Industrial Automation Magazine India

Maintaining pace of transformations a significant risk management challenge: PwC survey

Published on : Thursday 14-07-2022

88 percent of business leaders are increasing their spending on technology and digital capabilities in the risk function workforce.

New Delhi, July 2022: Nearly eight in ten business executives in India say that keeping up with the speed of digital and other transformations is a significant risk management challenge. This is according to PwC’s 2022 Global Risk Survey: India highlights. The report also reveals that six in ten executives feel the need to actively seek external insights to assess and monitor risks in the increasingly disruptive business environment.

The survey saw participation from 109 Indian respondents, with leading business executives making up 72% of the sample and the rest comprising risk management (13%), audit (10%) and compliance (6%) professionals.

Sivarama Krishnan, Partner and Risk Consulting Leader, PwC India said: “Organisational  risk management and broader resilience capabilities need to quickly adapt to support business agility and contribute proactive, robust and timely risk insights for decision making. In an environment where change is constant, risk management capabilities provide the greatest value to board members and business leaders when they are embedded within the organisation’s strategic planning and decision-making processes. Informed by a panoramic view of emerging risks, business leaders can make confident decisions in pursuit of their strategy.”

The changing work environment brought on by the pandemic continues to disrupt talent and labour markets. Supply shortages, sanctions and rising raw material costs are heightening risks within supply chains as organisations deal with upstream supply chain risks related to subcontractors and other fourth parties that further complicate risks. Customers, investors and other stakeholders are laser focused on ESG, including the physical and transition risks that a changing climate poses. Each of these risks can cause significant impacts, but because they are also highly interconnected, any one risk can initiate far-reaching implications across the enterprise and put brand and reputation at stake.

In this turbulent business environment, many executives find the need to revise and adapt their strategies and operating models at a rapid pace. In this context, PwC’s 2022 Global Risk Survey highlights five key actions that organisations should consider to drive their risk management capabilities forward:

·         engage early and get risk insights at the point of decision

·         take a panoramic view of risk

·         set and employ risk appetite to take advantage of the upside of risk

·         enable risk-based decision making through systems and processes, and

·         double down efforts on top risks.

“Any one person cannot manage risks. When it comes to business, risk management is the ultimate team sport. Teams across all the three lines of defence in risk management need to work together to build a risk resilient organisation and thrive in an environment which is turbulent and disruptive,” Krishnan added.