Network Risk Management – risky business or just good business?

Risk management should always support business goals. While risk management activities happen across and throughout most businesses, it may still not be effectively integrated. You may be thinking that ‘my risk management program is integrated’ or ‘We take a systems approach or have a process in place to ensure key operational, functional and corporate risks are well understood and communicated to management and the Board’ ‘. If you are, that’s a great starting place; but what are you doing across your supply chain and with your key stakeholders? How is risk management supporting shared outcomes and deliverables? Are you investing enough time in understanding your key stakeholders and their drivers, risk appetite and vulnerabilities? How well do you understand the relationship between your organisations’?

If you have not reflected on these questions, now is the perfect time to start! We live in a connected world and every organisation has some degree of shared risk. If we ignore the shared risks, we fail in risk management; experience more adverse events and miss critical opportunities. It may impact your bottom line, result in delayed projects or undermine customer or shareholder confidence.

Think past your organisation, think past your supply chain and embrace your stakeholder network of relationships, interdependencies and outcomes. It is a challenging proposition but it will take you on a journey that will add value to your organisation and expand your own professional horizon.

Don’t expect a smooth journey without differences, hurdles, competing interests and values. Recognising these will help establish the rules of engagement. Shared risk management requires genuine business partnership and investment in understanding. Integrated risk management also requires a shared process that can be driven to support own business outcomes and shared outcomes with stakeholders where interests intersect.

How do you champion shared or network risk management? I will be writing more on this in the future but would also like to know your thoughts and experiences.