Hertford Responds: Risk Management during a Global Pandemic
9 July 2020 - 17:00
Thursday 9th July 2020
The urgent question facing many organizations (including our own!) right now is when to return to the physical workplace. How does one balance the health risk of re-opening with the economic risk of not doing so? What is it reasonable for an organization to do, given its duties to its employees, customers, its shareholders and its other stakeholders? The management and mitigation of risk is therefore at the forefront of much discussion in businesses and public organizations as they emerge from lockdown. In light of the Covid-19 crisis, there is a greater scrutiny of (and expectations on) company behaviour. This brings its own risks and managers and decision makers have to acknowledge and reflect on the risks – and opportunities – around this enhanced scrutiny, too.
Our speaker is Anette Mikes, Fellow at Hertford College and Associate Professor of Accounting at Saïd Business School. Her current work focuses on the links between risk management, core values and purpose (within the context of the “purposeful company” movement). In order to manage their risks, purposeful organizations need new processes and tools, including the genuine empowerment of employees to speak up about issues that they see could compromise “purpose”.
Anette will discuss insights related to risk management, corporate purpose and the management of crises, drawing out the implications of the Covid-19 crisis for the way we manage risk in business and in society; what has changed, what remains unchanged and what might never be the same again.