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Poole College of Management
Enterprise Risk Management Initiative

Briefs and Insights

Feb 8, 2022

How to Adapt to Thrive in the New Normal

Shocks like economic recessions and global pandemics can result in long-lasting behavioral changes that impact businesses. The Covid-19 pandemic is the most recent reminder that companies prepared to reassess their opportunities, adapt their business models and reallocate investments amid a crisis are the winners.

Feb 8, 2022

Imagining Unimaginable Risks

Risks take a variety of forms, many of which companies can proactively manage. But novel risks are much more difficult to predict and plan for and they may seem improbable, emerge from a perfect storm of events, or are unprecedentedly massive. In their 2020 Harvard Business Review article, "The Risks You Can't Foresee," authors Robert S. Kaplan, Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard and Annette Mikes define novel risks and then describe how to detect and respond to them to mitigate the risk impact on the business.

Feb 8, 2022

Six Practices to Future-Proof Your Company

As companies rebuild their workforces in the aftermath of Covid-19, they must move into the digital age to future-proof their operations and give them a competitive advantage. A recent Harvard Business Review article, "Future-Proofing Your Organization," draws on research by Bain & Company involving more than 300 large firms in every sector of the global economy. The authors identify six recommended practices for companies to follow as they recover from the pandemic to create technology-enabled workforces for future success.

Feb 8, 2022

Board Oversight of ESG and Diversity Risks

PwC's 2021 Annual Corporate Directors Survey gauges the views of public company directors across the United States. The survey results reveal the significant impact of the social, environmental and economic pressures companies have faced in recent years, including new risks for boards to address. The PwC report also sheds light on the changes boards are making in response to the dynamic environment.
Expert ERM Interview

Oct 6, 2021

New Resources: ERM Tools & Techniques

The ERM Initiative interviews John Fraser, Rob Quail and Betty Simkins about the 2nd edition of Enterprise Risk Management: Today’s Leading Research and Best Practices for Tomorrow’s Executives.

Sep 21, 2021

Is Your Company’s Knowledge Walking Out the Door with Your Retirees?

A conversation about the risk of knowledge loss often is centered around a technology concern evoking thoughts of cyber breaches that release proprietary information, an operational matter considering outsourcing or the one that I will discuss, a people or talent discussion. This article discusses how knowledge loss from employee attrition can be reduced through effective knowledge management and knowledge transfer practices.

Aug 31, 2021

Assessing Risks in Third Parties

In today's dynamic global market, many third-party risks are going undetected and hidden in supplier, distributor and partner relationships. External factors including the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing attention among government regulators on corruption, sustainability and human rights, the need for companies to protect themselves against third-party threats and the resulting regulatory enforcement of illegal activity is paramount. LSEG's The Real Risks: Hidden Threats Within Third-Party Relationships, aims to provide organizations with guidance for identifying, assessing and managing third-party risk. We have summarized some of their key suggestions.

Aug 31, 2021

Mitigating Supply Chain Disruptions and Building Resilience

Global supply chains are larger and more complex than ever. At the same time disruptions that affect supply chains have grown more frequent and severe, exposing vulnerabilities. Companies and policy makers are reconsidering how to assess, analyze and mitigate risk exposure to bolster supply chain resiliency to shocks like financial crises, terrorism, extreme weather and pandemics. McKinsey Global Institute's (MGI's) report, Risk, Resiliency, and Rebalancing in Global Value Chains, explores factors leading to global supply chain risk, financial implications of shocks and guidance for building supply chain resiliency. Check out this summary of the key findings.

Jan 4, 2021

Improving Management Review Controls

Mark Beasley, Alan T. Dickson Distinguished Professor of Accounting and Director of the Enterprise Risk Management Initiative in the Poole College of Management at NC State University, is the co-author (along with John Fogarty and Doug Prawitt) of a thought paper, Perspectives on Management Review Controls: Challenges and Solutions, released by the Center for Audit Quality.  This thought paper provides information and insight on issues surrounding the design, implementation, execution, and documentation of MRCs. 

Jul 7, 2020

Getting Your Arms Around Risk Appetite

executives sometimes struggle to find ways to put their risk appetite into words so they can cascade that across the organization to business leaders who need it to make prudent business decisions.