operational risk

Inherent Risk: Why It’s So Confusing and What You Should Do Instead

When asking a question, isn’t it awkward when all you get is a blank stare in return? It certainly felt awkward at points when asking different business units specific risk questions in my early career as an ERM practitioner. Whenever I would use risk terminology with an executive or manager, all I would frequently get…

Harmonizing Operational, Enterprise, and Strategic Risk Management

“Teamwork makes the dream work.” This famous saying first coined by clergyman John C. Maxwell is one of my personal favorites and highly relevant in business, sports, family life, and much more. It’s also highly relevant to the success of any organization, including its risk management. And by teamwork, I’m not necessarily referring to the…

The Low-Hanging Fruit of Identifying Opportunities

Recently, some neighbors invited us to come and pick some ripened citrus from their trees (before they all froze). At first, this was easy to do since much of the fruit (grapefruit, tangerines, satsumas, etc.) was lower down the tree and easily reachable from the ground, even for our son to reach. What does this…

Does the Southwest Meltdown Prove ERM Haters Correct?

Most of the time, flight delays and cancellations are just an inconvenience for a small number of people. That cannot be said about the recent “meltdown” of Southwest Airlines’ operations over the Christmas 2022 holiday. While the intense winter weather gripping the U.S. affected all airlines, the impact to Southwest was especially severe with close…

The 12 Days of ERM Christmas

Without a doubt, one of my family’s favorite holidays is Christmas. Part of the fun, especially for our son, is seeing what “Santa” brought, but most importantly, we treasure the spirit of peace and goodwill the season brings. And after what seemed to be a never-ending warm spell, the weather is expected to be good…

How Addressing Minor Risks Through Process Optimization Creates Opportunities

I’ve said it dozens of times here and have seen repeated elsewhere – trying to manage each and every risk can be mindboggling and, at best, lead to wasted resources in the form of time, people, and money. In the most extreme circumstances, attempting to manage every risk can lead to business failure, which is…

Carpe Futurum – Reorienting your Company’s View of Risk to Seize the Future

For this week’s post, I am sharing an article I wrote for the latest issue of Carrier Management, a quarterly journal for property & casualty insurance executives. Like previous guest editorials in this and other publications, the principles found within this article are applicable to any organization. Unless you have been living on Mars for…

Risk & Compliance Conference Session Provides Deep-Dive into Third-Party Risks

Risk management isn’t solely about managing threats and opportunities within your company. Just like it would be impossible for us to grow food, provide clothing, shelter, and other necessities all on our own, the same fact is true for a company. It would be impossible to provide every raw material or handle every service in-house.…

Navigating Risks and Opportunities of the Changing Nature of Work

When the COVID pandemic forced many companies to shift to a remote work arrangement last year, it represented “…one of the greatest disruptions to work in generations.” This disruption forced both executives and workers to be more innovative, with companies spending over $300 billion last year on technology to facilitate working from home. The transition…

Integrating Strategic Risk Management and Operational Risk Management

Most organizations, if not all, have some level of operational risk management. For example, some organizations are focused on operational risk related to safety or contract oversight of vendors. But a common view of operational risk management is slightly broader by examining risks associated with the actual daily operations of the organization. Examples include understanding…

operational risk

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