Enterprise Risk Management: Today's Leading Research and Best Practices for Tomorrow's Executives (Robert W. Kolb Series) [Hardcover]

John Fraser (Editor), Betty Simkins (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2010 | Series: Robert W. Kolb Series (Book 3)

Essential insights on the various aspects of enterprise risk management

If you want to understand enterprise risk management from some of the leading academics and practitioners of this exciting new methodology, Enterprise Risk Management is the book for you. Through in-depth insights into what practitioners of this evolving business practice are actually doing as well as anticipating what needs to be taught on the topic, John Fraser and Betty Simkins have sought out the leading experts in this field to clearly explain what enterprise risk management is and how you can teach, learn, and implement these leading practices within the context of your business activities. In this book, the authors take a broad view of ERM, or what is called a holistic approach to ERM.

Enterprise Risk Management introduces you to the wide range of concepts and techniques for managing risk in a holistic way that correctly identifies risks and prioritizes the appropriate responses. This invaluable guide offers a broad overview of the different types of techniques: the role of the board, risk tolerances, risk profiles, risk workshops, and allocation of resources, while focusing on the principles that determine business success. This comprehensive resource also provides a thorough introduction to enterprise risk management as it relates to credit, market, and operational risk, as well as the evolving requirements of the rating agencies and their importance to the overall risk management in a corporate setting. Filled with helpful tables and charts, Enterprise Risk Management offers a wealth of knowledge on the drivers, the techniques, the benefits, as well as the pitfalls to avoid, in successfully implementing enterprise risk management.

• Discusses the history of risk management and more recently developed enterprise risk management practices and how you can prudently implement these techniques within the context of your underlying business activities
• Provides coverage of topics such as the role of the chief risk officer, the use of anonymous voting technology, and risk indicators and their role in risk management
• Explores the culture and practices of enterprise risk management without getting bogged down by the mathematics surrounding the more conventional approaches to financial risk management

This informative guide will help you unlock the incredible potential of enterprise risk management, which has been described as a proxy for good management.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

If you want to understand enterprise risk management (ERM) from some of the leading academics and practitioners of this exciting new methodology, Enterprise Risk Management—part of the Robert W. Kolb Series in Finance—is the book for you. Through in-depth insights into what practitioners of this evolving business practice are actually doing as well as anticipating what needs to be taught on the topic, John Fraser and Betty Simkins have sought out the leading experts in this field to clearly explain what enterprise risk management is and how you can teach, learn, and implement these leading practices within the context of your business activities. With this book, the authors take a broad view of risk management, or what is generally called a holistic approach to ERM.

Enterprise Risk Management introduces you to a wide range of concepts and techniques for managing risk in a holistic way that correctly identifies risks and prioritizes the appropriate responses. This invaluable guide offers a broad overview of the different techniques: the role of the board, risk tolerances, risk profiles, risk workshops, and allocation of resources, while focusing on the principles that determine business success.

This comprehensive resource also provides a thorough introduction to enterprise risk management as it relates to credit, market, and operational risk, as well as the evolving requirements of the rating agencies and their importance to overall risk management in a corporate setting. Filled with helpful exhibits and examples, Enterprise Risk Management offers a wealth of knowledge on the drivers, techniques, and benefits involved in successfully implementing enterprise risk management. Chapter by chapter, this book:

• Discusses the history of risk management and more recently developed enterprise risk management practices, and how you can prudently implement these techniques within the context of your underlying business activities

• Provides coverage of topics such as the role of the chief risk officer, the use of anonymous voting technology, and risk indicators and their role in risk management

• Explores the culture and practices of enterprise risk management without getting bogged down by the mathematics surrounding the more conventional approaches to financial risk management

This informative guide will put the evolving methodology of enterprise risk management—which has been described as a proxy for good management—in perspective and help you unlock its incredible potential.

From the Back Cover

Enterprise Risk Management

The Robert W. Kolb Series in Finance is an unparalleled source of information dedicated to the most important issues in modern finance. Each book focuses on a specific topic in the field of finance and contains contributed chapters from both respected academics and experienced financial professionals. As part of the Robert W. Kolb Series in Finance, Enterprise Risk Management introduces you to the essential concepts and techniques associated with this dynamic field. It provides a blend of academic and practical experience in order to educate both professionals and students alike.

Filled with in-depth insights and expert advice, this reliable resource offers holistic coverage of ERM and, in the process, addresses the what, why, and how of ERM to assist firms with its successful implementation.

Divided into six comprehensive parts, Enterprise Risk Management:

• Offers a broad overview of risk tolerance, risk profiles, and allocation of resources

• Provides a thorough introduction to ERM as it relates to credit, market, and operational risk

• Examines the evolving requirements of the rating agencies and their importance to overall risk management in a corporate setting

• Discusses the drivers, techniques, and benefits involved in successfully implementing enterprise risk management

• And much more

With this book as your guide, you'll gain a firm understanding of the issues surrounding ERM and what it will take to make it work for you.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 600 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 7, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470499087
• ISBN-13: 978-0470499085
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 1.8 x 10.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #194,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #46 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Insurance > Risk Management

More About the Author

Betty J. Simkins, Ph.D., is the Williams Companies Professor of Business and a Professor of Finance in the Department of Finance at Oklahoma State University's Spears School of Business. She received her Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University. She has received a number of teaching awards at OSU including the Regents Distinguished Teaching Award and the Outstanding OSU MBA Faculty Award. Her primary area of research is risk management but she also conducts research in corporate governance (including board diversity) and research productivity and influence, among other areas. She has coauthored more than 40 journal articles and book chapters in publications such as the Journal of Finance, Financial Management, Journal of Futures Markets, Financial Review, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, and Journal of Financial Research. Betty has won four Financial Management Association International best paper awards for her research, the most recent being the 2007 Best Paper in Risk Management. Betty is also active in the finance profession and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Financial Management Association, as co-editor of the Journal of Applied Finance, as editor of FMA Online, and as past president of the Eastern Finance Association. She also serves on the Executive Advisory Committee of the Conference Board of Canada's Strategic Risk Council. Prior to entering academia, she worked in the corporate world for ConocoPhillips and Williams Companies.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Major Contribution in a vital area of organizational behaviour July 12, 2010

By Michael F. Murphy

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

A new book on Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) has arrived in a rapidly filling field. What should we make of it? Is it a threat (i.e. does it only muddy the already turbulent waters after putting a charge on our wallets and bookshelves) or is it an opportunity (i.e. something that is good for the growth of the discipline and its practitioners)? Is it minor league, major league or world champion?

Quantitatively, it has two editors, Betty J. Simkins, a US business and finance academic, and John Fraser, a Canadian senior executive practitioner. It runs 577 pages which includes a comprehensive index and contains 26 chapters, written by 30 contributors and several panellists. It is divided into six parts (Overview; ERM Management, Culture and Control; ERM Tools and Techniques; Types of Risk; Survey Evidence and Academic Research; Special Topics and Case Studies) and features a convenient chapter format comprising of an argument, conclusions, notes and references.

According to the book's subtitle: Today's Leading Research and Best Practices for Tomorrow's Executives, it is intended to be read by up-and-coming managers with their sights set on the C-Suite. I would broaden that audience to experienced practitioners, curious students of all organizations, and academics who have an interest in this fascinating and often misunderstood discipline.

Qualitatively, it is honest, unpretentious and well written and edited, qualities that are not always honoured in the field of managing risk. Moreover, with almost three dozen perspectives (including the panellists) you can be assured that you are not being inflicted with only one person's opinion. As a keen student of risk management, I appreciated the nicely balanced approach - a nuanced blend of concepts and practice - which passes from the contributors through the skilful hands of the two editors. I particularly liked the emphasis on risk culture - and not just the usual nostrums about "the tone at the top" or "management buy-in". I have come to gag at those facile clichés and will take a full star off any review of books that rely on them. In several chapters dedicated to organizational culture, the contributors dig below the popular veneer to penetrate one of the most challenging prerequisites of ERM - a healthy, coherent and robust organizational attitude and ethic towards risk. Of course, there is always more to drill, but this is at least a credible insight beyond the penetrating insights into the obvious that so often ricochet around ERM conference halls.

Although I thought I'd seen them all, I also appreciated that a number of useful tools were laid on the table. To be sure, there is a point to be mooted here and a claim to be challenged there. For example, the notion of risk appetite and tolerance, while treated by several contributors at length, leaves the reader wondering why such an important subject has never been able provoke a consistent definition, let alone treatment by practitioners. These quibbles aside, the scope of topics addressed here is impressive, spanning lofty and arcane topics like strategy, finance and reputation, as well as gritty techniques like running risk assessment workshops and plotting the results. Midway through the book, there are some pithy risk management insights from Warren Buffet that many investors would agree is worth the price of the book alone.

Like all worthwhile books, this one is best read critically, reflected deeply upon and discussed thoroughly with knowledgeable or interested colleagues. To be sure, risk management is risky - that is to say, mishandled like any tool, machine or weapon, it will likely hurt you and others. Understand and embrace its principles and respect its limitations and risk management can be an intriguingly wise counsellor. This book is an excellent investment for anyone who cares deeply about the risks to their organization. Perhaps some of the executives who are in jail or facing prosecution for mismanaging their enterprise risks will find it offers advice too late in the game to make any difference. For the rest of us, this book can provide useful prescriptive advice that might otherwise take a lifetime of costly trial and error to acquire. In my view, it is a first class job and well worth the price.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An all star summation of leading ERM practices/guidance July 7, 2010

By Arnold Schanfield

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book authored by John Fraser and Betty Simkins is simply fantastic and what a wonderful contribution to the discipline of enterprise risk management.
The two prime authors- Fraser and Simkins have attracted an all star cast of leading academics/practitioners, each whom wrote one chapter in this book.

This book has special importance because it is my belief that there is complete chaos/bedlam in this country especially as far as having succinct risk management practices in place. We are all over the map in terms of existing practices and the 30 or so professional organizations out there all touting their expertise in risk management have created confusion.

This book addresses this dilemma head on as it provides a plethora of best in class guidance from a discussion of the new ISO framework on Risk Management by John Shortreed- Chapter 7, to the chapter authored by Felix Kloman on the History of Risk Management/Evolution of the profession to the Chapters authored by John Fraser himself on how to prepare a risk profile and what to read in the world of risk management. There is even a Chapter on a topic called Key Risk Indicators which is a relatively new concept (not to be confused with Key Performance Indicators)

Overall I rate this book as excellent and believe that it represents the single most important contribution to the field of risk management over the past several years and will be a valuable addition to anyone's library. Buy it and read it for yourself!!!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Dean Anthony R. Davidson, PhD July 1, 2010

By lekuchos

Format:Hardcover

If you REALLY want to understand the evolution of ERM and where we need to get to, then this is the book for you. WARNING! It's NOT a guide to implementation. What you can take away most from this book is a comprehensive understanding of the culture and nature of risk and how it needs to be managed in today's economic climate. The contributing authors are all experts and the editors do a masterful job of synthesizing the knowledge into an easy read. Parts of the book might be too sophisticated for the novice but there are still many chapters that will appeal to them. Chapters 1 through 7 come to mind and I view chapters 6 and 7 as being real standouts. What's useful is that none of the material is too simplistic even for the experts among us. Whether you are deep into risk or just recognize the need to be part of a current risk management culture in your organization this is a definite winner.