Taming the Leviathan - A New Approach to Risk for the Military Leader

76 Pages Posted: 29 Nov 2012

See all articles by Chris Bowen

Chris Bowen

Dept of Command, Leadership, Management

Date Written: August 28, 2012

Abstract

Military operations involve risk. A central question for military leaders is whether they have the tools available to them to deal with risk. Part of the leader’s risk toolbox is the training and education they receive. However the military leader is not exposed to formal training and education modules that specifically address risk. With a lack of formal risk doctrine and training in the CF, the leader may use narrowly defined and inconsistent engineering risk processes or high level generic frameworks that are not easy to standardize, track, understand, or apply. The result may be shallow analysis, poor management, unclear communication and poor decisions involving risk. To address these issues, this paper will first examine some weaknesses of selected risk management processes. A wider understanding of risk will then be developed by other perspectives using philosophical, psychological and sociological theories as a basis for discussion. Finally the paper develops its comprehensive risk approach by layering these wider though processes on top of the common risk management methodologies.

Keywords: military, risk, risk management, risk methodology, risk training, risk education

JEL Classification: D81, D70, N40

Suggested Citation

Bowen, Chris, Taming the Leviathan - A New Approach to Risk for the Military Leader (August 28, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2182321 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2182321

Chris Bowen (Contact Author)

Dept of Command, Leadership, Management ( email )

215 Yonge Blvd.
Toronto, Ontario M5M 3H9
Canada

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