Course detail

Risk Management in Companies and Organizations

ÚSI-RSRFOAcad. year: 2025/2026

The course focuses on the following areas:
Properties and characteristics of successful companies (the"7S framework" of factors that make businesses successful; case study: Businessman S. Walton - founder of the Walmart chain of stores). The influence of the environment on a company. Basic principles of change processes within a company. Models of planned changes within a company (Lenin's model, the Jaguar model, the Nokia model). Change and risk. Types and analysis of risk. Measurement of risk. Basic statistical characteristics of risk. Methods of reducing risk in corporate management and analysis (methods of removing the causes of risk, methods of reducing the risk of adverse effects). Investment mathematics and the methodology of investment decision-making. Reduction of risk and the evaluation of personal or corporate investments (case study). The risk associated with changing a company's strategy, including the method behind the change strategy. Risk assessment - a tool to reduce risk in the economic life of a company.

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

4

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

prof. Ing. Karel Rais, CSc., MBA, dr. h. c.

Department

Institute of Forensic Engineering (ÚSI)

Entry knowledge

Basic strategic analysis tools (SLEPT analysis, Porter’s model, SWOT analysis). Fundamentals concerning organization and management functions in companies.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

Conditions for the award of the course unit credit:
1. Active participation in practical lessons will be monitored and assessed by the teacher - max. 100 points.
2. Successful completion of a credit test – max. 100 points for the first attempt, 80 points for the first resit and 60 points for the second resit.
3. Successful completion of a semestral project by the assigned deadline. Maximum 100 points for work submitted by the deadline; max. 80 points for work submitted late.
4. The total number of points must be higher than 150 for the course unit credit to be awarded.

Conditions for passing the exam: Demonstration of knowledge from the taught topics, and its practical application.
Form of examination: Combined - a written test, with an oral examination if necessary.

The results of independent work on specified tasks are checked. In the case of excused absence from a seminar, the teacher can set an additional condition, if appropriate. This will usually involve the completion of an additional written assignment.

Aims

The main objective of this course is to provide students with the theoretical basis and methodological procedures needed to analyse and evaluate a company's risk. It is necessary to master the classical and modern procedures of measuring corporate risk. Significant time is given to the management of corporate risk via traditional and modern methods of risk mitigation with an emphasis on methods of application and instruments utilising artificial intelligence (expert's systems, genetic algorithms, and neural networks). Students will demonstrate their knowledge via many practical examples of personal and corporate investment decision-making.
Students will become acquainted with basic approaches to the measurement of risk as applied to companies, and will learn to employ traditional methods used for the practical lowering of company risk. They will learn the classic principles used to model change processes in companies, and how to employ them in order to manage standard processes of company change while taking risk factors into account. Students will also be capable of managing standard strategic change processes (both business-related and functional) in individual SBUs of companies.

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

RAIS, K.,DRDLA, M. Řízení změn ve firmě. Computer Press. Praha 2001.
SMEJKAL,V., RAIS, K. Řízení rizik ve firmách a jiných organizacích, Grada, Publishing.,a.s. Grada, Praha, 2006.

Recommended reading

DOSTÁL, P, RAIS, K., SOJKA, Z. Pokročilé metody manažerského rozhodování, Grada, 2005

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme RRTES_P Master's

    specialization RRTS , 1 year of study, winter semester, compulsory
    specialization RRES , 1 year of study, winter semester, compulsory

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

26 hod., optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

prof. Ing. Karel Rais, CSc., MBA, dr. h. c.

Syllabus

The lectures cover the following topics:
1. Introduction - basic overview of the issues to be studied, relationship to other subject areas
2. The life of a company (from small firms to multinational corporations) - the '7S' framework
3. Successful company, successful manager
4. Decision-making on changes within a company
5. Types and analysis of risk
6. Methods of lowering risk in company management
7. Data, information and knowledge
8. Basics of investment mathematics and the methods used in investment decision-making.
9. Risk mitigation and the evaluation of personal and corporate investment.
10. Risk connected with changes in company strategy.
11. Risk assessment - an instrument for risk mitigation in the economic life of a company.

The seminars will be focused on practising aspects of the lecture topics and the completion of case studies (both individually and in teams).

Exercise

26 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

prof. Ing. Karel Rais, CSc., MBA, dr. h. c.