How can risk management contribute to effective governance within organisations?

How can risk management contribute to effective governance within organisations? This is a challenging assignment, in that it requires reflection on the material presented in the module and its relevance to guiding practice. There are no right or wrong answers, and this is an opportunity for reflectionand imaginative thinking. However, you should present clear and convincing explanations of the importance of the issues you identify. You will be assessed primarily on the logic of your argument, the appropriateness of the issues you include, and the quality of the accompanying evaluation of the significance of these issues. Good answers will present a coherent, integrated perspective of the issues you cover rather than simply identifying a set of independent issues. You do not need to cover all of the material provided within the lectures. The question allows you to focus narrowly on material covered in one lecture, or to attempt a more general overview if you wish. Some guidance on the essay is as follows: The question is: "How can risk management contribute to effective governance within organisations? " To help you answer this question, there are two things I suggest you consider very carefully: 1) What aspects of risk management activity might be relevant? In my lectures I talked about risk-based internal control and enterprise risk management. You could write about both aspects, or just one. Or you could choose something else like information risk managment or cyber security risk management. What matters is that you are clear about what aspects of risk management can contribute to governance, and you should think carefully about, and write clearly about, what their contributions can be. 2) What needs to happen within a system of governance? Here you might consider that managers need some freedom to manage, directors need to provide a framework of effective oversight and scrutiny/monitoring for managers, and shareholdersneed timely and accurate information to help them value their investments and take decisions about them. Once you have thought about (1) and (2), you can begin to draw specific connections... for example.... systems of risk-based internal control are characterised by elaborate committee structures which permit boards to ensure principal risks are addressed by managers. These committee structures help improve governance because they bring directors into close contact with managers, to dicuss risk agendas, over the course of the year. That is just one simple example of how a risk management activity can make a positive contribution to governance. How many more links will you be able to think of? Consider that the essay challenges you to make links like this. Try to be creative. Also, please consider these more general points when designing your assessments: - you don't need to include an 'abstract' at the start.... but it does always make sense to have an introduction and a conclusion. Think carefully about what a good introduction and conclusion can accomplish. - subheaded sections throughout an assessment are not mandatory but they make good sense and they can really help you. It makes sense to have subheadings for your 'introduction' and your 'conclusion'. In a 2000 word essay there is certainly scope for including several subheaded sections within the main body of the text but how many you include is ultimately a matter for your own judgment as an author. - when you include a subheaded section, use the subheading to discipline and structure what you write about. In each section try to write ONLY about what the subheading suggests the section should be about ! This can be a big advantage for students for whom English is not their first language....because it assists with the communication of ideas. It can also really help you to focus rationally on important ideas without drifting onto peripheral areas and confusing the reader about your purpose. - these assessments are opportunities to show research skill and academic scholarship. Have a look at some published academic articles and notice the references they contain. Think about what academic references accomplish and think about what it means to use references well. Think about what high quality references are, and why it is better to reference an article written in an eminent academic journal by an eminent author, than to reference wikipedia or a website. You can reference any kind of source, but keep your focus strongly on academic articles and books if you can. - you will see that most articles you read contain reference lists at the end that are alphabetised by surname and follow a consistent referencing style. Make sure you do this too. -courseworks give you a lot of freedom to write about what you want, while still addressing the question rigorously. Always make sure that you do address each question fully... for example if a question has two parts, make sure you answer both parts. Also make sure that in your introduction you explain what your particular purpose is. -In an essay about risk management and governance, it makes sense that within your essay you will discuss both risk management and governance. An essay which only discusses governance, without considering risk mangement, and vice versa, and which fails specifically to address how risk management can contribute to effective governance, will simply not engage with the question. In previous years there have been one or two essay answers which did not use the term 'risk management' at all. Clearly that is inappropriate ! -Ask yourself if your essay gives sufficient attention to both risk management and governance. Is it well balanced in that respect? I think good practice in any essay is to start by explaining 'what things are' (in other words, by defining and providing outline discussion for basic terms). -a coursework is also an opportunity to show 'prgramme level' and 'module level' knowledge and understanding. Therefore, it can be a good idea to skim back through module teaching materials (especially lecture slides) before designing and writing your assessments.