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Tackling Risk Management Contradictions in India

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India is a country of nearly 1.3 billion, and according to the United Nations 2017 World Population Prospects, has one of the most robust working populations of people between 21 and 35 in the world. Should India’s risk management profession grow along with the country’s population (projected to eventually top China as the most populous), it will usher in an industry-wide change that we are only first catching a glimpse of now.

I have been involved with risk management (and related areas) in India for nearly 15 years. As an Indian, I do not believe we as a whole are naturally attuned to formal risk management. And I’m not alone in this belief, as Dr. Viswanathan Ragunathan, CEO and general manager of the Varalakshmi Foundation said during the RIMS Risk Forum India 2018:

“We are obviously a contradiction. We are, at once, eternal optimists and fatalistic. At one level you can relate to what I’m saying in that Indians do not take too much risk in their day-to-day lives. Yet anyone who has taken the Mumbai trains knows…it’s almost as if we have a death wish.”

That contradiction is symbolic of the state of the profession in India. One of the main challenges we will face is the evolution of the profession within a country and culture firmly rooted in tradition. Risk professionals in India need to constantly reinvent themselves to be seen as valuable to their organizations. Here are three tips Indian risk managers should be keeping in mind in order to provide value to their organizations. And while these suggestions might initially be unique to the region, they may also apply to the global risk management community.

Tip 1: Keep Systems Relevant. Apply the risk management system or process relevant to the business, otherwise, there is no motivation to follow it. An effective risk manager will know their organization from the inside out. Play to your strengths and address whatever weaknesses exist. This will require buy-in from the C-Suite, but demonstrating that it was selected with the company in mind will help sell it.

Tip 2: Know The New Philosophy. The broader outlook has changed from “risk management methodology,” (such as frameworks and templates) to a focus on the active driving of modification measures for key risks throughout the organization.

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This means creating “risk-based cultures” inside organizations–a global trend but one that doesn’t happen overnight. There’s no one right way to do it, but at its core, it involves embracing the position of “we” (the company) versus “the risk” (or external factor).

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You might even introduce the risk management system you selected from the prior step, depending on its accessibility.

Tip 3: Demonstrate Humility. There are several instances where a risk manager has acted on early warning signals and quickly mitigated the threat. Despite those successes, the risk manager’s role is not that of a figurehead and probably should not take full credit for all the results.

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Sharing the kudos among the CEO and stakeholders, as well as subordinates (if you’re fortunate enough to lead a team), satisfies the unwritten conditions of both the national and professional cultures.

Risks can arise from anywhere within or outside an organization. CEOs are not always as clued in as risk managers regarding what is emerging. Therefore, it is our job to implement ERM programs that facilitate scenario-based workshops. This will help the CEO and stakeholders identify and mitigate at least the “known unknowns”

Generally, if risk managers do their due diligence, then a situation will have been prevented from the outset. And if something is missed, then the famous Indian term, “Jugaad” helps us. But Jugaad is something for another post.

Q&A: Resiliency in India

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The 2018 Lloyd’s City Risk Index was analyzed during the RIMS Risk Forum India in Mumbai, and it notes a possible turning point for the subcontinent’s cities regarding resiliency. In short, Indian cities were rated as weak, but recent government and public investments and campaigns that focus on strengthening infrastructures and people may strengthen those assessments.

During a November 14 morning session, “Assessing the Impact of Natural and Man-made Threats on India’s Economy,” Shankar Garigiparthy, country manager and CEO of Lloyd’s India discussed how much economic output (GDP) cities in India could lose annually as a consequence of various types of rare risk events – such as the Kerala floods this past July – or from more frequently occurring events such as cyberattacks.

He discussed with Risk Management Monitor reasons why he is hopeful for a resiliency turnaround in India and how the combined wills of the government, media, public and business can strengthen the country’s infrastructures and ultimately, its risk ratings.

RMM: How do India’s cities rank in Lloyd’s City Risk Index?

SG: Lloyd’s City Risk Index was published three months ago and we researched 279 cities. We found that a vast majority of cities within the subcontinent of India have been rated as very weak from a resilience point of view. They are at high risk for flood, geopolitical security, market crash, just to name a few.

RMM: What steps are being taken to improve the collective resiliency?

SG: What we have seen in last three or four years is a significant level of investment from the government in terms of building infrastructure. It’s been in the form of roads, bridges, railways, ports, and airports, there has been a significant level of investment. And it seems there is more to come. In the budget, the government has announced more – which is encouraging to see from an infrastructure-building point of view.

However, where we still see a bit of lack is in the area of insurance penetration in the country. That’s where I think insurance companies can be a useful partner and tool to mitigate some of the level of these risks.

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RMM: Could this be a chance for insurers to get in on the ground floor of India’s improvement projects?

SG: Yes.

RMM: What incidents have influenced the government to act?

SG: The Chennai floods [in 2015] and the floods in Kerala [in July]. That was a once-in-a-hundred-years occurrence. The entire state was flooded, which I think was the first of its kind. It was completely underwater.

Similarly, the Chennai floods marked another major event. Since then, monsoon has happened but the level of flooding has been managed pretty well.

In the session, we examined the Mumbai floods in 2005. And even last year, there was flooding here for a day, but within a day the water receded pretty quickly and was pumped out. The machinery kicked in and we were able to get out of it pretty well.

RMM: What led to that success?

SG: It was a combination of low tide and the government investing in the necessary pumping mechanisms to actually pump the water back into the sea, and unclog some of the stormwater drains as well. Steps are being taken, slowly but steadily.

RMM: What other institutions are taking measures to build resiliency?

SG: There are a few companies [which I won’t name] that are leading the way and it is encouraging to see that.

The media is also equally playing a fairly significant role as well. That’s also helping because public awareness is something that is critical. The media is raising awareness in terms of the importance of protecting your infrastructure and environment and the need for trees and planting.

RMM: Would you agree that the will to change and improve existing infrastructures is as important as the funding?

SG: I think it’s all there. The government has shown willingness to improve infrastructure. The people have demanded it, so there is a push and a pull coming from both sides. And we are seeing that development happen. Compared to where we were five or ten years ago and where we are now, there’s been a massive change.

There is still more that can be done. I’m not saying that we’re there yet. But it’s not an easy thing, as well.

Given India’s geography and how the political scenario is within the country, we will always be exposed to natural catastrophes.

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Flooding is going to be a constant phenomenon for us.

There is investment being done but it’s patchy. In some states there has been fantastic infrastructure investment and in others, less so. I think that has got to be addressed and that’s where the public [should be] demanding more actions there, where infrastructure investment has not been up to the mark.

RIMS Risk Forum 2018 India Kicks Off In Mumbai

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MUMBAI – The inaugural RIMS Risk Forum 2018 India launched on November 13, and leading risk professionals from India and Asia-Pacific countries met for two days to address the challenges facing companies in the region. In a country of 1.3 billion people, expectations are for India’s risk management profession to grow, though some presenters acknowledged the proactive need to fill a potential talent gap.

During the opening keynote address, Dr. Viswanathan Ragunathan, CEO and general manager of the Varalakshmi Foundation said that examining the role of risk in Indians’ behavior and culture will initiate the dialogue among students and aspiring professionals.

“We are obviously a contradiction,” he said. “We are, at once, eternal optimists and fatalistic. At one level you can relate to what I’m saying in that Indians do not take too much risk in their day-to-day lives. Yet anyone who has taken the Mumbai trains knows…it’s almost as if we have a death wish.”

Ragunathan also discussed approaches he tends to use to assess risk, including viewing them in a VUCA environment (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity), where one weighs how much of a situation is known against the results of controllable actions and their predictability.

“The management of volume,” he said, is ultimately at the heart of India’s challenges, and that issue is exacerbated by interconnected risks, such as a dense population and struggling infrastructure. He proposed transparency and broad communication within the Indian risk management community as starting points for solutions.

“The risk manager who understands the risk but does not share it widely does not help,” he said.

As the forum progressed, ISO31000 implementation, natural disasters and resilience, infrastructure, risk frameworks, data storage and diversity hiring practices were some of topics that received special focus on Tuesday.

“The State of Risk Management in India” was a Marsh-led panel on the findings from the newly-released, India-wide survey on risk management practices co-conducted by RIMS. The report found that risk managers are a crossroads in India, where they can assume greater leadership roles that transcend just compliance and insurance matters and can expand their knowledge base, hone their skillsets and gain access to best practices, tools and technology.

During “Thinking About Thinking in Risk Management,” Peter Young, PhD of the University of St. Thomas’ Opus, discussed the major questions facing risk managers today. He discussed how, according to his findings, experience rises dealing with uncertainty – as opposed to risk – as one looks further up on the corporate ladder.

“Risk is uncertainty when you have the capacity to measure it, and when you get to the executive suite you hardly ever deal with risk at all because you’re responsible for the strategy,” he said. “I would submit that’s broadly true among organizations at all levels. We are little ships bobbing in a big sea of uncertainty.

“[Executives] can bring a level of comfort operating in an environment of uncertainty. That turned out to be only partly true, but we think it’s an abiding truth that is slowly revealing itself.”

“Diversity in Corporate India” inspired some spirited discussions about how women’s voices and the concept of assumption are emerging as integral parts of hiring practices throughout organizations in India. Panelists were Ragunthian, Praveen Gupta, CEO of Raheja QBE General Insurance Co., and Carissa Hickling, Talent Acquisition Strategy and Technology Global Consultant for Siemens Technology India.

They spoke of how efforts to better represent women have progressed. Additionally, gay and lesbian communities are experiencing a new level of acceptance now since September, when the Supreme Court of India ruled parts of Section 377 – which was introduced in 1864 – was unconstitutional for criminalizing homosexuality. The panel agreed that while talent itself should win above all else, they acknowledged that it was a sign of progress for the nation and should be thought of as such by its corporate sectors. Hickling explained how Indian companies can now use be more open-minded in their hiring and promotion practices.

“When we look at onboarding plans and organizations, these are the moments of truth,” she said. “We can have conversations about making a small change to our HR system because this is an opportunity to change the first impression of our organization.”

She added that Siemens leadership is taking the initiative to recognize same-sex partners when discussing health benefits and taking the progress a step further extending the welcoming to transgender workers. “This is all happening very fast,” she said, “but it is a time when an organization can demonstrate that this is a time when this does matter.”

For more coverage of the forum, visit Risk Management Monitor’s Q&A with Shankar Garigiparthy.

Live RIMScast coverage of the forum is also available. Download Speaking with Leaders in Risk Management Part I and Part II.

And exclusively for RIMS members, download Peter Young’s audio live from Mumbai: Thinking about Thinking in Risk Management: New Skills for the Future.

Factory Fires Illustrate a Culture of Lax Safety Standards in South Asia

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Some have called the clothing and textile factories in South Asia “death traps.” And many would find it hard to argue otherwise, taking into account the region’s spate of factory fires in recent months.

In September, 289 people perished during a fire in a Pakistani textile factory complex. As is the case in many of these tragedies, workers were trapped behind locked doors and windows were barred. That same month, a fire at an India fireworks factory killed 34.

So what’s the deal with South Asia’s factories?

As Business Insider states:

Several factors combine to make death traps of factories across south Asia. In many instances, exits have been padlocked, basements used as store rooms for highly flammable raw materials and no fire escapes installed, while smoke alarms or sprinkler systems are unheard of.
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Adding to that is the fact that fire services in South Asia are not properly or comprehensively trained and resources are lacking. In addition, because of lax zoning requirements, factories are often erected and operated within crowded residential areas. In India, industrial zones and overcrowded slums combine to create a horrific fire hazard.

And let’s not forget corruption that is rampant among South Asian countries, an area where government inspectors are easily and often paid off.

There have been more than 600 factory fire deaths in Bangladesh over the last five years. The industry has been warned time and time again, but has taken no action to prevent future fires. As ABC News reports, the brands associated with the fatal fire include Faded Glory (Walmart), Sears clothing brands and a clothing company owned by Sean Combs, who is better known as rap mogul P. Diddy.

The Clean Clothes Campaign, an initiative dedicated to improving working conditions in the global garment industries, has called for immediate action from international brands.

“These brands have known for years that many of the factories they choose to work with are death traps,” said Ineke Zeldenrust from the Clean Clothes Campaign. “Their failure to take action amounts to criminal negligence.

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Though criminal negligence may be the worst charge against these brands, they also face severe reputational damage. But it begs the question — how many factory fires will it take to motivate regional governments to create a safer working environment in the region’s fabric and textile factories?

Note: This article has been edited to highlight that this is a regional problem not confined to India.