Fortune Favours the Well-Prepared

Traditionally, organizations have viewed risk management as a corporate requirement, and have often positioned it along with audit and regulatory functions. Some have even empowered and titled corporate groups to manage risk along these lines. This charge has often revolved around managing insurance policies and reviewing reports from rating agencies, which suggests that risk management was viewed more as the hedging of certain risks and the overall outsourcing of critical risk analysis, especially as related to credit risk. The recent economic downturn has shown a new face and place for risk management. The strongest firms in this economic downturn are those who integrated risk management as a more comprehensive part of corporate strategy. The weaker firms almost entirely shared the traditional risk management school of thought mentioned above. This is true in financial services and extends to nearly all industries reliant on credit, market, and operational risk management. In the recent economic downturn, a few key behaviors of risk management as a driver of corporate strategy have emerged. First and foremost, sound risk management requires executive involvement and ownership. Next, there must exist a culture and climate for openly communicating risk in the organization. Additionally, communication of risk must have an emphasis on data driven decisions. Lastly, but perhaps most critically, is that the organization must have a ready response to a known risk.