Tagarchief: Public

Global Risks Report 2006

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World Economic Forum | 2006

Towards a more sophisticated understanding of global risks, this document summarises the output of a collaboration between the World Economic Forum, MMC (Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.), Merrill Lynch and Swiss Re, in association with the Risk Management and Decision Processes Center of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, on the topic of Global Risks. The purpose of this collaboration, building on work undertaken in 2004, was to:

  • Identify and assess current and emerging global risks in the 2006 and 2015 time horizons.
  • Study the links between them and assess their likely effect on different markets and industries.
  • Advance the thinking around more effective mitigation of global risks.
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Global Risks to the Business Environment

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World Economic Forum | 2005

Global Risks to the Business Environment: “This paper, the output of two workshops organised by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Merrill Lynch, reviews major, global risks facing business leaders today, and examines how those risks differ from the challenges of the past. Some key points:

1) Global Risks and Business

At a time when risks not specific to business are having an unprecedented effect on the corporate world, it is crucial for business leaders to understand the environment in which their business operates, in order to survive, remain competitive and grasp opportunities.

2) An Increasingly Turbulent and Complex World

Today’s risks are much more interconnected than in the past. They are much more volatile and can disrupt markets throughout the world with almost instantaneous precision. Such risks can be difficult to anticipate and respond to, even for the most seasoned business leaders.

3) The Global Risks

We identify 36 “global” risks, classified into four categories: economic, geopolitical, societal and environmental. This report details the prevailing consensus reached at our workshop discussions as to the ten risks most likely to have a major or extreme impact on business:
• Instability in Iraq
• Terrorism
• Emerging fiscal crises
• Disruption in oil supplies
• Radical Islam
• Sudden decline in China’s growth
• Pandemics – infectious diseases
• Climate change
• Weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
• Unrestrained migration and related tensions

4) Risk Mapping – Connecting the “Dots” and Spotting the Patterns

In an interconnected world, global risks should not be considered on a stand-alone basis; it is important to understand how they can trigger, amplify or buffer one another.

5) Dealing with Global Risks

Seldom can global risks be addressed by a single business entity, industry or country, and many institutional mechanisms are proving fairly ineffectual as they struggle to cope with the challenge. There is also a large discrepancy between the immediate time horizon employed by most business and political leaders and the long-term approach required to tackle risks on a global scale. As a result, our capacity to address risk is jeopardized; a myopic tendency – or worse, denial – prevails. Finally, of equal concern is the problem that some major risks are being passed on to those least able to solve them – or with least responsibility for creating them.”

Global Risks to the Business Environment

Public-Private Sector Risk Management: is there a difference?

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Peter Young | February 2007

Are there differences between risk management in the public and private sectors? As a professor who has spent time in both public administration and business administration programs, I have had several opportunities to think about both sides of the debate. 

Professor Peter Young

On one side, we have those who argue that management is management and that differences in the public and private sectors are modest (“if only government were run like a business”). Opponents of the “management is management” point of view argue that the public sector is so different from the private sector that it is a distinctly separate thing and, thus, requires different knowledge and management skills.

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The Risk of Leadership

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A plea for a new search for ‘responsible-in-the-end’ leadership: stewardship

Jack Kruf | 10 March 2017

Of course, we have our democratic system, a great set of principles and values that serve as equipment for good public governance. Public leadership, concerning both public organisations and the public domain of society, is embedded in this system, at least it should be. You may expect excellent results because the democratic system traces back to the Greek δημοκρατία in 508 BC and has been tested and challenged over and over again. Over the millennia, it has developed to this point.

Jack Kruf

Considering the present state of society and of natural ecosystems, you may be surprised by the results of this period of 2525 years of development. The Global Risks Reports, published by the World Economic Forum since 2005, tell the story of how critical the state of the Earth is. Reading these reports, I had a flashback to 1972, when the Club of Rome presented facts, findings, and figures in its report, The Limits to Growth. For at least five decades (i.e., half a century!), we know what is going on and where many generations of leadership have brought us.

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An Inconvenient Truth

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The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It

Al Gore | 2006

In his best-selling book, An Inconvenient Truth, former Vice President Al Gore argues against the climate crisis and argues that it is imperative that we solve it.

Our climate crisis may, at times, appear to be happening slowly, but it is happening very quickly and has become a true planetary emergency. The Chinese expression for crisis consists of two characters. The first is a symbol of danger; the second is a symbol of opportunity.

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Cadbury Report

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Cadbury committee | 1992, London Stock Exchange, en • nl

This report is a milestone in corporate governance. It is 1992. The Cadbury Report about “Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance” has been published. This groundbreaking report – chaired by Sir Adrian Cadbury – led to improvements in governance standards. It was a reaction to the Bank of Credit and Commerce International scandal in 1991.

• Dit rapport is een mijlpaal in het corporate besturing. Het is 1992. Het Cadbury Report over “Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance” wordt gepubliceerd. Baanbrekend – voorgezeten door Sir Adrian Cadbury – en het leidde tot verbeteringen in de normen voor deugdelijk bestuur. Het was een reactie op het schandaal in 1991 bij de Bank of Credit and Commerce International.

The report made specific recommendations on good corporate governance, which it described as ”best practice” or ”code of conduct.” It was highly influential in developing organisational codes regarding external shareholders’ accountability. It is the start of a new line of thinking about good governance, also in the public context. • Het rapport deed specifieke aanbevelingen voor goed ondernemingsbestuur, die het omschreef als “best practice” of “gedragscode”. Het rapport was zeer invloedrijk bij het ontwikkelen van organisatiecodes met betrekking tot de verantwoordingsplicht van externe aandeelhouders. Het is het begin van een nieuwe manier van denken over goed bestuur, ook in de publieke context.

This interview with Sir Adrian Cadbury gives the precise focus and the intention to look further into the essence of corporate governance. • Dit interview met Sir Adrian Cadbury geeft de precieze focus en de intentie om verder te kijken naar de essentie van corporate governance.

The report stipulated “the continuing concern about standards of financial reporting and accountability, … which has kept corporate governance in the public eye.” Some findings and recommendations (a personal selection) tell the story of the search for codes, checks and balances [quote]:

    • By adhering to the Code, listed companies will strengthen their control over their businesses and public accountability. In so doing, they will be striking the right balance between meeting the standards of corporate governance now expected of them and retaining the essential spirit of enterprise. 
    • Every public company should be headed by an effective board that can lead and control the business. 
    • However, the framework in which auditors operate is not well designed in certain respects to provide the objectivity that shareholders and the public expect of auditors in carrying out their function. 
    • The new system has only recently been established, and its full impact has yet to be felt. In the following paragraphs, we endorse the steps being taken and recommend additional action to strengthen public confidence in the audit approach. 
    • We believe that there should be an extension of the audit, which will add to users of accounts and bring it closer into line with public expectations. 
    • So far as reporting fraud is concerned, the present legal position is that confidentiality is an implied term of an auditor’s contract, and there is a public interest in maintaining confidential client relationships. Normally, therefore, it is the auditor’s duty to report fraud to senior management. However, there is also a public interest in fraud being dealt with expeditiously and this may entail disclosing matters to a proper authority. [unquote]

• Het rapport vermeldde “de voortdurende bezorgdheid over normen voor financiële verslaggeving en verantwoording, … die corporate governance in de publieke belangstelling heeft gehouden.” Enkele bevindingen en aanbevelingen (een persoonlijke selectie) vertellen het verhaal van de zoektocht naar codes, checks and balances [citaat]:

    • Door de Code na te leven zullen beursgenoteerde ondernemingen hun controle over hun bedrijf en hun publieke verantwoording versterken. Op die manier vinden ze het juiste evenwicht tussen het voldoen aan de normen van corporate governance die nu van hen worden verwacht en het behouden van de essentiële ondernemingsgeest.
    • Elke beursgenoteerde onderneming moet worden geleid door een effectieve raad van bestuur die de onderneming kan leiden en controleren.
    • Het kader waarbinnen auditors werken is in bepaalde opzichten echter niet goed ontworpen om de objectiviteit te bieden die aandeelhouders en het publiek verwachten van auditors bij het uitvoeren van hun functie.
    • Het nieuwe systeem is pas onlangs ingevoerd en de volledige impact ervan moet nog merkbaar worden. In de volgende paragrafen onderschrijven we de stappen die worden genomen en bevelen we aanvullende maatregelen aan om het vertrouwen van het publiek in de controleaanpak te versterken.
    • Wij zijn van mening dat de controle moet worden uitgebreid, wat de gebruikers van de rekeningen ten goede zal komen en de controle meer in overeenstemming zal brengen met de verwachtingen van het publiek.
    • Wat het melden van fraude betreft, is de huidige rechtspositie dat vertrouwelijkheid een impliciete voorwaarde is van het contract van een auditor en dat er een algemeen belang is bij het onderhouden van vertrouwelijke relaties met cliënten. Normaal gesproken is het daarom de plicht van de auditor om fraude te melden aan het senior management. Het is echter ook in het algemeen belang dat fraude snel wordt aangepakt en dit kan betekenen dat zaken moeten worden gemeld aan een bevoegde autoriteit. [unquote]

Download the Cadbury Report.

Towards a fully circular economy

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Where do the risks lie?

Jack Kruf | November 2021, B&G Magazine

In early 2021, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency published the first Integrated Circular Economy Report (ICER 2021). The report outlines the progress of the transition to a circular economy in the Netherlands. I have summarised this comprehensive, highly informative report, with a focus on the major risks articulated by the authors.

The Dutch government aims to have achieved a fully circular economy by 2050. Monitoring the progress of this transition is essential. The ICER 2021 report is a significant milestone in this process. It highlights the interventions undertaken by the Dutch government to initiate and accelerate the transition to a circular economy, as well as the actions taken by civil society organisations.

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