Financial institutions state that the “non-financial risk” of their business customers is often related to compliance failure, misconduct, technology or operational challenges.
These financial institutions describe non-financial risks as only having a downside. At the same time, ESG investor groups are seeking businesses that use harmonized international standards to improve the environmental, social and governance situations at all facilities and their supply chains. Continue reading
After the Australian’s risk management standard (AS/NZS 4360:2004) walked on ISO’s world stage in 2009, management system users from other countries have shrugged their shoulders over the need to determine the context BEFORE getting into the familiar plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle. However, what lies between the organization and meeting its objectives is uncertainty. Continue reading
Moving to Zero
In the 1990’s, we all got involved looking for “zero.” DuPont tried to lead the way in the slogan department. “Our goal is zero – zero accidents, zero wastes, zero emissions, and zero excuses!” I loved the last part. Despite all of the whoopla, DuPont and a lot of other companies are still searching for zero. This despite that the zero advocates set the null point as something “north of zero.” Consider six sigma, which some people referred to as zero waste. This term represents 3.4 defects per million operations. If you are a scientist, this is not zero. If you are an engineer, it is darn close. Continue reading
With a threat, you search for the solution. With an opportunity, you search for the benefit. Reducing negative risk exposure is a good focus, but we need to understand that it is not value creating.
Are you tired of hearing all the excuses? Reducing risk exposure by attending to the threats is the predominant focus for today’s risk managers. There is no point in looking for opportunities if the boss wants us to treat the threats – the sooner the better. Continue reading
By training, inclination, and expectancy, risk managers tend to focus on threats because they are expert problem-solvers. Any deficiency in the smooth operation of an organization is a threat and it is the risk manager’s responsibility to treat the threat. This will help get things up and running smoothly once again. Yet, risk is very risky for the organization if the focus is solely on threats. Continue reading