Implementing Enterprise Risk Management: Case Studies and Best Practices

CHAPTER 33 Challenges and Obstacles of ERM Implementation in Poland

ZBIGNIEW KRYSIAK, PHD

Associate Professor of Finance, Warsaw School of Economics, Poland

SłAWOMIR PIJANOWSKI, PHD

President, POLRISK Risk Management Association, Poland

This research is about the status of enterprise risk management (ERM) implementation in Poland's companies. We analyze the challenges and obstacles to a more mature stage of ERM rather than a compliance- or governance-driven one. Poland, after the transition into the free market economy in 1989, became open to the knowledge and transfer of the best practices from around the world. Since 1995, with the publication of AS/NZS 4360 and COSO II in 2004, as well as easy access via the Internet, it seems that theoretically there should not be a delay in implementing modern risk management (RM) processes in Poland. While there is contact with authors and thought leaders taking part in the creation of various ERM standards, and with some professionals implementing ERM in various companies, barriers still exist. These barriers are due to geographical distances, language differences, budget constraints, a lack of awareness, or other business priorities. We (the authors) first heard about AS/NZS 4360 in 2004 while looking for inspiration from various standards to improve risk assessment methodologies for our companies. In 2004, the aforementioned standards were translated into Polish and published in the Polish Ministry of Finance's Orange Book Risk Management—Principles ...