Traditionally, risk management played a supporting role at board level. However, over the past decade, organisations have adopted the view that risk management must be embedded in the general management of an organisation, and fully integrated across an enterprise with functions such as finance, strategy, internal control, procurement, continuity planning, human resources, and compliance.

Voices of stakeholders have become louder in their demand for transparency and accountability in managing the impact of risk, and evaluating the ability of leadership to embrace opportunities. The use of technology and economic globalisation have made risks increasingly entwined, placing even more emphasis on sound risk management within any organisation.

To keep pace with a rapidly evolving world and future threats, the International Organization for Standardization published a revised version of its Risk Management Standard in February 2018. Essentially, ISO 31000:2018 reflects the evolution of risk management thinking from a separate ‘siloed’ activity to an integrated management function. The overarching strategy of the standard is to embed risk management best practices on a micro-level within organisations so as to manage threats that stand in the way of enterprises achieving their objectives, and create value by finding and exploiting opportunity. This should grab the attention of anyone looking to gain competitive advantage, improve operations, or reduce costs within their organisation.