risk can be conceived of and it is not clear which of the alternative concepts is most appropriate. Each concept of risk can be measured or estimated in several ways as well. Estimation methods can be diverse in their precision. Risk measurement can be further complicated by the fact that risk is not a static feature. Risk changes over time. Whether risk changes can be modelled satisfactorily is a major challenge taken up by researchers.

Since the late 1980s, social theorists championed for the birth of a new era, in which societies were increasingly exposed to growing global risks. The presence of increasing risks including natural disasters, technological errors, terrorist attacks, nuclear wars and environmental degradation suggests that human beings are becoming increasingly vulnerable. Therefore, an understanding of vulnerability is crucial. Vulnerability is often considered as the potential to suffer from physical attacks. This approach, however, has limited capacity to explain many forms of suffering including not only physical aspects, but also mental, social, economic, political and social dimensions. This chapter draws on the vulnerability literature to present an overarching framework for the book. It starts with an outline of the concept origins, then discusses its relationship with the risk society thesis before forming conceptualisation. The chapter then points out the key similarities and differences between vulnerability and other concepts such as risk, disaster, poverty, security and resilience. The authors rework an existing “security” framework to develop a new definition of the concept of vulnerability. Finally, the authors look into the root causes and the formation of vulnerability within social systems.

The purpose of this paper is to ease the ISO 31000 standard understanding and provide mechanisms that allow organizations to adopt and adapt this standard to their reality.

The research methodology adopted in this research was the design science research methodology.

Key finding is that enterprise architecture (EA) models and EA tools can help reduce the complexity of the ISO 31000 standard and improve the communication between stakeholders.

The research proposal serves the purpose of supporting the evidence collection for an enterprise risk management (ERM) initiative in an as-was, as-is, or to-be perspective.

Traditional ERM efforts operate on silos, limiting the sharing of risk information and the achievement of an organization-wide view of risks. EA can provide a common way to model complex business systems, from the strategic level to implementation details. This paper proposes the use of an EA model and an EA tool (Atlas) to represent ISO 31000, allowing a better understanding on the value of assets that can be affected from the manifestation of some risks over time.

This paper aims to present the “Vulnerability Sourcebook” methodology, a standardised framework for the assessment of climate vulnerability and risk in the context of adaptation planning. The Vulnerability Sourcebook has been developed for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and has been applied in more than twenty countries worldwide.

It is based on a participative development of so-called climate impact chains, which are an analytical concept to better understand, systemise and prioritise the climate factors as well as environmental and socio-economic factors that drive climate related threats, vulnerabilities and risks in a specific system. Impact chains serve as the backbone for an operational climate vulnerability assessment with indicators based on quantitative approaches (data, models) combined with expert assessments. In this paper, the authors present the concept and applications of the original Vulnerability Sourcebook, published in 2015, which was based on the IPCC AR4 concept of climate vulnerability. In Section 6 of this paper, the authors report how this concept has been adapted to the current IPCC AR5 concept of climate risks.

The application of the Sourcebook is demonstrated in three case studies in Bolivia, Pakistan and Burundi. The results indicate that particularly the participative development of impact chains helped with generating a common picture on climate vulnerabilities and commitment for adaptation planning within a region. The mixed methods approach (considering quantitative and qualitative information) allows for a flexible application in different contexts. Challenges are mainly the availability of climate (change) and socio-economic data, as well as the transparency of value-based decisions in the process.

The Vulnerability Sourcebook offers a standardised framework for the assessment of climate vulnerability and risk in the context of adaptation planning.

The purpose of this chapter is to investigate what internal auditors see as a need for improvement regarding current business risk practices for controlling employee fraud. A survey of internal auditors compares perceptions of current versus desired situations in regard to six common practices of employee fraud risk management: training in fraud risk management, understanding how job procedures are designed to manage fraud risks, recognizing basic indicators of fraud, providing appropriate employee compensation incentives, reporting suspicions of fraud, and background verification of job applicants. Comparisons for each practice are made between the United States and Canada.The main finding is that the largest weakness in the employee fraud risk management practices relates to providing employees with training in their risk management programs. Seemingly related deficiencies are also indicated in both employee understanding of how their job procedures are designed to manage fraud risks and the ability of employees to recognize basic indicators of fraud. No measure of fraud prevention is more important than those involving the employees who actually conduct the affairs of an organization. The identification and ranking of gaps in employee fraud risk management practices can be used to make a case to deal with areas needing improvement.

As investors and companies become more accustomed to crossing national borders to invest or raise capital, interest in comparing international and national accounting and auditing standards is growing. Compares two concepts crucial to planning and performing the audit work: audit risk and materiality. Differences between international and US guidance would imply that the two sets of standards require different levels of audit work; this situation would be a concern to investors and auditors. Similarities in the international and US standards would suggest consensus regarding the levels of work. Shows that the comparison of ISA 6 to SASs 47 and 55/78 indicates many similarities and few differences between international and US guidance.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the problem of using the Value‐at‐Risk (VaR) technique and examine its practical implementation by Swiss Private Banks.

The paper is based on a survey originally undertaken in 2003 and updated in 2005. The research results provide details on how asset and portfolio managers understand and apply VaR methodology in their daily business.

From the banks' perspectives, VaR has both positive and negative points. It is like a common denominator for various risks. The reason is that VaR is used by portfolio managers as comparable risk measurement across different asset classes and business lines.

This analysis shows how banks can implement VaR concept more effectively through its practical implementation areas in: portfolio management decisions and asset allocation; the “what‐if” modeling of candidate traders; and measuring and monitoring market risk.

The objective of this paper is to conceptualise supply chain resilience (SCRES) and to identify and explore empirically its relationship with the related concepts of supply chain vulnerability (SCV) and supply chain risk management (SCRM).

From a review of the literature the conceptual domain of SCRES is defined and the proposed relationships with SCRM and SCV are derived. Data from a longitudinal case study with three supply chains are presented to explore the relationship between the concepts in the context of the global financial crisis.

The empirical data provide support for a positive impact of supply chain risk (SCR) effect and knowledge management on SCRES and from SCRES on SCV. SCR effect and knowledge management seem to enhance the SCRES by improving the flexibility, visibility, velocity and collaboration capabilities of the supply chain. Thereby, they decrease the SCV in a disruptive risk event. The positive effects manifest themselves in upstream supplier networks of supply chains as well as in distribution channels to the customers.

The recession caused by the financial crisis has illustrated the importance of SCRES in today's interdependent global economy vividly. However, the concept is still in its infancy and has not received the same attention as its counterparts SCRM and SCV. The study confirms the benefit of resilient supply chains and outlines future research needs.

The paper identifies which supply chain capabilities can support the containment of disruptions and how these capabilities can be supported by effective SCRM.

To date, there has been no empirical study which has investigated supply chain resilience in a disruptive global event.

Households are exposed to a wide array of risks, characterized by a known or unknown probability distribution of events. Disasters are one of these risks at the extreme end. Understanding the nature of these risks is critical to recommending appropriate mitigation measures. A household’s resilience in resisting the negative outcomes of these risky events is indicative of its level of vulnerability. Vulnerability has emerged as the most critical concept in disaster studies, with several attempts at defining, measuring, indexing and modeling it. The paper presents the concept and meanings of risk and vulnerability as they have evolved in different disciplines. Building on these basic concepts, the paper suggests that assets are the key to reducing risk and vulnerability. Households resist and cope with adverse consequences of disasters and other risks through the assets that they can mobilize in face of shocks. Asustainable strategy for disaster reduction must therefore focus on asset‐building. There could be different types of assets, and their selection and application for disaster risk management is necessarily a contextual exercise. The mix of asset‐building strategies could vary from one community to another, depending upon households’ asset profile. The paper addresses the dynamics of assets‐risk interaction, thus focusing on the role of assets in risk management.

Reviews the literature on consumer‐perceived risk over the past 30 years. The review begins by establishing perceived risk’s relationship with related marketing constructs such as involvement and trust. It then tackles some debates within the literature, concerning subjective and objective risk and differences between the concepts of risk and uncertainty. It describes how different models have been devised and operationalised to measure risk and how these have developed over the years. Aims to identify and report the theoretical and model developments over the past 30 years and to propose criteria which researchers can use in deciding the most useful model for their own research. The criteria are: understanding, prediction, suitability for reliability and validity assessment, practicality and usability. It is suggested that the basic two‐component model is still the most generally useful for researchers and practitioners alike.