Risk Risk from the Perspective of Competitive Advantage by Edwin B. Dean Risk means many things to many people.
Risk is defined as the downside of a gamble which is described in terms of probability.
They further note that risk is multidimensional, i.e. there are many possible damage measures. Finally, they extend the definition of risk to a probabilistic family of multidimensional curves, which include the first level definition of risk. For the mathematically inclined, very interesting concepts are to be found here. Risk is individual to a person or organization because what is perceived by one as a major risk may be perceived by another as a minor risk. Perception is very much a factor.