Five Ideas: Risk

Every project has risks, and in today's turbulent economy it's more important than even for business leaders to manage those risks effectively. Take a look at the tips these risk experts offer, from how to create a successful strategy, to what Oracle products can help you enforce it.

“Business is about taking risks. The challenge for management is to understand and evaluate risks against their own 'risk appetite'.”—Brian Gregory, Senior Director, Oracle Risk and Compliance

“Risk management should be holistic, so organizations can manage all categories of risk throughout the enterprise. It should also be predictive, to foresee the onset of unacceptable levels of risk, and relevant, so risk management is embedded into strategic and operational planning”—Stephanie Maziol, Oracle product marketing director for GRC applications

“If your risk management is flawed, that is the biggest risk of all. Many organizations have adopted risk management systems. But the problem is, the systems are not backed up by measurable scientific results—and often can actually make things worse...I wholeheartedly endorse proper use of Monte Carlo simulations and the tools that make them accessible, like Oracle Crystal Ball.”—Douglas Hubbard is CEO of Hubbard Decision Research

“The really difficult piece comes in when you talk about risks like reputation, which is intangible. So what you can quantify is the impact of that risk. Traditional performance management application are used to identify metrix and indicators, and you evaluate the impact that risk might have. But the way you manage is less about the numbers and quantification. It's more about what are the actions we need to take.”—Thomas Oestreich, Oracle's Chief EPM Strategist

“Given the challenges in fighting fraud, it is no surprise that financial services firms are recognizing the need to take an enterprise approach to fraud management. While point solutions offer extensive capabilities within specific areas of fraud, they can generate high levels of false positive alerts and typically are not well integrated within the overall fraud and risk management regime of the firm. Financial institutions and regulators now have higher expectations. Firms want a single, better integrated view of fraud across accounts, customers and business lines..” —from Oracle white paper Fighting Fraud within Financial Services: A New Era of Financial Crime and Compliance Management