Implementing Enterprise Risk Management: Case Studies and Best Practices

CHAPTER 34 Turning Crisis into Opportunity Building an ERM Program at General Motors

MARC S. ROBINSON

Assistant Director, Enterprise Risk Management, GM

LISA M. SMITH

Assistant Director, Enterprise Risk Management, GM

BRIAN D. THELEN

General Auditor, GM

This case study chronicles the ground-up implementation of enterprise risk management (ERM) at General Motors Company (GM), starting in 2010 through the first four years of implementation. Discussion topics include lessons learned during implementation and some of the unique approaches, tools, and techniques that GM has employed. Examples of senior management reporting are also included.

I think risk management is an element of all good executive management teams and boards. It will ensure viability in downturns and high-risk periods. I think if that is done not only within the automotive industry, but on a global and specifically on a national scale, economies will be in better shape because it is additive. If everybody is doing their job in assessing and understanding risk, the ultimate outcome will be much more positive for our national economy and society, and it is incumbent that corporate leadership understands that responsibility.

—Daniel F. Akerson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, General Motors, October 2012

BACKGROUND AND IMPLEMENTATION

The enterprise risk management (ERM) program at General Motors was founded in late 2010 at the direction of GM's then newly appointed chief executive officer (CEO), Daniel ...