Sarbanes-Oxley Ongoing Compliance Guide: Key Processes and Summary Checklists

Maximize Future Performance through BPM and ERM Integration

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act forced a heightened focus on the financial risks within an organization. Many companies have limited their primary consideration to financial risks, thus adopting a narrow approach to risk management. Ignoring or minimizing operational risks when evaluating a company’s performance and future prospects can leave management blindsided by events that erode shareholder value. In order to obtain a holistic, forward-looking, and accurate view of what events may impact the business and hinder the achievement of strategic goals, companies should adopt a more comprehensive outlook and integrate operational risks into their overall BPM strategy. Here are nine steps to effectively integrate BPM and ERM:

Nine Steps to Effectively Integrate BPM and ERM

Step 1.	If you don’t have one, establish an enterprise-wide risk management infrastructure.
Step 2.	Develop a risk management reporting system that covers all levels of the organization, from the department/business unit level up through the entire enterprise.
Step 3.	Determine which types of reports the executive committee and board will need and which should remain at the department/business unit level.
Step 4.	Decide what information will be needed to effectively identify and evaluate risk. Determine if this data already exists or whether it needs to be captured.
Step 5.	Examine BPM metrics and databases to see if there is any duplication with ERM metrics. ...