INSC 71030:  Managing Risk & Uncertainty

Risk management (RM) is the art, science, and practice of making good business decisions in the face of consequential uncertainty. All managers are risk managers.  RM is essential to success in almost every area of management, but especially in the contexts of complexity, novelty, and uncertainty that characterize many contemporary endeavors. This course addresses the major concepts, basic techniques, and key challenges of RM. It aims to (1) familiarize students with the problems and issues confronting risk managers in several contexts and (2) provide students with the vocabulary, concepts, insights, and tools to address these issues. As a first course in RM, it provides an overview of several areas and knowledge of foundational tools (other than financial risk tools such as derivatives).  Throughout, we will stress the difficult tradeoffs faced by managers, the managerial insights, and the underlying assumptions.  We will think critically about the models and tools available to aid managers, looking for possible disconnects with practical situations.  We will relate the topics to practical issues in students’ workplaces, and I will provide a variety of sources for students’ future use and awareness. 

Students should be able to:

1. Understand the fundamentals of RM for managerial decisions

2. Think critically about RM assumptions, models, methods, analyses, and concepts

3. Understand basic RM activities and responsibilities

4. Understand and apply a standard process for identifying and managing risks

5. Understand the varied roles of RM in the firm

6. Understand the role of quantitative modeling for RM decision support

7. Understand several of the challenges to and limitations of RM

8. Apply statistical and simulation techniques and tools to account for uncertainty and risk

9. Apply RM tools and perspectives to analyze case studies