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Poole College of Management
Enterprise Risk Management Initiative

ERM Initiative Staff

Jul 1, 2010

Balancing Risk Appetite and Strategy Execution

Good risk management involves making informed and rational decisions considering the risks the company wants to take in pursuit of its objectives and regarding the measures used to mitigate and manage risks. This publication explores how companies can effectively define risk appetite, risk tolerance, and risk targets to execute strategies and perform effective risk management to gain a competitive advantage.

Jun 28, 2010

Aligning Risk Appetite and Risk Exposure

The devastating effects of the global credit crisis can be linked to the failure of organizations to embed risk management within the foundation of strategic and operational processes. Now, increased pressures from all around call for an integrated and aligned approach to risk management. This white-paper explores how organizations can effectively align performance and risk management processes to not only reduce risk but also embrace opportunities.

Jun 11, 2010

Current State of the Internal Audit Profession and Risk Oversight

Discover PwC's 6th annual internal audit profession report, revealing insights from over 2,000 auditors across 50+ territories.

Jun 1, 2010

Nine Hallmarks of Successful ERM

As organizations seek to strengthen their risk oversight, they are interested in learning from others about effective practices that ensure risk oversight provides strategic value. The Aon Global Risk Consulting report explored how ERM is being used, the extent to which it has been implemented and its effect on organizational goals. It provides an overview of nine distinguishing characteristics of successful ERM approaches. This report expands on the detailed results from the survey, including the point that ERM has continued to evolve as an accepted and required process to create value.

May 3, 2010

COSO Fraud Study 2010

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (commonly known as COSO) has released the study, Fraudulent Financial Reporting: 1998-2007, An Analysis of U.S. Public Companies, that examines financial statement fraud allegations investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over a ten-year period. The study provides an in-depth analysis of the nature, extent, and characteristics of accounting frauds and provides helpful insights regarding new and ongoing issues that need to be addressed. The study examines nearly 350 alleged accounting fraud cases investigated by the SEC during the period, 1998-2007. Mark Beasley, Deloitte Professor of Enterprise Risk Management at NC State is one of the study's co-authors.

Nov 4, 2009

Strengthening Enterprise Risk Management for Strategic Advantage

COSO's Strengthening Enterprise Risk Management for Strategic Advantage focuses on specific areas where the board of directors and management can work together to improve the board's risk oversight responsibilities and ultimately enhance the entity's strategic value. This thought paper expands on COSO's Effective Enterprise Risk Oversight: The Role of the Board of Directors and provides further detail on the four specific areas discussed in that document.

Oct 1, 2009

Risk Governance: Balancing Risk and Reward

In October 2009, the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) issued a Blue Ribbon Commission report containing guidance for board members regarding how to strengthen their risk oversight practices. The report describes the importance of risk governance and strategic risk alignment, and highlights that the board should be fully responsible for risk oversight, only delegating tasks that might need a more specialized focus. At the end of the day, the board as a whole should be in charge of ensuring that management has aligned their strategy and risk appetite for the company.

Sep 1, 2009

Effective Enterprise Risk Oversight: The Role of the Board of Directors

COSO's Effective Enterprise Risk Oversight: The Role of the Board of Directors is focused on aiding boards of directors in strengthening their enterprise risk oversight responsibilities. The current economic crisis has caused the role of the board of directors to become far more challenging than in the past. The thought paper highlights critical board responsibilities by using four specific areas in COSO’s Enterprise Risk Management – Integrated Framework that contribute to board oversight of enterprise risk management.

Jul 1, 2009

Determining the Value of ERM

In the current economy, companies are under pressure to justify all major investments, including enterprise risk management (ERM). In this article, KPMG provides some common approaches for valuing ERM programs or ERM components. Placing a value on ERM can help companies realize the return of their investment through reduced costs, increased reputation, and improved decision-making.

Jun 1, 2009

Internal Audit’s Role in Managing Reputation Risk

Reputational risks and corporate missteps are having more significant impacts on bottom lines and stakeholder perceptions of companies than ever before. Therefore, companies are recognizing the importance of reputational risk and placing a greater emphasis on reputational risk management. Internal audit departments can play a significant role in helping companies manage reputational risks through their advisory and monitoring efforts.