This tool, created for The Conference Board of Canada by Brown Governance, is intended to provide strategic support to boards of directors and executives as they:

• ensure that the organization has appropriately identified the organization's principal risks;
• ensure the implementation of effective systems of managing risk; and
• ensure that the organization's overall approach to corporate governance is enhanced by aligning its risk management framework beneath the overarching governance umbrella.

The Underlying Framework

At its core, corporate governance revolves around managing risks and opportunities. In the aftermath of recent corporate scandals, many observers of governance practices have concluded that effectively managing enterprise risk is perhaps the most practical way to exercise authority, direction, and control — the very definition of governance. The Integrated Assessment Tool weaves the areas of governance and risk management together for boards of directors and senior management. Using a matrix format and encouraging the use of common language, it provides leaders at the very top of organizations with an at-a-glance assessment of their risk management framework.

The risk management and corporate governance management matrix integrates overarching governance principles with risk management and a comprehensive, generic business risk inventory. Within this tool, significant sources and areas of risk are aligned and linked to each of six areas of governance principle in such a way as to provide a comprehensive gap analysis of an organization's approach to risk management regardless of the strategies or methodologies adopted.

For boards and senior executives, the Integrated Assessment Tool identifies the organization's principal risks, and isolates how extensively each risk is being managed, strengthening overall governance and stewardship.

Operational managers can also use it to identify and act on risks within their business units, and clarify the organizational structure of risk management. While the Integrated Assessment Tool matrix does not replace existing organizational systems of risk management, it allows organizations to evaluate existing programs for improvements and modifications, or review their general risk-management approaches. It also focuses organizational attention on taking the steps to meet regulatory compliance.

What “The Integrated Tool” Is

Designed as an integrated lens through which an organization can effectively conduct a preliminary evaluation of its existing risk management program and/or assess its general approach to risk management.

• A conceptual framework from which to develop an integrated process to help identify risk sources or areas of risk
• A common lexicon through which an organization can fundamentally analyze and respond to risks and opportunities.
• A snapshot of all the risks an organization is facing.
• Created to work within multiple and diverse processes while encouraging individuals and teams across the organization to understand how their roles, responsibilities, and practices affect the organization as a whole.
• A further encouragement to individuals and teams to relate, think, act, and work together cross-functionally.
• A system that works with current systems of governance and risk management in order to integrate them – it is not meant as a replacement to them.
• Not intended to be a comprehensive how-to guide to risk management.