Responses to an annual survey by Origami Risk indicate a marked decrease in risk management activities over the last year. Are we seeing a backslide in risk management prioritization?
Origami Risk has published its third annual State of Risk report. This year’s report demonstrates that despite 80% of its respondents claiming to be either ‘moderately prepared or higher’ data on the hard actions being taken doesn’t support these optimistic assessments.
The survey polled 240 risk professionals from across the US and Europe and found that those responding to the survey downgraded their assessment of the priority their organization puts on risk management by nearly a full point, from 7.45 (out of 10) to 6.69.
The report highlights that despite a volatile year characterized by geo-political tension, economic uncertainty, the acceleration of risks such as AI and climate change, and widespread supply chain disruption, the percentage of respondents who had ‘fully connected’ risks with strategic objectives dropped by nearly one-third (32%), and despite significant supply chain disruption over the past year, half (52%) of respondents had made no changes to their supply chain.
“This year’s State of Risk report suggests that there’s an encouraging level of optimism in the risk management community. A deeper dive into the responses, however, doesn’t support this position. There has been a marked deprioritization of risk management, pulling back on technology investments, slowing of integration efforts, and stalling on supply chain improvement efforts. All of these at a time when novel risks are on the rise,” commented Earne Bentley, Origami’s Risk Division President. He noted: “These findings could be a result of prevailing macroeconomic pressures, a natural resetting after the massive investments we saw during the pandemic, or the need to redirect resources to other critical strategic priorities. But with so many indicators all pointing toward a backslide from the hard-earned gains made after the pandemic, overconfidence and complacency appear creeping in when the risk environment demands agility and foresight.”
The report also identifies several potential ‘blind spots’ that could prevent risk managers from leveling up to meet tomorrow’s challenges head-on. For example, only 20% of risk leaders identified geo-political risk as one of their top two concerns. As 2024 will see over 50 countries head into critical elections, political instability could be a significant yet under-prioritized risk across the next 12 months and beyond. 50 percent more [than 2023] respondents in the 2024 survey felt that supply chain risk has remained the same over the past year, despite well-reported disruptions in global supply chains caused by geo-political conflict.
Bentley concluded: “The risk management community has risen admirably to recent challenges. With tomorrow’s challenges right around the corner, those who can apply past learnings to novel risk and embrace the technology available to empower them will thrive.”
