Aaron F. Cooper II, a self-described worrywart, never thought his penchant for devising foolproof backup plans could translate into a calling. But that all changed when he signed up for an elective in risk management while at the University of Georgia’s Terry School of Business executive MBA program last fall. “It entails pretty much everything I’ve always been interested in my entire life, even before I knew risk management existed,” said Cooper, 27, a telecommunications engineer at AT&T (T).

Cooper is part of a new wave of students hitting business school campuses. For years, risk management—the process of analyzing exposure to risk and determining how best to handle it—occupied a sleepy corner in business schools, a subject mainly of interest to those who want to enter the insurance field. But with the recent turmoil in the financial markets and a push for more accountability, risk management has rocketed in status at business schools.

In the past decade, a growing number of B-schools have added concentrations in the subject, ramping up the number of classes they offer. Executive MBA programs are also incorporating risk management electives into their curriculum, responding to increased demand from executives and companies. In some instances, schools such as Georgia’s Terry are developing custom programs on the topic for top executives and boards of directors.

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The analogy may not be far, some observers of the book industry used to say. Editors, publishers of educational books, in particular, have long used, book sales of reprints churning out every two years. But the Internet, particularly sites like Amazon and eBay, millions of consumers an easy way to find cheap books - often for less than $ 1 - without license fees to pay publishers or authors.

Mass-Market publishers are not safe, used books interesting phenomenon is a problem of addressing, but also others in the industry have their heads.

“We believe it is not good for the industry, and it has an effect, but we can not measure,” said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild, a trade group . “It has always been used book sales, but it is always background noise something. Now it is on the right side of the light of a new book on Amazon.

Lorraine Shanley, a senior partner at Market International, a consultant on publication, said the industry was just starting, for the dimensions of the problem.

“Good business for consumer policy are books such as Napster, it was the music industry,” she said. “The question is” How does the book industry address its used book problem? “There is no simple answer, especially since nobody is breaking any laws here.

Shanley, whose company reported on used books this month in their newsletters, publishing trends, said that publishers were beginning the consequences. “We asked publishers, like many a topic, and the answers are” I also many other problems to deal “or” Yes, this is a problem, but it is not easy solves I can ‘t really concentrate, “she said.

Greg Greeley, Amazon Vice President or media products for North America and Japan, strenuously disagreed with the idea that online sales of used books for the publication of the branch. And some publishers are not really for this e-Business used as a problem.

“It is often argued that there are two types of buyers,” said Chad Haight, publisher of Seattle-based Sasquatch Books. These are the bargain hunters, go to bookstores used by the search for a Deal, then he said, are those who, “Go into bookstores often looking for new books. It is d ‘ another category of customers. ” The discount to buyers, Haight said, it is expected by the end of shopping on Amazon.

“I think that they (in the case of Amazon), welcomed the availability of the publication industry,” said Haight.

Furthermore, he added that, unlike the music industry, publishing world has never planned books to a single user of the product. In fact, sharing a good book, that most, it seems almost like a moral obligation.

“We have always believed that if you sell someone a book, they are likely to redistribute it to someone,” said Haight, and added that this may help, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on an author, editor for an end higher turnover across the line.

Pat Soden, editor of the University of Washington Press, he said more concerned about critics see copies of books, which are not available for retail, are resold.