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

COVID-19 is now among the ranks of The Black Death, Spanish ‘Flu, and SARS.  Another submicroscopic demon is attacking humanity and bringing the mankind of this Information Age to its knees both physically and economically despite its insignificant size.

Viruses have been around longer than man and, when we become part of a future paleaontological record, they will still be plaguing whatever species takes over from us. 

We also live alongside other virulent diseases that continue to plague the world.  In 2018, TB affected 25% of the world’s population and caused some 1.5 million deaths while malaria affected 220 million people causing another 405,000 deaths.  In addition, HIV/AIDS and other diseases such as measles, cholera, and typhoid contribute to the millions of deaths annually.  Starvation, while not a disease, decimated mankind at an estimated rate of 21,000 per day in 2019. [Read more…]

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

Most of my career was spent with the Department of Defense (DOD) industry. The many programs I worked on included a fairly difficult reliability requirement. I was taught that reliability is designed into a system. I learned that verifying a reliability requirement was done by analysis. But for the system reliability to succeed, you need to consider the manufacturing and installation of the system. This is when risk management comes into play to ensure system reliability requirements succeed. This paper explains why. [Read more…]

You may be thinking this can’t be right.  ISO 31000 is a guideline document.  ISO 31000 – 2019 explicitly states that it is NOT for certification.

Well things change.

AENOR offers an ISO 31000 certification.

AENOR is the Spanish Association for Standardization.  It is global Certification Body.  It has 20 offices in Spain, almost 600 employees and almost 19,000 management system certificates.[1] [Read more…]

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

Financial planners would advise you that the key to a successful retirement are four cornerstones:

• Income
• Liquidity
• Security
• Growth

[Read more…]

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

“That’s not my job” …an inevitable response when a ‘somebody’ is asked to do something that requires their effort and which they believe they don’t have to do, don’t won’t do, or can’t do.  This familiar cry is often said with such impunity that the requester may well feel that they are in the wrong…but who is wrong and who has been wronged?
Both parties are taken aback; the requester may wilt away and take the request somewhere else with umbrage and annoyance, or challenge the rebuttal.  The requested, feeling threatened, reacts defensively be it right or wrong.  Conflict results but the sad fact is that the disputed work in question is delayed. ‘ [Read more…]

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

In earlier articles, I discussed two risk-oriented surveys.  One conducted at the World Economic Forum was of the world movers and shakers.  The second was conducted by North Carolina State University. It reflected the responses of CEOs and senior managers. This article discusses the results of the Aon “Risk Management Survey” of risk managers. [Read more…]