@Risk

Will new regulations be effective in preventing any repeat of the global financial crisis?

I suppose we can all agree that to some degree regulations are important. But, as a new report points out, new rules alone will not be sufficient. In addition to regulatory oversight, companies need to completely revise their own attitudes towards risk, as well.

The report, released by Korn/Ferry International, is based on interviews with chairmen, CEOs and board directors of leading companies including Kingfisher, Legal & General, Balfour Beatty and National Grid in the UK, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Nestlé and Lagardère Group in mainland Europe and CB&I, US Steel and Owens Corning in the US.

These interviews reveal that large global businesses see their own attitude to risk as more important than regulation, and they suggest these attitudes are dramatically changing –not only because of as the threat of new regulation, but also because of

• the increasing complexity of risk,
• heightened public interest in corporate behavior and
• the ability of contentious issues to go viral on the Internet.

According to Korn/Ferry, companies can enhance strategic decision-making by paying more attention to six specific aspects of risk management, including: (more…)

Nearly half the retail and manufacturing companies surveyed in a recent Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium study now have a supply chain leader at or above the executive vice president level, reflecting a positive trend in supply chain leadership over the past five years.

Specifically, here’s a breakdown of the survey results by industry:

The study also found that: (more…)

Corporate boards and senior executives are becoming increasingly disconnected from their organizations’ security and privacy decisions, according to new research from Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab.

That’s more than a little disheartening to hear, considering that cyber attacks are increasingly common and increasingly effective. In fact, Symantec now estimates that attacks like these cost businesses an average of $2 million per year. They cause loss to productivity, efficiency, revenue, and customer trust.

CyLab’s new research, which follows up on a 2008 study, included a survey of 66 business execs at the board or senior executive level from Fortune 1000 companies. Based on the data collected, CyLab was able to uncover several disturbing trends. For example: (more…)

What  are the directors of leading companies focused on these days?

You guessed it: Risk.

In fact, according to the 8th Annual “What Directors Think” survey released last week by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Corporate Board Member magazine, 69%
of the directors polled believe that their risk has increased over the last year — a substantial jump from the 38% who answered so in 2008. (more…)