Skip to main content
Poole College of Management
Enterprise Risk Management Initiative

Filtered Results

Jul 30, 2019

CEO and Board Risk Management

Senior leaders often view threats in a vacuum, acknowledging their existence but missing the mark on how best to solve them. These leaders tend to know that threats are on the horizon but, in many cases, are not managing them in a strategic way. They are not seeing these critical threats as interconnected, complex risks that, when managed correctly, could create opportunities for accelerating growth. Managing risk is a critical facet of the roles of CEOs and board members. This is particularly true in today's environment of ongoing disruption, innovation, and technological change.

Jan 29, 2019

Trends in Crisis Management & Strategies to Survive a Crisis

There is an increased emphasis on crisis management by organizations around the world as both the frequency of crises and the impact of these crises are growing. An organization should consider past crises, crisis leadership, perceived versus actual preparedness, proactive crisis management, and third party involvement. Read this article to learn more about these considerations and the current trends in crisis management.

Jun 26, 2018

The Relationship between Internal Controls, ERM, and the Business Model

COSO's Improving Organizational Performance and Governance discusses how COSO's Internal Control Integrated Framework and COSO's ERM Integrated Framework relate to the standard business model. The frameworks can contribute to an organization's long-term success. The key takeaway is that good risk management and internal control are necessary for the long term success of all organizations. Improving organizational performance and governance will support this goal.

May 1, 2014

Understanding Risk Appetite

In order for directors to oversee risk management effectively, there must be a clear understanding of what constitutes the organization’s risk appetite. The concept of a risk appetite is fairly new and can be a bit confusing. A recent thought paper by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) seeks to explain risk appetite in “plain English.” The thought paper defines risk appetite, describes how to develop a risk appetite statement, and explains the oversight role of the board in the development of the risk appetite process

Jan 1, 2014

Six Recommendations to Improve Board Risk Oversight

The financial crisis and subsequent performance failures, including bankruptcy, has resulted in a bright spotlight on boards for a number of organizations in regards to their effectiveness - and lack thereof - in risk oversight. Scrutiny has increased from regulators and other key stakeholders calling on boards to ensure their risk oversight efforts are strengthened. A recent Deloitte thought paper offers six recommendations that boards may want to consider to strengthen the board's overall risk intelligence.

Jan 1, 2012

Risk Committees

While most often the board of directors delegates risk oversight to the audit committee, increasingly boards of creating separate board level risk committees charged with that responsibility. This is particularly true for financial services firms, given requirements imposed by the Dodd-Frank legislation for larger banks to form separate risk committees. In an effort to assist companies who are considering the establishment of a board risk committee, Deloitte has organized a resource guide of ideas, recommendations, and specific tools. This resource will help assist those entities that will need to be in compliance with the Federal Reserve’s requirements developed to implement the provisions of Dodd-Frank. Although the guide is helpful for companies that must comply with the new Dodd-Frank regulations, it can be useful for any company that wishes to obtain more information on risk governance and oversight.

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.

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.