This book is a Six Step Approach to show how to develop and implement an Enterprise Risk Management Program within your organization. This book will cover how various public entities are addressing risk identification, risk assessment, risk analysis, implementation of their ERM program, monitoring and evaluating their ERM program. Examples are taken from public entities that are using Enterprise Risk Management in their organizations: Department of Homeland Security, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Education, University of California, State of Washington, Penn State University, British Columbia, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Washington State Department of Transportation, San Francisco International Airport, MassDevelopment, Dakota County, Minnesota, and Longmont, Colorado. Enterprise Risk Management is able to improve the strategic decision making of an organization by addressing strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities in a way that integrates risk management and the strategic planning process.The ERM process is different because it allows organizations to establish internal and external contexts, assess risks, choose appropriate treatments, and then monitor the treatment to the organization's strategic goals. This allows all stakeholders of an organization to have a clear picture of all the risks that could impact their strategic plan within their organization. By identifying all the risks, the organization now has the ability to quantify critical risks and prioritize their risk treatment. When threats and opportunities are understood across the organization, managers will make better decisions that in turn only improve their department's goals but also positively impact the entire organization. The benefits of implementing an ERM program within your organization include: 1) enhanced decision making 2) increased sustainability 3) reduced volatility 4) improved ability to meet strategic goals 5) increased management accountability 6) breaking silos-seeing risk from a holistic approach 7) develop business continuity. A strong ERM program encourages the buy-in of an organization's internal and external stakeholders by establishing strategies, that protect the organization's reputation and assets. No risk management plan is perfect, but an organization that is prepared to identify, assess, analyze, implement, monitor, and evaluate all risks and is willing to work on improving those risk conditions will benefit from an ERM program
About the Author: Kristina Narvaez graduated from the University of Utah in Environmental Risk Management (2000), which is a degree she designed through the University of Studies College that is a combination of a finance undergraduate degree with four graduate level classes from the Department of Mechanical Engineering in ergonomics, advanced biomechanics, industrial safety, and system safety and four graduate level classes from the School of Medicine in industrial hygiene, industrial ventilation, hazardous wastes, and physics of noise. She then received her MBA from Westminster College (2002) with two advanced certificates in Finance and Information Technology. She is a two time Spencer Education Foundation Graduate Scholar (2001, 2002) and won the Anita Benedetti Scholarship in (2002) from the Risk and Insurance Management Society. She has also won two national awards for risk management papers she wrote as an undergraduate student at University of Utah. She won third place from the Institute of Hazardous Material Management for her research paper on " Leaking Underground Storage Tanks Contribution to Brownfields" and the Edith F. Lichota award from Risk and Insurance Management Society for her research paper on " Risk Management Strategies in Developing the Light Rail System in Salt Lake City" She started her career in 1994 as a commercial insurance agent and then worked in the risk management departments of both Utah Transit Authority and Zions Bancorporation. At UTA, she helped with the Safety Certification Process using a basic ERM information system to track safety concerns and reported those findings to the Federal Transit Authority and Federal Railroad Administration concerns At Zions Bancorporation, she was assistant risk manager and worked on the development and implementation of their risk assessment information system called Risk Resolve.Those risk exposures were evaluated and recommendations were made by the risk management department and internal audit was tasked with following up to make sure those recommendations were implemented. The risk exposures were rolled up to a "Top Ten List" that was shared with decision makers at Zions Bancorporation. Prior to starting ERM Strategies, she worked as a risk consultant for Bickmore Risk Services . She has co-authored six publications on ERM and Board Risk Governance in The Corporate Board, boardmember.com, Risk Management Magazine, RIMS Executive Report and Journal of Risk Management in Financial Institutions