The continuing global challenges and potential existential threat posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Political divisiveness and polarization. Social and economic unrest. Gridlock. Artificial intelligence (AI), automation and other rapidly developing digital technologies. Rapid shift to virtual, remote work environments. Changes in the geopolitical landscape. Shifting customer preferences and demographics. Fragile supply chains. Wildfires and hurricanes. Volatile unemployment levels and record low interest rates. Escalating competition for specialized talent. Immigration challenges. Cyber breaches on a massive scale. Terrorism. Big data analytics. Future of work.
These and a host of other notable risk drivers are all contributing to significant levels of uncertainties, making it extremely difficult to anticipate what risks may lie just over the horizon. Unanticipated events are unfolding at record pace, leading to massive challenges to identify the best next steps for organizations of all types and sizes, regardless of where they reside in the world. No one is immune to the significant levels of uncertainty, and C-suites and boards need to be vigilant in scanning the horizon for emerging issues. Because no one can possibly anticipate everything that lies in the future, organizations must focus on building trust-based, resilient cultures, led by authentic leaders, that can pivot at the speed of change.
In the ninth annual Executive Perspectives on Top Risks Survey, Protiviti and NC State University’s ERM Initiative report on the top risks on the minds of global boards of directors and executives in 2021 and, in a new dimension to this study, over the next 10 years, into 2030. In this informative podcast, Dr. Mark Beasley of NC State University’s ERM Initiative and Protiviti Managing Director Jim DeLoach discuss a number of notable themes and megatrends revealed in the results.
Mark is the Director of the Enterprise Risk Management Initiative in the Poole College of Management at NC State University. Jim leads Protiviti’s Global Thought Leadership Program and is a member of the firm’s Solutions Leadership team.
For more information on Executives Perspectives on Top Risks for 2021 and 2030, visit www.protiviti.com/toprisks or erm.ncsu.edu.
Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from kevin.donahue@protiviti.com