From New York Times bestselling author and former U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and Stanford University professor Amy B. Zegart comes an examination of the rapidly evolving state of political risk, and how to navigate it. The world is changing fast. Political risk-the probability that a political action could significantly impact a company's business-is affecting more businesses in more ways than ever before. A generation ago, political risk mostly involved a handful of industries dealing with governments in a few frontier markets. Today, political risk stems from a widening array of actors, including Twitter users, local officials, activists, terrorists, hackers, and more. The very institutions and laws that were supposed to reduce business uncertainty and risk are often having the opposite effect. In today's globalized world, there are no "safe" bets. POLITICAL RISK investigates and analyzes this evolving landscape, what businesses can do to navigate it, and what all of us can learn about how to better understand and grapple with these rapidly changing global political dynamics. Drawing on lessons from the successes and failures of companies across multiple industries as well as examples from aircraft carrier operations, NASA missions, and other unusual places, POLITICAL RISK offers a first-of-its-kind framework that can be deployed in any organization, from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Organizations that take a serious, systematic approach to political risk management are likely to be surprised less often and recover better. Companies that don't get these basics right are more likely to get blindsided.

The accurate assessment of political risk can make the difference between success and failure for a multinational corporation, which must keep corporate objectives in sight while operating in a large number of widely varying environments. While environmental or political risk assessment has become an explicit function in many firms and is inherent in all foreign investment, the uncertainties of foreign political environments continue to pose critical problems for managers. In Managing Political Risk Assessment, Stephen J. Kobrin describes and analyzes the techniques of political risk assessment employed by U.S. multinationals. His analysis draws on organizational theory, economics, political science, and international relations. The study reveals that those charged with political risk assessment have often not been fully integrated into the core of the managerial process, information from subsidiaries is often biased, and the flow of data is poorly controlled. As a result, virtually all firms experience difficulties in using environmental assessment in planning and making decisions. Kobrin persuasively argues that the thorough integration of the assessment function into the managerial process is a necessary step, as the need for political risk assessment intensifies with the increased interaction between international business and its social and political surroundings. Political scientists, institutional economists, managers, and students and teachers of international business will all profit from Kobrin’s excellent synthesis of knowledge in this area of scholarly interest. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1982.

In a competitive and increasingly internationalised business world, many companies rely on the high risk/reward ratio of operating in unstable areas. Those companies willing to engage in emerging or developing countries can often be exposed to a politically volatile environment over which they have little control. Political risk, therefore, is one of the most hazardous challenges that an international business can face. In A Short Guide to Political Risk you will find a business-centric introduction to political risk that will familiarise international managers with the concept and accelerate the learning curve towards proficient and coherent political risk management. Robert McKellar explores: the key political risks that companies have faced in the recent past, and current trends in the evolution of the political risk landscape; the concept of political risk and its constituent elements; models and approaches for assessing political risk; the principal options for managing political risk, and suggestions for organisational structures to ensure a coherent and consistent approach; as well as wider issues that a company needs to consider in developing its own attitude and philosophy on political risk. A Short Guide to Political Risk is an essential introductory guide for risk managers and for all senior managers concerned with their organisation's global performance and reputation.

This unique comparative study looks at efforts to regulate carcinogenic chemicals in several Western democracies, including the United States, and finds marked national differences in how conflicting scientific interpretations and competing political interests are resolved. Whether risk issues are referred to expert committees without public debate or debated openly in a variety of forums, patterns of interaction among experts, policy makers, and the public reflect fundamental features of each country's political culture. "A provocative argument....Poses interesting questions for the sociology of science, especially science produced for public debate."—Contemporary Sociology A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation's Social Science Frontiers Series

For much of the twentieth century, the prevalence of dictatorial regimes has left business, especially multinational firms, with a series of complex and for the most part unwelcome choices. This volume, which includes essays by noted American and European scholars such as Mira Wilkins, Gerald Feldman, Peter Hayes, and Wilfried Feldenkirchen, sets business activity in its political and social context and describes some of the strategic and tactical responses of firms investing from or into Europe to a myriad of opportunities and risks posed by host or home country authoritarian governments during the interwar period. Although principally a work of history, it puts into perspective some commercial dilemmas with which practitioners and business theorists must still unfortunately grapple.

Political risk is one of the most frequently discussed risks to doing business internationally. But what exactly is political risk and what are the best ways to analyze and prepare for political risks that may jeopardize your business? Based on more than two decades of evaluating political risk to companies doing business all over the world, Steven Johnston explains the fundamentals of effective political risk analysis. What are the foundational principles and approaches for modeling and how can professionals improve accuracy of forecasting political risk? What really works? Why is high quality political risk analysis important to every business operating internationally? It’s not IF your business will be impacted by political events and actions. It is WHEN and HOW? However, effective political risk analysis isn’t limited to the domain of business resiliency and protecting downside risk. It is also a significant competitive advantage when a business can more accurately see just a little farther into the future than competitors and be ready to make earlier moves to avoid problems or take advantage of opportunities. The book spotlights top shelf thinkers about political risk and provides state-of-the-art ways to operationalize their valuable contributions into the business process. In addition to commenting on the current state of the field of political risk analysis, Johnston makes recommendations for improving the domain of political risk analysis. This book should be essential reading for any business professionals investing across borders and especially doing business in emerging economies.