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The Institute of Operational Risk was created in January 2004 as a professional body whose aim is to establish and maintain standards of professional competency in the discipline of Operational Risk Management.
The stated mission of the Institute is to promote the development and discipline of Operational Risk and to foster and maintain investigations and research into the best means and methods of developing and applying the discipline and to encourage, increase, disseminate and promote knowledge, education and training and the exchange of information and ideas.
The Institute is governed by a Board of Directors (The Council) elected by its members. The Council is advised by an Executive Committee which also undertakes the various tasks required to deliver value to the members of the Institute. The Executive Committee is selected by the Council from amongst the Institute’s members. Council The current members of Council are as follows: Philip Martin - Chairman Michael Faber - Vice Chairman Michael Tripp - Treasurer Jeremy Quick David Clark David Breden George Clark - Company Secretary Edward Sankey Adam Seager Executive Committee The Executive Committee consists of the following members: Adam Seager - Chairman Jennifer Moodie - Membership Gez Llanaj - Events Dan Wilkinson - Marketing David Breden - Education Edward Sankey - Funding Yema Tucker - Internal Standards Michael Faber - Technology Chairman's Risk CornerPhilip Matin, Chairman of the IOR, provides regular thought provoking comments and observations in this Chairman's Risk Corner provided below. May 2008 I’m sure many of you will be aware of the story of the man searching under a streetlight for his house keys and when asked by a stranger where he lost his keys he replied “On the other side of the road”. The stranger looked at the other side of the road which was in darkness and, puzzled, he asked the man why he was looking under the streetlight. The man replied “Because this is where the light is!” There are too many examples in business of individuals and companies taking the easy route with risk management – doing the bare minimum and hoping they will scrape by, accepting what information they are given and not enquiring as to its efficacy. Well another old and wise friend of mine (I’ve got a lot of them) once said: “Not everything which counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.” His message is really that when looking at a situation which requires a decision, think about the information you have to hand and ask if it really meets your needs – or do you need more! By the way, my friend’s name…………. Albert Einstein! January 2008 Abraham Maslow, an American humanistic psychologist said: “It seems that the necessary thing to do is not to fear mistakes, to plunge in, to do the best that one can, hoping to learn enough from blunders to correct them eventually.” In other words, “learn from your mistakes”. We all accept that this is part of growing up, with age comes wisdom and experience. Others will say, “learn from the mistakes of others, is much less painful”. That is certainly a preferable alternative and fine for your private life. However, in business you may not have the luxury of “making enough blunders”. So how does that sit with the premise that without risk there is no reward? Well, General George S Patton summed it up when he said: “Take calculated risks, that is much better than being rash!” In other words, think about what you are doing, how you are doing it and what your intended outcome is to be. Work out and develop solutions for the potential problems – and then go for it! December 2007 John F Kennedy once said “When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.” Without risk there is no reward and our role in managing risk is not to eliminate it but to ensure that we manage it within our appetite and tolerance. So think about what you do and use six powerful Risk Management tools in your planning process. My thanks to Rudyard Kipling and his six serving men: “I keep six honest serving-men from The Elephant’s Child, Just So Stories November 2007 When I left home aged 18 and came to London to seek my fortune, my father gave me a card on which was a quotation. No-one knows where it came from but I repeat it here for all to see – it’s certainly helped me over the years: “The objective of all dedicated company employees should be to analyse thoroughly all situations and anticipate all problems. They should have answers for these problems and move swiftly to solve them when called upon. What has this to do with Risk? I hear you ask….. Well, the message is simple. When considering your strategic objectives, think about what can go wrong as you strive to reach them. Try to develop solutions for things that might go wrong so that in the event of something adverse happening, you already know what you need to do to solve the problem. That is the art of proactive risk management! October 2007 Why should you spend time documenting your risks? We’re busy and have other more pressing things to do! I know, I know………BUT…. I like Warren Buffett - the Sage of Omaha knows something about risk. He said: “Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing”. It’s fair to say that the less you know about what you are doing or where risk resides, the more you are exposed to a mishap. The level of risk varies inversely with knowledge! So documenting Risks is important, it’s where we learn about potential bumps in the road and it allows us to create solutions before we hit them.My wise friend Buffett also said: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.” Oh… and by the way… for those of you who may be wondering, this “Risk Corner” is mine… any comments are welcome ….and complaints (but less so)!
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