Discovering an individual's "risk behaviour profile"

Today's world is increasingly dynamic and technologically complex. Risk, both to the individual and society is more profound. As decisions made in the face of uncertainty become more frequent the management of risk becomes increasingly important. Risk management envelopes identification, analysis, evaluation, judgement and action skills. Throughout this process the individual's behaviour is implicated. Behaviour is affected by internal factors, the person (personality, experience, knowledge) and external factors, the situation (environment, culture). This paper builds a case that Human Behaviour Towards Risk is unique. It is connected to the situation and the person. It may be measured and profiled. Collections of individuals, like an organisation or profession, have unique and "mappable" profiles. An original questionnaire has been developed to determine an individual's perceived behaviour towards risk in Task, Team and Individual climates together with a measurement of the person and the situation. To date, 215 data sets from Senior Managers, a 59% return, have been received and analysed. Definite sub-group trends (i.e. by age, length of service, sex, management type) in perceived behaviour towards risk have been identified. The questionnaire and the Personal Risk Behaviour Profile are being used successfully as a management training tool. The author is convinced that an understanding of behaviour towards risk should become fundamental to more effective management.