Richard III Risk Management

So when King Richard spurred his horse and galloped toward the broken line, calling out to his soldiers to turn back to the battle and fight. He was barely halfway across the field when the unsecured horse's shoe flew off. The horse stumbled and fell, and King Richard was thrown to the ground in front of the enemy. King Richard looked around him and saw that his soldiers were turning and running and the enemy's troops were closing in to him. His army had fallen to pieces, his troops were busy trying to save themselves and in a moment the battle was over. The demise of King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 is a clear example of how quickly and easily the balance of risk required to win versus minimum risk required can fail …show more content…
The events and decisions leading up to the failure at Anzio illustrate why risk management should be conducted throughout the planning and execution phases. In the course of preparing for a major operation such as the amphibious assault at Anzio, there are hundreds of decisions which all have some degree of risk associated with them and Anzio is no exception. The risk associated with continuing an only frontal assault with a lack of mass that can change the battle at the Gustav Line was identified, deemed too high, and other plans to take Italy had been investigated. The plan chosen was to send VI Corps, formed from the Fifth Army, as an amphibious force around the German's right flank. The availability of landing craft and sealift capability, however, limited the size of the amphibious force to only one reinforced division and an execution date of no later than 20 December 1943. Planners assessed the risk of the operation and determined that the one division limit could provide the required mass to take and establish the beachhead if the Fifth Army was able to progress far enough north to immediately support the VI Corps landing. The risks of the limited logistics and sealift capability of delivering the force and supplies for the initial Anzio plan was also correctly identified, assessed, and dealt with when Churchill rallied support for the required landing craft. By 10 December it had become apparent to General Alexander, Fifteenth Army Group Commander, that the Fifth Army had not advanced far enough north to affect a satisfactory link-up. Since sufficient landing craft could not be extended in the theater due to Operation OVERLORD being in effect, Alexander determined the risks were now too high and scrapped the original Anzio plan. However, since the risk of Fifth Army's indecisive mass against the strongly fortified Gustav Line remained, General Clark recommended conducting Operation SHINGLE with a larger amphibious support element which would then