Enterprise Risks
In a world of risk, there’s more to think about than earthquakes, pandemics and cyber-attacks. Equally serious, and a growing area of corporate concern is enterprise risk. It can have a large impact on our markets and money, yet it’s neglected in many business resumption plans and continuity programs. It needs to be understood and addressed by senior management.
Operations Impact

Enterprise risk is a broad and all- encompassing term for a growing category of corporate risk and includes substantial and potentially disruptive challenges to your organization’s operations. Among the more common examples are:
- Legislation (from any level of government) that can force operational changes on an organization
- Hostile takeovers
- Mergers
- Budgetary problems and
bankruptcies
- Economic downturns—recessions and depressions
- Currency fluctuations
- Product recalls and failures
- Negative activities of foreign governments
- Negative activities of competitors
- Loss of key management and expert technical staff
- Strikes and other job actions
- Outbreak of war or revolution
Enterprise risk can also include the non-physical effects of any other threat, emergency or disaster. Think of how public health guidelines and orders associated with Covid-19 have caused massive changes in how many organizations do business.
The Consequences
“We’re well-prepared for every type of natural disaster,” says Dave, a partner in a Vancouver engineering firm. “But a recession presents problems that I’m not sure how to address.“
“My administration did not think that we were at risk and then we were advised to shut everything down,” says Carol, a support services manager at a BC community college. “We were unprepared, and as a consequence we’re struggling to comply with government guidelines.
At the same time, the loss of revenue is staggering, and we are still working on a response to the drop in student numbers and the conversion of our courses for Zoom delivery.“
Addressing the Risk
Thoughtful disaster planning provides organizations a better chance of survival. In order to develop effective plans to mitigate enterprise risk, there is a need to involve not only senior management and service delivery personnel, but also legal counsel, external financial advisors, and general disaster planning specialists.
Once your planning group identifies a threat, the next step is to determine ways to deal with it quickly. Include these risks in your Corporate Risk Register and Mitigation Plan. Thse risks are not going away. Often, delays in response will lead to worse losses.
If you’d like to comment on this article or explore these ideas further, contact me at guy.
This article was published in the
November 2020
edition of The TMC Advisor
- ISSN 2369-663X Volume:7 Issue:8
©2020 TMC Consulting