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Traditional or technical risk management practices have been observed in local governments since the early 1960s. These practices tended to focus on the management and control of insurable risks (fires, thefts, and liability suits), as well as responsibility for insurance purchasing, for occupational safety and health, security, and similar matters. Later, financial risk management became a rather distinct technical practice, among other technical additions.

Chapter Three focussed on developments since the late 1980s, notably a general trend of expansion and extension of risk management followed closely by a rapidly evolving view – both in academia and in practice – that risk management should take an organisation wide and integrated stance and that this integration would be demonstrably value adding. Recent legal, regulatory, and best practice initiatives have further accelerated the expansion of risk management. But while this expansive view, ultimately emerging as enterprise risk management (ERM), is well advanced in the private sector, it has not penetrated the public sector in any significant way. And, indeed when it has been applied, it has revealed several fundamental problems. As a result, the current state of risk management is somewhat less easily summarised than might be expected. Traditional (hereafter ‘technical’) practices remain uneven, though widespread; holistic ERM-like efforts are somewhat widely – but inconsistently – implemented in the private sector while in the public sector technical practices are seen, though to a lesser degree, and there have been very few ERM adoptions. Nevertheless, as sometimes happens, the presence of an idea (ERM) has been highly influential and sufficient to reorient thinking about risk management.

For discussion and clarity purposes, this chapter introduces the concept public organisation risk management (PORM). Clarity is important, but the concept PORM serves a second function here. It provides a label that allows actual technical practices to be linked to the ERM ideas that shape thinking about risk management in the public sector. Furthermore, this concept also allows for the inclusion of some even more recent developments (beyond ERM) that will lead to an alternative framing of risk management in the final chapters. PORM, therefore, ultimately involves an inclusion of past, present, and future thinking about risk management in public sector organisations.

The evolution of risk management has placed some emphasis on the language of risk management practices. The classic categories risk control and risk financing, as umbrella terms for the range of risk management tools that may be employed, are still widely used – but as has been pointed out elsewhere in this book, the broadening of risk management has led to a reconsideration of the continuing accuracy and usefulness of the older terminology. For example, historically the term insurance-buying was expanded to include risk financing, which allowed recognition of newer, non-insurance tools. Similarly, loss prevention became risk control to include risk reduction, risk distribution, hedging, and more. More recently, risk treatment has emerged as a term that encompasses both the control and financing categories.

One of the significant changes in practice is the inclusion of opportunities that may arise from risks. Here the terminology has not quite kept pace with changes in the field. Additionally, while assessment and analysis has long captured the idea of evaluating risks and uncertainties, the more explicit inclusion of uncertainty, along with emergent phenomena, complexity, and the unknown/unknowable has led to questions about whether risk control meaningfully conveys the essence of these activities. The search for an alternative terminology is ongoing, but for the time being the term adaptive response (AR) is used here, which refers to a range of actions that could be taken to capture the full range of exposures.

Chapters Nine and Ten continue to use the term risk financing. This is more of a concession to practicality as, in any other setting, financial measures logically are ARs. Nevertheless, there are technical and substantive reasons to maintain some separation. But even here, the pressures of change are being felt. For example, while most risk financing arrangements focus on addressing the costs of risk (e.g. indemnifying an organisation for losses), the role of financial measures in encouraging or discouraging certain practices – including paying the risk manager’s salary, or incentivising certain desired practices – has historically not been considered in discussions

The Public Sector is usually assumed to have a risk avoidance culture, with a reactive rather than proactive approach towards the management. However, an improved holistic approach seems to be required, especially when considering the complexity and size of the Public Sector, and the challenges it faces to connect the services, clients and the different levels of governance.

Within this chapter, the authors lay out a maturity level evaluation of Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC) within the Maltese Public Sector. Through documentation analysis of the available literature on the subject, the authors determine the principal themes required to develop an effective GRC practice across the Public Sector. The authors then design statements based on the identified GRC themes and administer it using an online survey tool to Public employees across different Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Entities, in order to obtain their perception. This is in order to determine gaps, weaknesses or limiting factors towards the implementation of an effective GRC.

The results show that, although, there is a substantial percentage of scepticism and few disagreements towards some of the statements, especially those which related to Risk Management (RM) and Internal Auditing (IA), the majority of Public Sector bodies do in fact show high standards of GRC practices integrated and present in their day-to-day operations and internal environment, showing that there is a well-developed Governance, Compliance and Control structure and Internal Audit function across the Sector.

However, the perception of participants is that the RM function is the least developed area. IA needs some improvement especially where trust on advice is involved.

Purpose – This article examines management accounting practice in relation to the two aspects of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM): risk management and internal controls.

Methodology/Approach – We conducted a survey of experienced management accountants to find out about the risk management and internal control aspects of their current ERM practices, and their perceived effectiveness in performing various ERM roles, within the context of the ERM culture and the level of information systems support for ERM in their organizations.

Findings – In terms of the risk management aspects of ERM, the management accountants in the survey contribute highly to managing risks of a financial or compliance/legal nature and tend to focus mostly on risks with potentially higher impact and higher likelihood of occurring. In terms of the internal control aspects of ERM, they play a highly important role in ERM activities related to prevention and internal risk treatment. Their organizations have an ERM culture that is perceived as open to challenging discussions about risk and have implemented IS support for management accounting in areas such as information security and standardized information architecture. Overall, the effectiveness of their contributions to ERM is perceived to be high in the areas of compliance and finance-related risk.

Originality/Value – We develop a framework and offer empirical evidence about the ERM contributions of management accountants. We propose and use two original scales: one to classify ERM activities, and the other to assess ERM culture.

The need for an efficient enterprise risk management (ERM) has never been greater than today when organisations face complex and interconnected risks targeting their business models. Macroeconomics and geopolitical uncertainties, digital transformations of industries and sectors, cybersecurity, and climate change, among other trends, present significant uncertainties. This article aims to analyse the scientific papers on research specific to ERM and review the links between the researched area and market or corporate governance topics. Risk management is underdeveloped in many organisations; the current standard for risk management is a reactive approach. It is usually treated in isolation rather than as a core competency and a strategic asset. As a result, risk management processes are ineffective and seen as adding value to decision-making and responding to uncertainties. Based on the literature, the scope is to set up the framework for future research on ERM by building a bibliometric analysis and examining articles collected from the Web of Science Core Collection database. The study identified the essential research on this topic based on the citations of the papers and the author’s countries with the highest number of publications and citations. VOSviewer software analysed the ERM system based on keywords, citations, geographical distribution, and authorships. The research proves a strong connection between the ERM and corporate governance topics considering the stage where most countries are regarding this subject.

sGiven the topics covered in the first 11 chapters, it seems a tall order to bring such a large number of topics into a cogent summary. Additionally, the book has introduced three distinct views of risk management – the traditional/technical view, enterprise risk management, and an alternative view that is yet-to-be-fully-articulated. The summary is further complicated by the challenges of managing in complex environments. Nevertheless, an effort should be expected.

Here, the framing of public organisation risk management in practice (which will be applicable to risk management in other public contexts), begins with setting sustainable resilience as the central organising idea. From this come several practical principles that will serve to contextualise a range of specific processes and actions that constitute risk management as understood in the book. This requires some consideration of operational issues – programme implementation tactics, defining particular roles, evaluating outcomes, embedding assessment and analysis, and implementing tools. However, it also discussed somewhat more philosophical issues like the development of ‘network schema’, leadership in complexity, and the twin ideas of innovation and adaptation. Recognising that effective risk management always depends on the particular organisation or situation, a general guide to practice is outlined here.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether and how Spanish listed companies adopt formalized and integrated models of risk management during the period 2016–2018 and disclose them inside annual reports. Such investigation rebuilds the international regulatory and self-regulatory framework about risk management and examines the pressures and constraints influencing the adoption and implementation of ERM model in Spain. Indeed, the instability and uncertainty of the global macroeconomic context and the new threats to the corporate profitability and survival are now contributing to the development of a new dimension of risk management system more updated, dynamic and integrated. The results of the content analysis on ERM disclosure in annual reports show that Spanish listed companies are not equipped with structured and integrated risk management systems and their risk management approach is not aligned with any ERM framework. Notwithstanding, the Spanish companies are taking remarkable steps to strengthen the risk management systems towards a higher level of integration and systematization.

This research aims to specialise in the investigation of risk management for service-oriented manufacturing supply chains via two stages, highlighting its differences from manufacturing. The research article is commenced by executing an encyclopedic review of earlier research to ascertain the distinctive traits of service-oriented manufacturing supply chains and identify prevalent risks. Secondly, an empirical study in the construction field, amongst the industry hardest struck in the mist of the COVID-19 epidemic, is conducted to thoroughly inspect the resonant effect of these risks on service-oriented manufacturing supply chain performance.

In this study, to validate the resonant effect mechanism, a thorough assessment is undertaken by juxtaposing theoretical model to a newly constructed comparative model that encompasses the single effects of risks on supply chain performance.

63% variance of service-oriented manufacturing supply chain performance was showcased by the resonant effect model, compared with 46.3% in the comparative model. Moreover, each risk exerts a more glaringly significant impact on supply chain performance, asserting the mechanism of the resonant influence. Another noteworthy result involves the demand risk possessing a low effect on supply chain performance, thus emphasising the superiority of service-oriented manufacturing supply chains.

Future research endeavours should hinge on the optimal “resonant” model explosion, thereby foreseeing and alleviating worst-case scenarios to guarantee the robustness and resilience of supply chain networks.

Indubitably, reducing the intensity of the resonant effect revolves around lowering the coefficient of “a,” thereby restricting/eliminating the link among risks. Therefore, the suggested resonant impact model might thus serve as “a road map”. In light of the aforementioned considerations, it is advisable that supply chain executives employ supply chain management tactics namely avoidance, prediction, and postponement, but only after meticulous consideration the costs and benefits of adopting such strategies.

The service-oriented manufacturing supply chain features and advantages have been analysed and explained throughout the article. The data gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic is a captivating and topical point of this paper.

A commonly misunderstood characteristic of ERM in Switzerland is that it is perceived as a risk minimization tool. However, ERM is about controlling an ideal risk exposure level to pursue strategic objectives. ERM has emerged as an important business topic in Switzerland. As major challenges still pose a threat to successful ERM implementation, this study provides some causes for reflection on how to implement ERM model in order to gain a comprehensive view on all risks, opportunities and their respective interdependencies. Moreover, this study suggests policy makers to think about how to strengthen risk-based disclosures in the future.

This book is about risk management in the public sector, in general, and particularly risk management in public sector organisations. Risk management in the public sector is a much broader topic than risk management in public sector organisations because it touches on many issues of a public nature that are not the direct or sole responsibility of any specific public organisation. Sometimes a public organisation must deal directly with such risks, but often laws and regulations can adequately address broader public risk issues, governments can participate indirectly and behind the scenes, or participation can be in collaboration with private and non-profit organisations. In some cases, government organisations play no role at all.

This chapter focusses on an important contextual issue; the environment in which risk management is practised in the public sector and in which public risks arise. In much of this book, the unique or unusual attributes of the public sector are shown to profoundly affect risk and the forms and functions of risk management. This chapter introduces some of these attributes and highlights their likely impact on risk management. The public environment is one with movable boundaries, and it essentially encompasses any action or object that a society considers public. Over time, attitudes can change about publicness, but a key point is that while government entities occupy part of the public environment, they are not its only inhabitants.