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

Filtered Results

Sep 1, 2013

Preparing for a Black Swan Event

Black Swan events are traditionally thought to be rare, random, and high-impact events, but recent history suggests that Black Swan events are happening more frequently while maintaining their unpredictability and catastrophic characteristics. A recent thought paper by Ernst & Young explains the benefit of preparing for a Black Swan event, identifies broad-based principles to implement prior to an event, and describes protocols to follow when responding to the event. Due to a Black Swan’s unpredictability, a flexible and broad-based approach to prepare and respond to such an event is necessary to mitigate its impact and facilitate a speedy recovery. The paper provides valuable insights to help your enterprise prepare for the unexpected.

Apr 1, 2013

Five Basics to Managing Innovation Risk

As organizations seek growth through value creation, they often invest in research and development to generate innovations that can propel significant changes and new demand in the marketplace. In the rush to capitalize on the benefits of emerging innovations, organizations often rush to the market based without thinking through the limitations in the models upon which they have based their decision to act. Said differently, innovation carries risks that need to adequately evaluated. A recent Harvard Business Review article by Nobel prize winner, Robert Merton proposes that businesses should adopt five rules of thumb before haphazardly introducing innovations into the market.

Mar 1, 2013

Strategies to Manage Risks of Sudden Competitor Disruptions

The introduction of new business models such as cloud computing, apps for model devices, instant information sharing, and free trial of service offerings have suddenly disrupted business models for a number of organizations. The way in which disruptions to an organization’s core business now emerges is often different from how new competitors have emerged in the past, which thereby calls for new ways to manage the risk of disruptive innovations. A recent Harvard Business Review article addresses these issues by focusing on what has changed in this context and how risk managers can better plan for the unknown. The cliché “time is of the essence” could never be more true for planning ahead to mitigate the impact of major market disruptions in what the authors call “big bang” disruptions. They offer strategies and identification techniques to help managers pursue planning for a disruptive environment.

Dec 21, 2012

Making the Connection Between Strategy-setting and Risk

Organizations invest a great deal of effort in developing and executing their business strategies. Even so, winning business models are all-too-often subject to catastrophic failures in the blink of an eye. Didn't these companies see trouble coming? The answer: probably not, but only because executive managers did not think hard enough about risk during the strategy-setting process. This white paper from Protiviti Inc. explores the concept of strategic risk and provides an approach for incorporating risk assessment into the process of strategy-setting. By combining these processes, managers will be better equipped to make decisions for their organizations now and in the unknown future.

Dec 1, 2012

Managing the Risk of Disruptive Innovation

Organizations often find themselves surprised by a competitor's announcement of a new innovation. Such announcements can be hugely disruptive, and they hit the competitive environment in many forms, such as a new revolutionary business model, a completely new technology, or a new spin on an existing product or service. A December 2012 article in Harvard Business Review discusses the threat of disruptive innovation. A new product offering or a novel business model from a competitor is enough to upend any existing business and change the face of a particular market indefinitely. However, organizations can manage the risk of disruptive innovations by being proactive in regards to evaluating their own business models and those of competitors. In this HBR article, Wessel and Christensen present their approach for assessing and strategically managing the risk of disruption.

Oct 1, 2012

Applying “Big Data” to Risk Management

“Big data” is quickly building a following as a useful tool for helping managers make decisions. But what exactly is big data, and is its use actually beneficial to a business? This article from Harvard Business Review answers these two questions and more. The authors explain why digital data is perhaps more useful than ever before, and also provide real-life examples of companies using big data to make better decisions. The article also discusses five ingredients that are critical to using big data successfully in any company. Ultimately, big data could provide managers with insights into the risks facing their organizations.

Oct 1, 2012

Managing Risks of the Mobile Enterprise

Mobile devices are becoming more and more integral in the workplace today, as they are used for field work, file-sharing, and business processes. With the widespread use of mobiles, and the delicate intertwined relationship of such devices with both personal and professional lives, substantial number of risks arise that need to be managed properly in order to reap the benefits of these devices. To help organizations think about risks associated with the use of mobile devices, the Security for Business Innovation Council (SBIC) has issued an in-depth analysis of consumer mobile devices in the enterprise along with various risks that arise with the evolving technology. Furthermore, the report also provides various recommendations to manage such risks effectively over time. The following provides a summary of the report.

May 1, 2012

Managing Levels of Innovation Risk

The highly competitive landscape and the rapid pace of change means organizations must continually seek to innovate to survive and grow. For many, their rush to get new innovations to market overlooks critical risks that threaten the success of those initiatives. More organizations are seeing first-hand how difficult of a task it is to mitigate innovation risk. The Harvard Business Review (HBR) article "Managing Your Innovation Portfolio" highlights how organizations can, through the balance of diversifying and appropriately focusing efforts within their innovation portfolios, achieve higher returns over their long-term innovation investments. The authors of this article discuss issues dealing with managing innovation and ways to initially guide management.

Jul 1, 2011

Managing Social Media Risks

As organizations realize the potential of social media to positively benefit their marketing and advertising strategies, they are also aware of potential risks. In a white paper published by Crowe Howarth LLP, the authors outline sources from which social media risks can originate and provides a six-step approach that an organization can use to create an effective social media risk management strategy.

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.