UCOP’s Risk Services recognized for best practices
May 27, 2011 •
UCOP’s Office of Risk Services is one of five organizations recognized this year for best practices in enterprise risk management. The honor was bestowed by APQC, a member-based nonprofit and one of the world’s leading proponents of knowledge management, benchmarking and best practices business research.
Enterprise risk management (ERM) is the strategic process of planning, organizing and controlling activities across the enterprise to minimize the effect of risk on the organization and its human and financial resources.
APQC (originally established as the American Productivity & Quality Center) conducts benchmarking studies to determine best practices in a specific area that can serve as exemplars for other organizations.
This year’s study began with a survey of 301 participating organizations and narrowed the list down to 79. After screening those companies, APQC then selected the top five partners including, in addition to UC:
- Caterpillar Inc., Illinois-based manufacturer of construction equipment;
- Intuit, the Silicon Valley-based creator of financial tools like Quicken and TurboTax;
- Marathon Oil Corporation, a Houston-based integrated international energy company; and
- Novo Nordisk A/S, a global healthcare company based in Denmark that specializes in diabetes management.
“The University of California,” the APQC study said, “regards ERM as a model for organizational efficiency and effectiveness, using tools and templates to identify and manage risk so that staff can focus on the mission.” In the process, the report added, UC works to create efficiencies, reduce the cost of risk, improve the cost of borrowing and reduce operational redundancy.
UC’s Enterprise Risk Management program was implemented systemwide in 2005. Currently under the management of Chief Risk Officer Grace Crickette, it has continuously evolved to minimize risks in areas common to higher education, including finances, information technology, human resources, research facilities and campus life.
For more, go to the CFO Division, Risk Services website.
