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Poole College of Management
Enterprise Risk Management Initiative

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Oct 26, 2015

A Chief Compliance Officer’s Role in Risk Management

Risks, rules, and regulations: Can today's chief compliance officers keep up? It is commonly known that a company's ability to assess and manage risks to meet stakeholder expectations may ultimately determine the success or failure of an organization. Deloitte and Compliance Week, in their collaborative efforts, have administered a survey to annually assess corporate America's ability to keep up with these rising expectations and to address issues and concerns resulting from current trends.

Oct 1, 2015

Value Creation through Risk Management

Many companies have come to realize that risk management serves more than just a compliance function. In the ever-changing risk environment we live in today, risk management also serves to add value to the company. After conducting their Global Governance, Risk and Compliance Survey, EY published a white paper with a three-step approach to risk management.

Nov 1, 2013

Create Synergies between Risk Management and Internal Audit

Companies are always scanning the business landscape for the next way to get ahead, to gain a competitive advantage, and to take the next step, particularly in the area of risk management. Most companies have some form of risk management, whether the traditional silos or the more robust enterprise risk management, and their purpose ranges from protecting assets to pursuing opportunities. These same companies often have an over-looked, or at least underutilized asset, in their internal audit function. Internal audit understands the business operations and controls; however, they share a common goal with risk management, which is to improve the effectiveness of risk management. This common goal leads to a potential synergy that can help a company reach that next step in risk management. The Risk Insurance Management Society ("RIMS") and The Institute of Internal Auditors ("IIA") joint white paper highlights the why, the how, and the proof that leveraging your internal audit function in risk management can not only work, but work well.

Jun 19, 2013

ERP Implementation Risk: Managing Sources of Project Delays and Other Risk

Over the past two decades, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have allowed managers to utilize software to integrate information about projects across the enterprise. These systems are designed to integrate internal and external information, enhance the flow of communication and decision-making across an enterprise, and focus on business processes and functions. However, integrating information about operations all across an enterprise to make information more accessible and flow via an ERP system presents a number of significant risks. If issues arise at inopportune moments, they are compounded due to the interrelated nature of an ERP system. Protiviti developed a whitepaper that identifies and reiterates the importance of mitigating these risks to reduce post-implementation project costs.

Jun 11, 2013

Focusing on Property Risk Management

Risk events such as fires, adverse weather conditions, and terrorist attacks can have devastating effects on an organization's facilities and physical infrastructure. If ineffectively managed, core operations can be paralyzed, assets can be destroyed, and key IP may be compromised. In May 2013, Advisen Ltd. conducted a large survey of risk managers and property brokers in order to gain perspective on the status of property risk management efforts among businesses operating in the United States and abroad. The survey asked questions around two main themes: 1) what are companies doing, if anything, to specifically manage threats to the physical property and resources of the business, and 2) what are the key characteristics and practices of successful property risk managers? This white paper provides an overview of the survey and its results, which may provide useful benchmarking data for risk leaders.

Jun 1, 2012

Categorizing Risks for More Effective Risk Management

Organizations often employ a rules-based model to manage risk; however history suggests that such an approach may not be an effective way to manage all types of risk. This Harvard Business Review article provides a framework for thinking about risk management that is centered on breaking an organization’s risks into three categories. The authors demonstrate, through real-world examples, how each category of risk is best managed through certain types of risk management mechanisms. Each of these mechanisms plays a role in strengthening the organization’s overall risk management function.

May 1, 2012

Risks Associated with Product Development

With over 50 years of experience in advising companies on product development efforts, the authors of this Harvard Business Review article present six flawed assumptions that bring rise to risks associated with product development. Product development managers often follow conventional assumptions to execute their projects effectively and efficiently based on the belief that these lead to the most productive approach. But often, risks associated with product development rise due to fallacies in these assumptions causing major delays, glacial progress, and costly failures.

Jul 1, 2011

Managing Human Capital Risk

Though companies recognize the high impact of Human Capital Risk (HCR), many still have immature HCR management processes, if any. The Conference Board researched companies based in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific to evaluate current HCR management practices. Companies with Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) indicated better HCR maturity. The research in this article also highlights a need for HR and ERM executives to engage each other more to better understand risks associated with their human capital management.

Jan 3, 2011

Increasing Complexity Creates Challenges for Risk Management

Managing complexity is quickly becoming one of the greatest challenges for large organizations today. A white paper published by KPMG presents findings related to a study of the causes and impact of complexity affecting large companies. The pace of change and global interconnections in business have resulted in increasing complexity, creating significant risk management challenges for companies. Increased risks to manage emerged as one of the greatest challenges created by complexity, according to the study.

May 1, 2009

Seven Question Guide to Assessing Your Enterprise Risk Management Practices

Risk professionals should consider seven questions in evaluating risk management tools, improving risk management practices, and assessing the state of ERM in an organization. Professionals should ask these seven questions: (1) if the risk management process really assesses risk; (2) if the risk assessment is context-driven; (3) if the risk management process address root causes of failure; (4) what business performance says about risk; (5) what the organization's risks say about its controls; (6) what the organization's controls say about its risks; and (7) if the professionals and their organizations are up for the task of risk management.