Recent global uncertainties and their potential effects on businesses are among the key concerns of board members and executive management teams as they assess their risks for 2017, according to a survey of business executives by global consulting firm Protiviti and the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Initiative at the North Carolina State University Poole College of Management.
The report surveyed 735 board members and executives at global organizations in the fall of 2016, and Included on the list of top 10 risks for 2017 were cyber security and the emergence of new technologies. A majority of the respondents (60%) said their organization might not be sufficiently prepared to manage cyber threats that have the potential to significantly disrupt core operations and/or damage their brand.
Slightly more (63%) said rapid speed of disruptive innovations and/or new technologies within the industry might outpace their organization's ability to compete and/or manage the risk appropriately, without making significant changes to the business model.
Other top risks include economic conditions in the markets their organizations serve; regulatory changes and scrutiny; the possible need for significant resources to ensure privacy/identity management and information security/system protection; and the ability to attract and retain top talent.
"Executives are concerned about their companies' ability to keep pace with the rapid speed of change, including disruptive innovations and new technologies within their industries," said Patrick Scott, Protiviti executive vice president of Industry Groups. "While the effects may vary across industry groups in terms of different risk profiles, our study shows that no industry is immune to future uncertainty in a changing world."
