Above the Zambezi River, within sight of stunning Victoria Falls, an Australian bungee jumper became one of 500,000 tourists from the past ten years to bungee jump above crocodile-infested waters. She was the first to plunge in after her cord snapped.
This dramatic YouTube video is a wake up call for risk management—one in half a million is a safe statistic for most companies, but enterprise risk management (ERM), which can reduce that even further, still isn’t embedded in most day-to-day activities, according to The Conference Board.
The report, sponsored by global management consultancy Oliver Wyman, was based on a survey of risk, audit, and finance executives with 200 companies from a range of industries. Fifty-five percent of survey participants indicated that by 2008, their corporate boards are a top driver of their enterprise risk management program, up from 49 percent in 2006.
But The Conference Board says ERM, a strategic method of understanding and managing risks, is not being integrated in corporate cultures. The progress has been mainly in early stage efforts, such as creating a risk inventory and assessment process. That means potential trouble—key ERM benefits in managing the overall corporate risk profile and portfolio are still unrealized at most companies.
