Workshop - Finding Value in ERM

During our day on ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT organized by the Centre for Finance in cooperation with AB Volvo, SWERMA and KPMG, we held a workshop to identify the value of ERM in terms of four current trends: exploring risk interconnectivity, linking risk management to strategy, technology enabled ERM, and breaking through the barriers of risk culture.

In small groups we discussed around the table status and future plans for each of these areas (pink post-its), brainstormed best practices and best in class activities (blue post-its), and picked a value-adding action to be prioritized for 2020.

Below is a summary of the different groups suggestions. Where I believe many groups had put thought and been working is in terms of linking risk management to strategy. This reflects a lot of the discourse in the last year or two about ERM and how the link to strategy is important. In terms of technology, Excel reigns supreme; Excel is after all flexible, customizable, and user friendly. Many had thoughts about moving on to systems of different kinds when it was clear what they wanted and needed from such a tool. In terms of culture, transparency, simplicity, and awareness were central to breaking through barriers. Some groups had some reflections in terms of exploring risk interconnectivity. One I appreciated was root cause analysis - looking for overlapping roots and different risk paths. I have some additional reflections on risk interconnectivity which you can read here.