The business risk is related to the evolu⯑on of the phenomena that fall within the sphere of ac⯑on of the company and the rela⯑onship it establishes with its environment.

External and internal environments are different. But it is the external one ‐ geopoli⯑cal loca⯑on, demographic intensity, economic and social development, material wealth, environmental constraints ‐ which gives the company the greatest opportunity, at the same ⯑me exposing it to the highest risks.

The external environment is now more than ever characterized by very high evolu⯑onary tension: on the one hand there is the intensifica⯑on of globaliza⯑on processes strongly affec⯑ng the company dimension (concentra⯑on) and the product diversifica⯑on (for segments, products, markets); on the other hand there are the new economy laws that rewrite the rules of success on the basis of the primacy of intangible assets: innova⯑ve ideas, so⯑ware and informa⯑on as exchange goods.

A genuine culture of risk does not seek to avoid it (the environmental risk is indeed inevitable), but foreseen and face it , acknowledge and internalize it. The risk is not evil: in a (became) classic defini⯑on, it is "the set of possible effects ‐ posi⯑ve (opportuni⯑es) or nega⯑ve (threats) – that an event has on the economic and financial posi⯑on of the company".