Few Thoughts

India - It took 50+ years to build a strong opposition and now it seems crumbling down. A weak counterpart to the government will be loss to public.

If there would not have been different religions, we would not have been enjoying, experiencing and debating divergent cultures and array of thoughts. - just a thought :)

Misaligned and Fragmented Risk Functions Jeopardizing Organizations' Performance, Says Ernst & Young

Misaligned and fragmented risk functions jeopardizing organizations' performance – Ernst & Young study

London, 17 August 2009 — Ninety-six percent of organizations believe they have an opportunity to improve their risk management functions. Furthermore, nearly half say committing additional resources to risk management could create a competitive advantage, according to Ernst & Young's Future of Risk survey, which examined organizations' attitudes toward risk management.

The survey of more than 500 senior executives, predominately those at the C-suite and board level, reveals the downturn is heightening awareness among companies of the need to manage risk more effectively.

Norman Lonergan, Global Advisory Leader for Ernst & Young, said, "Although many organizations have boosted the size and reach of their risk management functions, this does not always equate to an increase in effectiveness. In fact, too few organizations can claim that shared reporting, data exchange and co-ordination consistently occurs among their various risk management functions. In the end, this only leaves the organization more vulnerable to the threat of risk."

Risk management has advanced but more needs to be done

Despite improvements in risk management over the past several years, organizations should continue to challenge their approach - especially now when most will be asked to do more with the same or limited additional resources. While only two percent plan to decrease investments in risk management, almost two-thirds (61%) of survey respondents said they do not plan to commit more resources to risk management over the next 12-24 months.

Gerry Dixon, Global Risk Leader, explained, "Recent events have forced a maturing of risk management and many companies can take pride in the progress they have made. However, now is not the time to become complacent? Leading organizations recognize the continuing opportunity to improve their risk assessments, enhance monitoring, reduce costs, and better integrate information technology."

Lack of co-ordination among risk functions is a threat

The survey also revealed that the number of risk management functions has increased to keep up with compliance requirements. However, the coverage and focus of these multiple risks functions has become increasingly difficult to manage, and is compounded by a lack of alignment.

Seventy-three percent of respondents indicated they have seven or more risk functions. Furthermore, sixty-seven percent have overlapping coverage with two or more risk functions. Fifty percent of those surveyed reported gaps in coverage.

Dixon said, "Risk management functions within an organization often exist in silos that are disconnected from one another and the wider business strategy. As a result, risks identified in one area may not be communicated or recognised by another. Moreover, different areas within an organization may have different views on the severity or importance of certain risks."

An improved future for risk management

The survey demonstrated that companies want improved risk coverage whilst decreasing costs and improving value. They also aspire to have their risk and control activities aligned and co-ordinated. The key to making this possible lies between the risk and control functions and the business units. This includes having an aligned mandate and scope, coordinated infrastructure and people, consistent methods and practices and common information and technology.

Survey respondents clearly recognize that risk management provides significant benefits to their organizations beyond better identification and understanding of key risks. Most respondents also report benefits from improved business performance (99%), protection of business value (98%), better decision making (98%) and improved compliance with regulations (98%).

Dixon concluded, "Leading companies are creating a competitive advantage by using the economic downturn as an opportunity to make practical yet valuable improvements to the way risk is managed. More than ever, organisations need to have a comprehensive and coordinated risk management approach with strong executive oversight and board of director governance. The opportunity to make those changes is now."

To read more visit e&y.com.

Had registered for the Half Marathon 2010 and plan to follow the learning, I got from the last Marathon. Somehow I was a little apprehensive while registering as it is a daunting task and needs focus and determination to accomplish. With determination you need stamina and practice to attain the desired target - I had put my plan on place, divided the whole plan into phases and has started working on it.

Hope that I will be able to run 21 Kilometers. God Bless!

Best of luck to all who are participating in the Marathon.

Avoid Annoying People

Working in the corporate world and not facing politics looks impossible. Managing teams and keeping all of them happy is again a big task because emotions and ego play a major role. You need to opt change with flexibility.

To avoid annoying people, there are few keywords:

Respect, Trust, Be genuine, Be Flexible, using authority with caution, avoid being self centered, taking responsibility, avoiding comparisons.



Think over it!



This is for personal, non commercial use only.

Some Common Collection Tips

• Assume that most people are honest and want to pay you.
• Adjust according to behavior.
• Be a good listener.
• Treat customers with respect during the collection process.
• Try to find out why a customer is not paying.
• Keep a customer's total payment history in mind.
• Remember that friendliness will help a customer want to pay you first.

This is for personal, non-commercial use only.

Six Steps

• Manage your time and everything will be managed accordingly.
• Discipline yourself. It makes your life comfortable.
• Coordination makes work 'a fun'.
• Planning if proper, you do smart work and if not you do hard work.
• Processes in place will keep you on the top.
• Action on time will keep you Active.

This is for personal, non-commercial use only.

Stephen Covey's Hero is Gandhi

Please find herewith the excerpt of the interview of Stephen Covey. I read the same in one of the Newspaper in the Month of December 2008 and thought of sharing.

With the advent of technology, there are so many distractions in our work lives. How do you really put First Things First?

That is one of the key questions. There are so many distractions and so many things that are urgent, but they are not really important. Research shows that most executives spend half their time doing things that are urgent but not important. And they end up neglecting their families, their personal life. Their community service suffers and their organizations are not as productive.


Most people are confused about what to do with their lives. They just trudge along and take what comes along their way. How do we discover the inner purpose of our lives?

You have to ask the question: What is it that you love doing and that you do well, and that serves a human need and that you feel called to do almost by your conscience. When those four things overlap - talent, passion, conscience and need -then people would have found their voice. But most people are never asked those questions. They are more told (what to do). They are given a job description.


How does an individual incorporate the seven habits in daily life?

Most people have never found their voice. Seriously they are in jobs where they just go through the motions. They have not moved to complementary teams where people's voices or strengths are made productive and weaknesses are made irrelevant through the strengths of other people. And unless they get a new mindset in moving towards this kind of open, genuine communication, they won't find their voice. Consequently, they won't do quality work which they otherwise could. And they don't like it. In most cases most of the people at the lower ends of organizations don't even know what the strategic goals are. And they don't even care. Helping a person find his or her voice takes more than just interpersonal skills. It takes formalization of principles inside the structure, systems and organizations. Otherwise, it's not going to be durable. It will not endure.


You advise people to be proactive but governments are always reactive. Is there disconnect between organizations and the advice?

There is disconnect and that's true with governments and with organizations that do not have competition in the marketplace. But those who are proactive can make great things happen, can anticipate problems, can get into a preventive mindset rather than just reacting to problems as they come up. Successful people are opportunity-minded and not problem-minded.

Can you name any companies that have moved successfully to the knowledge age?

I was just with Toyota over in Japan, and they are so far ahead of Ford and General Motors and Chrysler, who are still buried in the Industrial Age. Toyota is moving so much more rapidly towards the Knowledge-Worker Age. They have more of a complementary team where strengths are made productive and weaknesses are made irrelevant through the strengths of other people, less top-down, less authoritarian, more empowerment and more synergy, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

And that is why Toyota is succeeding all around the world.

We have seen several US financial services firms go under. Is this because of their failure to observe these habits that has caused this?

Definitely! And it also comes from people not living by principles. Now the trust has gone down so low, that people have very little confidence in them. So they need to focus a great deal on how to inspire trust and to do that you have to live by principles and have the organization live by principles. Once you have people inspired and trust is very high, then you can involve them in coming up with a common vision and mission and value system. Then they align all the structures and systems based on principles.

Then you help people find their voice. Every person has the opportunity to do what he or she loves doing and, if they do it well, that serves the needs of the organization. So we will focus on those four imperatives of leadership: inspire trust, verify purpose, align systems and unleash talent.

What kinds of leaders have really internalized the habits you have talked about?

Look at Mahatma Gandhi. He never held a position and was the leader of the largest democracy in the world. I just had a great personal visit with Nelson Mandela down in South Africa. He got his moral authority in prison. And then (Frederik Willem) de Klerk opened the path for him to be released and become the first president of the new South Africa. Leadership is moral authority whereas management is formal authority that is conferred from the top. But leadership is earned from below, based on high trust and getting people emotionally connected with the strategic goals because they were involved and they understand them and they emotionally connect to them.

Do you have a personal hero, who would embody these things?

Gandhi

What about Barack Obama or John McCain, the political leaders who fought the presidential election in the US?

I don't have the same level of confidence in the cast that had been put up to the American public today. But I do believe that whoever it is, they have to have a more synergistic approach towards their relations with other people and other nations. I have trained over 35 heads of states. I have trained their cabinets, their advisors, and their legislatures and also their supreme courts and judiciary. So I see what builds trust and what destroys trust. When trust is high, speed goes up tremendously, productivity grows up. When trust is low, speed and productivity go down.


Any one message that you would like to give to our readers?

I would say for your body: assume you would have had a heart attack. Now eat and exercise accordingly. For your mind: assume that the half life of your profession is only two years, so prepare accordingly. For your heart: assume that everything is shared by another person; they can overhear and now speak accordingly. For your spirit: assume you are going to have a one-on-one visit with your creator every three months. Now live accordingly.

This is for personal, non-commercial use only.