Guest Post by Greg Hutchins (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

We’ve been discussing how ISO 9001:2015 has adopted Risk Based Thinking that will impact 1.2 million companies.  ISO 14001:2015 will impact 400,000 companies.  Now, government agencies are adopting and putting into statute risk management.

We’ve been talking up the fact the US government is requiring Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), specifically Office of Management and Budget Circular OMB A 123, of all US departments.  This is a game changer for federal agencies.  In this article, we’ll look at some of the significant changes in ERM for Federal agencies. [Read more…]

Guest Post by Geary Sikich (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

The Nine Circles of Planning Hell (Adapted from Dante’s Inferno)

Introduction

Inferno, the first part of Dante’s Divine Comedy that inspired the latest Dan Brown’s bestseller of the same title describes the poet’s vision of Hell. The story begins with the narrator (who is the poet himself) being lost in a dark wood where he is attacked by three beasts which he cannot escape. He is rescued by the Roman poet Virgil who is sent by Beatrice (Dante’s ideal woman). Together, they begin the journey into the underworld or the Nine Circles of Hell. [Read more…]

Guest Post by Geary Sikich (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

If you want senior management to pay attention give them something that challenges their focus – and understand that their focus is not on how many computers you have or RTO, RPO stats. It is on business survivability – will we be in business tomorrow given the issues that we face today. [Read more…]

Guest Post by Geary Sikich (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

Heightened Awareness or Reactive, Backwards Looking?

From financial crises to energy catastrophes to earthquakes and threats of terrorism, we hear a lot about events that challenge our ability to identify and manage risk.

Unfortunately, some of the things that emerge from many of these events are reactive regulatory rules and requirements. [Read more…]

Guest Post by Geary Sikich (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

We hear a lot about things that are being called “Black Swans” today thanks to Nassim Taleb and his extremely successful book, “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable,” now in its second edition. I have written several articles centering on the “Black Swan” phenomenon; defending, clarifying and analyzing the nature of “Black Swan” events. And, I am finding that wildly improbable events are becoming perfectly routine events. [Read more…]

Guest Post by Roxann Dawson (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

In order to improve business performance, manufacturing companies need to reduce the levels of non-conformance and attendant failure costs stemming from poor product design and development. Failure costs generally make up the largest cost category in a manufacturing business and include those attributable to rework, scrap, warranty claims, product recall and product liability claims. This represents lost profit to a business and as a result, it is the area in which the greatest improvement in competitiveness can be made. [Read more…]

In May of 2015, we finished ISO: Risk Based Thinking book.  We answer more than 300 questions about risk, quality, RBT, risk based auditing, and certification.  We will start answering questions that we get weekly.

SO WHY YOU?

So, what gives us credence since ISO 9001:2015 is coming out in 4 months.  Well ….   We coined and trademarked the expression: Future of Quality: Risk®.  We used the expression CERM: Risk Based Problem Solving | Risk Based Decision Making years before ISO developed Risk Based Thinking.   Twenty years ago, we wrote best selling ISO books.  We worked with the first ISO CB’s in 1987.  Anyway, you get the idea, we’ve been in this business a long time. [Read more…]

Guest Post by Stuart Rosenberg (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)

The supply chains of most companies, large and small, exploit a world of opportunities.  But increasing global exposure comes with an increasing range of risks.  These companies’ complex networks of suppliers and customers are as diverse as the goods and resources they manage.  Within the same supply chain, giant multinational companies can sit side-by side with small to medium enterprises (SMEs). Yet among companies large and small there is growing awareness that extreme weather and a changing climate pose new risks and opportunities to old ways of doing business. [Read more…]