Defining and mapping risk management

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Risk management is a widely used term meaning different things to people in different economic sectors. To some, it refers to auditing and, to others, it means Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), compliance or any risk management activity dominant in the user’s frame of reference. Risk management probably includes all these associations. Viewing this study field from different angles prevents the visualisation and grasping of the whole. Business schools do not lead the way in overcoming this fragmented study field, as an all-inclusive theory basis and course outline are not yet available. The whole is taken to be the complete answers to a list of very basic questions, namely who must do what, how, when and why, and what then.This introductory study starts with the what question. Risk management activities within a sample of companies from banking to mining and manufacturing were researched. The result is a proposed map of common risk types and sector or industry-unique risks dominant in a specific environment. Three risk management training programmes were evaluated to determine whether or not the basic questions are addressed: the UNISA Advanced Programme in Risk Management, the USB Programme in Risk Management and the Enterprise Risk Management Integrated Framework developed by COSO. These programmes were assessed to determine whether they address the practical risk management questions of who must do what, when and why, and what then. A combination of some of the strong points of the courses is proposed as a starting point for overcoming the theory gap.