scholarly journals The (De-)Contextualization of Geographical Knowledge in Forest Fire Risk Management in Chile as a Challenge for Governance

Author(s):  
Michael Handke

AbstractChilean society is confronted with increasing risk from wildfires. Individual rather than collective risk management solutions predominate. Large forest companies, for example, reduce the probability of wildfires affecting their tree plantations with hierarchically-ordered management routines. Additionally, they purchase insurance policies to protect themselves from economic losses. Other stakeholders in the Chilean forest regions, however, do not have the same access to these forms of risk management due to the high degree of technical knowledge and organizational competences required. In his contribution, Michael Handke assesses the strengths and weaknesses of interacting hierarchical and market forms of risk management and calls for a deeper geographical approach to risk governance. He reveals that detailed geographical knowledge of wildfires is explicitly decontextualized and even ignored in current risk management practices. As a result, essential knowledge about the causes and effects of arson, which seem to be on the rise in Chile, is lost.

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2-3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tankiso Moloi

Government provides essential services to the population and therefore, uncertainties that could hinder government’s objectives should be identified, mitigated/controlled and monitored. Using the content analysis for data extraction in the annual reports of national government departments (NGDs), this paper explored risk management practices in South Africa’s public service, with national government departments as a case in point. The findings are that in general, there are poor risk management practices in the NGDs as the majority of the observed categories were not disclosed in the NGDs annual reports.Since risk deals with the uncertainties on the objectives, it is concerning that NGDs have poor risk management practices, particularly because they are enablers (implementers) of government overarching strategy. As enablers of government strategy, it is recommended that NGDs view risk management as a process that enables them to identify threats which could hinder the attainment of their objectives, whilst also leveraging opportunities that may arise. It is further recommended that the risk process is viewed as a scenario or option analysis exercise that allows NGDs to properly plan, understand the intended outcomes and prepare responses to deal with any uncertainties. A summarised and harmonized risk governance requirement used for the purpose of exploring risk management disclosures has been suggested by this study and it could be used as a reference point of risk disclosure improvement by NGDs.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens O. Meissner

Abstract:Today’s social reality will doubtless alter the risk management practices of organizations of all kinds. Whereas large companies and public institutions serve as role models and have the resources to apply standards or develop and set them by themselves, mid-sized businesses usually do not have this possibility. Instead, they apply management practices that base on existing management routines and their typical organizational characteristics. But how do these practices look like? And what is the semantic program that is performed by the organization to manage the risks? This empirical paper contains the analysis of typical risk management practices in mid-sized service companies in Switzerland. The study relies on open, qualitative interviews with top level decision-makers resulting in the description of the characteristics of six companies. The analysis shows that these firms mainly focus on project risk management, and combine it with a strong focus on business speed and agility, the smart combination of their talent pool in teams, the application of a non-bureaucratic governance style and a conscious acceptance of a high degree of intuition in management decisions. This research contributes to a better understanding of the risk design of mid-sized business organizations as very important societal units in splitting, pooling, distributing and addressing their risks.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaya Akyüz ◽  
Gauthier Chassang ◽  
Melanie Goisauf ◽  
Łukasz Kozera ◽  
Signe Mezinska ◽  
...  

AbstractBiobanks act as the custodians for the access to and  responsible use of human biological samples and related data that have been generously donated by individuals to serve the public interest and scientific advances in the health research realm. Risk assessment has become a daily practice for biobanks and has been discussed from different perspectives. This paper aims to provide a literature review on risk assessment in order to put together a comprehensive typology of diverse risks biobanks could potentially face. Methodologically set as a typology, the conceptual approach used in this paper is based on the interdisciplinary analysis of scientific literature, the relevant ethical and legal instruments and practices in biobanking to identify how risks are assessed, considered and mitigated. Through an interdisciplinary mapping exercise, we have produced a typology of potential risks in biobanking, taking into consideration the perspectives of different stakeholders, such as institutional actors and publics, including participants and representative organizations. With this approach, we have identified the following risk types: economic, infrastructural, institutional, research community risks and participant’s risks. The paper concludes by highlighting the necessity of an adaptive risk governance as an integral part of good governance in biobanking. In this regard, it contributes to sustainability in biobanking by assisting in the design of relevant risk management practices, where they are not already in place or require an update. The typology is intended to be useful from the early stages of establishing such a complex and multileveled biomedical infrastructure as well as to provide a catalogue of risks for improving the risk management practices already in place.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Palaiologos Palaiologou ◽  
Alan A. Ager ◽  
Max Nielsen-Pincus ◽  
Cody R. Evers ◽  
Kostas Kalabokidis

Numerous catastrophic wildfires in Greece have demonstrated that relying on fire suppression as the primary risk-management strategy is inadequate and that existing wildfire-risk governance needs to be re-examined. In this research, we used simulation modelling to assess the spatial scale of wildfire exposure to communities and cultural monuments in Chalkidiki, Greece. The study area typifies many areas in Greece in terms of fire regimes, ownership patterns and fire-risk mitigation. Fire-transmission networks were built to quantify connectivity among land tenures and populated places. We found that agricultural and unmanaged wildlands are key land categories that transmit fire exposure to other land tenures. In addition, fires ignited within protected lands and community boundaries are major sources of structure exposure. Important cultural monuments in the study area had fairly low exposure but higher potential for fires with moderate to high intensity. The results show how the spatial diversity of vegetation and fuels, in combination with vegetation management practices on private and public tracts of land, contribute to transboundary risk. We use the results to motivate a discussion of integrating transboundary risk assessments to improve the current wildfire-risk rating system and begin the process of reforming risk governance in Greece.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tankiso Moloi

The author examines the manner in which risk is governed within higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa by formulating risk governance statements based on the requirements of the King III Report on Corporate Governance and other relevant literature. The formulated risk governance statements are used to develop the risk disclosure measurement index. Disclosure measurement method is accepted as a flexible method to use when extracting the pre-determined information in the annual reports. The developed risk disclosure index is used to extract the information from South Africa’s higher education institutions’ annual reports. The information disclosed in these annual reports is deemed a proxy of risk management practices within the higher education institution concerned. The results obtained indicate that South Africa’s higher education institutions have not embraced risk management as a key process in their activities. This is apparent in the assessed annual reports as compliance with the pre-determined set of statements was around 50%. For those that have not demonstrated these practices, it is stated that the concern is around the manner in which their highest decision makers make decisions, as it appears that risks may not necessarily be taken into account. As higher education institutions in South Africa continues to face challenges and they would possible be revising their strategies to take into account the recent events, every strategic decision being undertaken should be accompanied by a proper risk assessment to identify potential pitfalls (threats) and/or take advantage to achieve results promptly (opportunities)


Author(s):  
Elizaveta Kravchenko

The recent issue of the journal Risk Governance and Control: Financial Markets & Institutions is devoted to the issues of risk measurement, microinsurance, low-income markets, risk management practices, audit fees, etc.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
Inga Sityata ◽  
Lise Botha ◽  
Job Dubihlela

This paper assesses risk management practices at South African universities by analyzing the extent of risk management disclosure recommended by King IV and the level of risk governance maturity. This study was motivated by #Feesmustfall disruptions, which pointed to the lack of effective risk management, preparedness for volatility and increased scrutiny by stakeholders. A qualitative content analysis using a risk disclosure checklist was conducted on 18 annual reports and analyzed using an exploratory research design. The results revealed that over 80% of the sampled South African universities have disclosed most of their risk management practices, showing an improved disclosure due to King IV’s “apply and explain” philosophy as introduced in 2016. However, there were areas of improvement identified, such as: defining and approval of risk appetites and tolerance; development and implementation of business continuity plans; confirming the unpreparedness for volatility; annual revision of policies; and integration of risk management into the culture and daily activities of the university. This paper builds upon previous studies that highlighted a lack of detailed disclosures in South African organizations’ annual reports. This study also provides interesting insights into the impact of social events on organizational practices and supports the notion that legislative accounting practices should echo stakeholders and societal expectations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 4823
Author(s):  
Hafiz Suliman Munawar ◽  
Sara Imran Khan ◽  
Numera Anum ◽  
Zakria Qadir ◽  
Abbas Z. Kouzani ◽  
...  

The study was conducted to assess the post 2010 flood risk management and resilience-building practices in District Layyah, Pakistan. Exploratory research was applied to gain knowledge of flood risk management to embed the disaster risk reduction, mitigation, and adaptation strategies at the local government and community level. Around 200 questionnaires were collected from the four devastated areas/union councils. Primary data from the field uncovered flood risk management practices by organizations, local government, and the community. It highlights resilience-building practices undertaken by the community through rehabilitation, community participation, and local indigenous practices. The role of the District Layyah’s local government and organizations to mitigate the 2010 flood and their contribution towards flood resilience in affected communities was investigated, as no comparable studies were carried out in the riverine belt of District Layyah previously. Moreover, the tangible and non-tangible measures to lessen the vulnerability to floods and improve flood risk governance at a local level were identified. This study makes a valuable contribution in strengthening the resilience building of vulnerable communities by recommending few changes in existing practices concerning flood risk at a local level.


Author(s):  
Yulia Lapina

The recent issue of the journal Risk Governance and Control: Financial Markets & Institutions is devoted to the issues of fixed investments, risk management practices, inflation uncertainty, budgetary discipline, debtor’s right etc.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Sabri Embi ◽  
Zurina Shafii

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of Shariah governance and corporate governance (CG) on the risk management practices (RMPs) of local Islamic banks and foreign Islamic banks operating in Malaysia. The Shariah governance comprises the Shariah review (SR) and Shariah audit (SA) variables. The study also evaluates the level of RMPs, CG, SR, and SA between these two type of banks. With the aid of SPSS version 20, the items for RMPs, CG, SR, and SA were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA). From the PCA, one component or factor was extracted each for the CG, SR, and RMPs while another two factors were extracted for the SA. Primary data was collected using a self-administered survey questionnaire. The questionnaire covers four aspects ; CG, SR, SA, and RMPs. The data received from the 300 usable questionnaires were subjected to correlation and regression analyses as well as an independent t-test. The result of correlation analysis shows that all the four variables have large positive correlations with each other indicating a strong and significant relationship between them. From the regression analysis undertaken, CG, SR, and SA together explained 52.3 percent of the RMPs and CG emerged as the most influential variable that impacts the RMPs. The independent t-test carried out shows that there were significant differences in the CG and SA between the local and foreign Islamic banks. However, there were no significant differences between the two types of the bank in relation to SR and RMPs. The study has contributed to the body of knowledge and is beneficial to academicians, industry players, regulators, and other stakeholders.


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