Risk Identification and Assessment

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.

Jul 1, 2013

Analysts Evaluate Behavior of Corporate Leaders in Ratings Process

Standard & Poor’s evaluates management through the lens of investor activism, revealing how pressure on corporate leaders affects decision-making and overall risk profiles. Discover the governance risks posed by investor activism.

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.

May 23, 2013

Spring 2013 ERM Roundtable Summit: Key “Take-Aways”

The Spring 2013 ERM Roundtable Summit showcased best practices in risk management from leading companies like Johnson Controls and Humana. Learn practical strategies to strengthen your ERM processes and drive organizational resilience.

Apr 1, 2013

Crowdsourcing, A Tool to Tackle Emerging Strategic Risks

Organizations are turning to “crowdsourcing” as part of their innovation strategy where they leverage the knowledge of “the crowd” to identify emerging trends and opportunities. A recent article in _Harvard Business Review_ highlights crowdsourcing as a problem solving technique. We use that as a springboard to explore how crowdsourcing might be used to leverage the collective talent of the crowd to help organizations deter or manage emerging risks that may affect their strategic success. Crowdsourcing may be a tool that risk leaders can include in their risk identification toolkits.

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.

Mar 1, 2013

2013 Survey Report Demonstrates IA’s Need for Greater Breadth of Risk Management Knowledge

https://erm.ncsu.edu/resource-center/risk-management-survey-internal-audit/(opens in a new tab)

Feb 13, 2013

Top Risks on Horizon for 2013

Explore the top risks identified by corporate leaders for 2013, including regulatory scrutiny, global economic conditions, political instability, and cybersecurity threats, as detailed in a Protiviti and NC State ERM report.

Jan 10, 2013

Q & A: Controlling Spreadsheet Risk

Protiviti discusses the risks posed by spreadsheets and provides actionable guidance on managing those risks. Learn how effective spreadsheet risk management contributes to an organization’s overall enterprise risk management strategy.