Synopsis
Risk. It’s a given factor in the operation of any organization. From corporate fraud and security issues to technological and other man-made disasters, bad things do happen. And while many businesses build elaborate defenses against these unexpected occurrences, often employing powerful technology to help detect and prevent them, most risk-assessment strategies fail to connect the dots before it’s too late.
This book, based on the author’s extensive experience analyzing the sources of corporate and organizational failure, reveals how a company can mitigate risk using available resources, including what may be the most important asset: its people.
Filled with practical, real-world insight and featuring interviews with experienced risk practitioners, this book will help any business recognize the first signs of trouble.
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About the Author
Joseph W. Koletar served as Executive Director, Principal, and Director in the Fraud and Investigations practices of Ernst & Young LLP and Deloitte & Touché LLP. In addition to his international work with many premier law firms, his forty-year FBI career culminated in his role as Section Chief in the Criminal Investigative Division.
From the Back Cover
“Sound advice and important insights on major issues for corporate America.” — William G. Parrett, Former Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP
Machinery fails, computers crash, hurricanes hit—they can all spell disaster for an organization. But it is the human dimension of risk that is the most unpredictable and treacherous of all. Embezzlement, faulty manufacturing, industrial accidents, manipulated financial records, keyboarding errors, stolen property, workplace violence—these are very real risks that rarely show up on the executive radar, explains the author of the groundbreaking Rethinking Risk.
Blinded by flawed assumptions about risk, executives fail to properly assign responsibility for assessing risk, analyze the data that might pinpoint trouble, or reward the behaviors that decrease risk. Sometimes it ends in a fiery spectacle, such as the downfall of Enron or the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the entire global financial meltdown of 2008, but mostly the risks remain undetected, and often are already inflicting damage.
Rethinking Risk gives you a sobering, from-the-trenches account of real-life organizational risk. Packed with examples, interviews, and the eyewitness perspective of a seasoned risk management consultant and former high-ranking FBI professional, this fascinating page-turner is complete with suspenseful plots, behind-the-scenes detective work, and much-needed advice on how to deal with risks before they escalate—or prevent problems from happening in the first place.
From the Inside Flap
No one at BP expected the “fail-safe” safety mechanisms on its Gulf oil rig to actually fail or the platform to topple into the sea, unleashing the world’s most massive oil spill. Just as the executives at the venerable Toyota company never envisioned they would be manufacturing cars with sticky accelerator pedals. Or that Mattel would find itself recalling nine million Chinese-made toys for deadly lead paint.
As the author of the eye-opening Rethinking Risk points out, these disasters are not the result of mere carelessness or greediness. Instead, they stem from a systematic breakdown in the ability to accurately assess risk—and successfully plan to prevent it. All too often, the people at the top just don’t know what’s going on.
While executives spend their time scanning the horizon for threats such as predatory competitors or new technological developments, they often fail to draw an accurate picture of the real risks facing their organizations. They assume the data being fed into their risk-monitoring systems is accurate—but not all of it is. They assume their people are honest and conscientious—but not all are. They pack their organizations with legal counsels, CFOs, CIOs, and more in an attempt to mitigate risk—but without a clearly designed and articulated risk management plan. And they, like you, are vulnerable.
Rethinking Risk will radically upend your ideas about risk, both exposing the magnitude of potential problems and offering proven solutions for detecting risk and stopping damage before it snowballs. Packed with lessons gleaned from extensive interviews with risk management experts as well as eye-opening stories from the author’s FBI background and vast risk management experience, Rethinking Risk uncovers the best ideas and techniques for evaluating risk and managing it effectively, including how to:
• Spot the red flags of fraud, the most prevalent form of risk, and one that routinely results in lost revenues of five percent.
• Recognize that many traits valued in senior executives—including being innovative and aggressive—can also be linked with excessive risk-taking.
• Assess your performance and compensation plans to see whether they might entice people to engage in data-fudging or full-scale abuse.
• Tap into the knowledge of your employees, who can be the richest and most productive source of information regarding risk.
• Implement the best low-cost strategies for improving your risk-assessment capability—and avoid the tactics that fail to deliver results.
The pervasiveness of risk can fill you with paranoia and dread—or it can motivate you to develop a practical, coherent risk management system for dealing with problems before they get out of hand. Get motivated, and save yourself headaches, heartache, and continual blows to your organization’s financial health.
Joseph W. Koletar served as Executive Director, Principal, and Director in the Fraud and Investigations practices of Ernst & Young LLP and Deloitte & Touche LLP. Prior to that, he had a long career with the FBI, including the position of Section Chief in the Criminal Investigative Division.
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Rethinking Risk : How Companies Sabotage Themselves and What They Must Do Differently
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