Risk Management Essay Example for Free

Risk Management Essay The company generates its electricity at the Niagara Falls and distributes it to various Canadian provinces and the United States. Founded in 1906 as the Hydro-Electric Power Commission, the corporation was later renamed to Ontario Hydro in 1974. In 1998, the provincial government passed the â€Å"Energy Competition Act†. Ontario Hydro was restructured into two separate organizations: a power generation utility and a combined transmission/delivery business to be called Hydro one. 2. Hydro One’s Strategy and risks Hydro Ones strategy has changed a lot during the last years. First of all, the company thought they knew what was best for their customers. Eventually their focus changed into a more customer-based strategy. With the change in their focus in addressing the needs of their customers, customer satisfaction has, in some areas, doubled. Although results have been positive, problems for the electricity supply in the future might decrease the satisfaction of the customers. In the corporate risk profile trends, the electricity supply has become one of the biggest risks with a rating of ‘virtually certain’. Only â€Å"government policy uncertainty† and â€Å"getting the work done† have the same level of risk. In the impact-probability risk map of the firm, it is clear that problems with the electricity supply are quite probable and that the magnitude is considerably large. There’s always a risk of new outages, which can affect over 100. 000 customers for more than seven days in the worst-case scenario. Worst case expectations about the service quality indices predict that only 25% of the overall expected performance will be achieved when the best case scenario predicts 95%: it is already quite certain that the 100% achievement will be impossible. Another big issue in Hydro One’s strategy is cost efficiency. Due to its aging assets, the company had to focus on cutting costs. This initiative resulted in Rating Agencies improving Hydros rating on its long term debt to A, A2 and A (high), respectively. On the other hand, employees protested heavily against these measures by a major 18 weeks strike. Unfortunately, reducing unit costs to its desired level might fail in the end. Only in the minor case scenario the unit costs are not reduced, other scenarios predict an increase of 5 to more than 25%. Cheap electricity encouraged Canadian consumers to increase their purchases of energy-intensive consumer devices. Hydro One had to cope with this increased demand on its aging assets, so it launched an active conservation and demand management program. In this way, Hydro One is undertaking conservation initiatives, despite their adverse impact on the companys revenues and earnings. Electricity supply is one of the biggest risks; the former Pikangihum chief even mentioned the problem to turn on Christmas lights. The vision that CEO Formusa endorsed in a strategic plan is to make Hydro One the best transmission and distribution business in North America. This vision would be achieved by having the best safety record in the world, top quartile transmission and distribution reliability, 90% customer satisfaction across all segments, top quartile employee productivity, operating efficiency and an A credit rating. The CEO also intended to reach out and negotiate a long-term deal with the unions. The risks concerning safety were big from 2002 till 2004 but are under more under control since 2005. 3. Major drivers to get started with ERM at Hydro One As part of the firm’s spinoff from the previous Ontario Hydro and in preparation of an IPO, the management and board of Hydro One set high goals for being a best-practices organization with superior corporate governance and business conduct. In preparation of the IPO, they responded to the requirement of the Toronto Stock Exchange for listed companies to implement strategic risk management. Despite this IPO was forced to a halt in the Ontario Superior Court, Hydro One continued to follow their value creation strategy including the implementation of ERM and a risk-based investment planning system. At the same time, the government of Ontario posed a new challenge that had to be addressed with a scheduled deregulation of the electricity markets involving conservation initiatives. Other new policies in the energy industry like carbon legislation, the adoption of renewable technologies and climate change posed new threats and opportunities. In brief, the increased scrutiny on corporate governance called for a comprehensive risk management program. 4. Different stages of Hydro One’s ERM process Hydro One introduced a three-phase risk management program: In phase one, a risk management team organizes a series of interactive risk workshops in order to make the employees of the firm familiar with the companies’ key strategic objectives and the principal risks faced by the organization. Prior to these workshops, the risk team made a list of 60-70 potential risks or threats to the business. This list was e-mailed to the participating management. Based on their feedback, the risk team shortens the list to 8-10 risks. These shortlisted risks then are discussed during the workshops. In phase two, the risk team prepares a corporate risk profile report for the executive team twice a year, in January and July. In this report, the principal risks facing the organization are summarized. The chief risk officer conducts a series of one-to-one interviews with the top 30 to 40 top executives to review the corporate risk profile. This half-yearly monitoring and review of risk is very important within the ERM process, because risks do not remain static. In phase 3, during the annual planning process, the investment planning department and the risk management team jointly develop an approach for allocating resources to prioritized investment project proposals based on the risks identified. The chief financial officer argues that looking at investment proposals from a risk management point of view gives high visibility to capital expenditure planning in order to let the top management make the right investment decisions. 5. Up- and downsides of the ERM process Hydro One developed enterprise risk management in response to a new corporate governance requirement. A positive thing about Hydro One’s ERM process is that it includes all layers of the organization. Employees need to participate in a series of workshops to learn more about the company’s objectives and their risks. The method that Hydro One applies is structured, systematic and on a timely basis which are all key principles of risk management. It provides a foundation for all risk data across the organization and delivers visibility to this data. This has improved accountability and control within the company. An enormous benefit of the ERM process for Hydro One was that the company achieved a lower cost of debt. However, if the company decides to change its client-based strategy, it might be wise to review the ERM process and make some necessary changes. The corporation also uses the Delphi-method, which is a valuable communication technique when properly used. One needs to keep in mind, when applying the Delphi method, that the role of the supervisor may not be underestimated. It is he who needs to rearrange the data. Subjectivity might play a role, so it might be wise for Hydro One to find somebody else than Fraser to handle the risk management activities. In the end, ERM is more a state of mind than a technique or process. When all layers of the company have a mutual understanding about the company’s objectives and risks, one can say the ERM process has been successful. Hydro One’s ERM process will surely pass this test. 6. Framework There are a lot of different frameworks available these times. But the ISO 31000 Framework is the best practice framework because it is relatively easy to implement in an organization’s structure and still gives some good outcomes for the company. The Frameworks are used to facilitate the implementation of the ERM process into an organization. The core of the ISO 31000 Framework is the Risk Management Process (RMP). RMP consists of five important tasks. Further, the ISO 31000 Framework adds Management Information System (MIS). Risk management activities should be recorded. In this way, it is easier to know which actions are taken to counter the risk threats. The company will be able to react in a faster way to important changes in factors that could affect the organisation. Another important feature of the Framework can be found in Commit and Mandate. It is important to fully intergrate the ERM process in the organization. Every agent or stakeholder should be involved in the ERM process. Communication and consultation are key elements in every organization. But to implement the ERM process, communication becomes even more important. Communicating with all your stakeholders is crucial. Everyone needs to be aware of the possible risk the company is facing and the actions that are taken to mitigate these risks. The next important process of the ISO 31000 Framework is Accountability. For every identified risks, the company will have to assign a manager as risk-owner. They need to make clear who is responsible for which risk. Obviously, every agent or stakeholder has to participate in the process of countering risks. It is clear that the ERM process should be monitored and reviewed continuously. Because of a fast changing economic world, the ERM process should be adapted to these conditions. 6. 1 Establishing the context Hydro One is trying to be able to meet the high demand in hot weather springs and summers. Due to the aging infrastructure, Hydro One is facing high maintenance and growing costs. While they were planning to introduce cost-cutting initiatives they have to take into account these costs. Their main goal is to be able to report optimal financial results. This can be done in two ways. On the one hand, they have to make sure there are sufficient revenues. On the other hand, costs and expenses have to be kept under control. The problem of the 18-week during strike has caused an environment in the company where not everyone is heading in the same direction. So Hydro One is challenged to make sure there is a common culture in the company. 6. 2 Risk assessment Risk identification Identifying the likelihood and consequences of the different risks is done by organizing workshops wherein employees can participate. They are asked to express their feelings about the risks that might threaten the organization. Risk analysis Employees need to identify which business activities are affected by those different types of risks and in which degree on a 5-point scale. By doing this, every risk is looked at from another point of view. Each person identifies a different impact based on his or her area of expertise. Risks that are rated higher than 3, are more investigated in detail. They identify the worst-case scenario for each of those risks if something goes wrong within the company. After this process the company will have a clear view in the magnitude of a given risk, the probability of occurrence of a certain risk in a 2-3 year time period and the strength of the key controls in the company. If some of these key controls fail, it could cause a lot of damage to the company. Risk evaluation One had to be aware of the fact that risk is not a static concept. The level of risk a company is facing can depend on the whole environment of the company and the actions taken to mitigate the risk. So twice a year Hydro One made up a Corporate Risk Profile report to understand the changes in risk threats. 6. 3 Risk treatment options To reduce the risk threats to a tolerable level, action had to be taken. Everyone had to participate in these actions plans, but each manager was assigned as a risk-owner and had the full responsibility for taking actions to mitigate the risks. . 4 Communication and consultation It is really important to have a good and stable communication when implementing the ERM framework. Everyone has to know what their responsibilities are and what is going on in the company and its environment. If everyone is getting involved in the ERM process, each person will be able to look for solutions and thinks about different alternatives to handle different situations. Even the employees on the work floor should be consulted in the ERM process. They could have another view on the risks that threaten the company. They can discover some needs of the company the management could never be aware of. In conclusion, all stakeholders should be involved in the ERM process of the organization. 6. 5 Monitoring and reviewing To make sure the ERM Framework is implemented in the right way and has a positive effect for the company, it is important to monitoring and control the implementation of the Framework. And if needed some adjustments should be done to make the ERM process optimal. As mentioned earlier, the environment of the company and the risks threatening the company are not stable concepts. As a consequence, the ERM process is not stable even. 7. Conclusion One may never underestimate the importance of a well-balanced ERM process. By weighing up the implications of key decisions, appropriate actions can be agreed and delivered to support the chosen strategy. We can conclude that Hydro One’s ERM process is a valid one. ERM adds value for the company and supported the corporation’s managers in making good decisions about risk-based issues. [ 1 ]. ISO 31000, clause 4

Citizen Soldiers :: essays research papers

Citizen Soldiers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From the beaches of Normandy to the German surrender. That is the length of the war that Citizen Soldiers covers. It talks about personal stories and experiences from the private on the ground to the generals at the top. The book tells of the trials and tribulations of fighting a war far away from home and in many cases little knowledge of what the objectives are and were the war is headed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The stories told in the book range from Lt. Waverly Wray’s assault on the German hedges the day after landing at Normandy, to Sgt. Edgar Lauritsen’s accounts of German infiltration techniques.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Sgt. Lauritsen was manning a checkpoint on December 21, 1944, his CP was being shelled by a German tank. Just then two jeeploads of soldiers in American uniforms pulled up. There were nine of them. One a captain and the rest in enlisted uniforms. They pulled up, got out of the jeeps and began walking around a house near the checkpoint toward the German lines. Sgt. Lauritsen got suspicious, so he asked the captain what unit he was with. When the captain replied with slight difficulty pronouncing his unit, he was shot in the back. Unfortunately, the eight men with him grabbed him and dragged the shot captain back to German lines. Stories like this are found throughout the book. These stories show how evasive and seemingly overly ambitious there enemy was.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although the book has many accounts of what general did this on that day, it merely helps paint the big picture of what was happening. The truly interesting parts of the book are where the young enlisted men tell their stories of what happened down in trench or at their machinegun bunker. Because of these men, America was able win the war on both fronts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In closing, this book is a good book to read if you want to learn about actual historical accounts of what happened down on the ground.

Comparison of Editorials

Assignment 2:  Discussion—Comparison of Editorials In this assignment, you will identify and explore your intuitive critical thinking strategies. It is the starting point to developing the skills to analyze information critically. Research methods of identifying strong and weak arguments using your textbook and the Argosy University online library resources. Be sure to cover the following: * Identify premises and conclusions * Discuss whether or not an inference is warranted * Discuss matters of truth and consistencyFor this assignment, your facilitator will assign you one of the following debates: * Debate 1: Should the â€Å"Ashley X† treatments have been permitted? * Debate 2: Is Osama Bin Laden’s death a decisive blow to Al Qaeda or an unmitigated victory against terrorism? Each debate has two sets of articles for review. Your facilitator will assign you one of these sets. Each set has two articles with two varying, but important, perspectives on the same s ubject. Be sure to read both articles in the set. Debate 1:These pairs of articles focus on the subject of â€Å"Ashley X,† a child with static encephalopathy who underwent radical surgical procedures to facilitate her care and, thereby, ostensibly improve her quality of life. Set A * Lewis, J. (2007, January 6). The moral line in medicine shifts once again. The Independent, p. 37. (ProQuest Document ID 311096455). http://search. proquest. com. libproxy. edmc. edu/docview/311096455/abstract? source=fedsrch&accountid=34899 * Singer, P. (2007, January 26). A convenient truth [Op-Ed]. The New York Times. (ProQuest Document ID: 433487228). ttp://search. proquest. com. libproxy. edmc. edu/docview/433487228/abstract? source=fedsrch&accountid=34899 Set B * Lindemann, H. , Nelson, J. L. (2008). The romance of the family. The Hastings Center Report, 38(4), 19–21. (ProQuest Document ID 222368438). http://search. proquest. com. libproxy. edmc. edu/docview/222368438? accountid=348 9 9 * Picard, A. (2007, January 11). It's wrong to keep disabled girl as an ‘angel’. The Globe and Mail, p. A. 17. (ProQuest Document ID 383481551). http://search. proquest. com. libproxy. edmc. edu/docview/383481551/abstract? ource=fedsrch;accountid=34899 Debate 2 These pairs of articles focus on the subject of Osama Bin Laden’s death and the alleged implications his death are expected to have on matters of future Al Qaeda activity and international safety. Set A * Clarke, R. A. (2011, May 3). Bin Laden’s dead. Al Qaeda’s not [Op-Ed]. The New York Times, p. A. 23. (ProQuest Document ID 864311946). http://search. proquest. com. libproxy. edmc. edu/docview/864311946/abstract? source=fedsrch;accountid=34899 * Soufan, A. H. (2011, May 3). The end of the Jihadist dream [Op-Ed]. The New York Times, p.A. 23. (ProQuest Document ID 864311556). Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com. libproxy. edmc. edu/docview/864540238/abstract? source=fedsrch;account id=34899 Set B * Clarke, R. A. (2011, May 3). Bin Laden’s dead. Al Qaeda’s not [Op-Ed]. The New York Times, p. A. 23. (ProQuest Document ID 864311946). http://search. proquest. com. libproxy. edmc. edu/docview/864311946/abstract? source=fedsrch;accountid=34899 * Nocera, J. (2011, May 3). 4 questions he leaves behind [Op-Ed]. The New York Times, p. A. 23. (ProQuest Document ID 864311864). http://search. proquest. om. libproxy. edmc. edu/docview/864311864/abstract? source=fedsrch;accountid=34899 Respond to the following: * Identify and explain the strongest argument in each article. Or * Identify and explain the weakest argument in each article. Give reasons and examples from your research in support of your response. Write your initial response in 1–2 paragraphs. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. By Saturday, April 13, 2013, post your response to the appropriate Discussion Area. Through Wednesday, April 17, 2013, review and comment on at least two peers ’ responses. Debate 1:These pairs of articles focus on the subject of â€Å"Ashley X,† a child with static encephalopathy who underwent radical surgical procedures to facilitate her care and, thereby, ostensibly improve her quality of life. Set A * Lewis, J. (2007, January 6). The moral line in medicine shifts once again. The Independent, p. 37. (ProQuest Document ID 311096455). http://search. proquest. com. libproxy. edmc. edu/docview/311096455/abstract? source=fedsrch;accountid=34899 * Singer, P. (2007, January 26). A convenient truth [Op-Ed]. The New York Times. (ProQuest Document ID: 433487228). http://search. proquest. com. libproxy. edmc. du/docview/433487228/abstract? source=fedsrch;accountid=34899 Set B * Lindemann, H. , Nelson, J. L. (2008). The romance of the family. The Hastings Center Report, 38(4), 19–21. (ProQuest Document ID 222368438). http://search. proquest. com. libproxy. edmc. edu/docview/222368438? accountid=34899 * Picard, A. (2007, January 11). It's wrong to keep disabled girl as an ‘angel’. The Globe and Mail, p. A. 17. (ProQuest Document ID 383481551). http://search. proquest. com. libproxy. edmc. edu/docview/383481551/abstract? source=fedsrch&accountid=34899 Identify premises and conclusions Discuss whether or not an inference is warrantedDiscuss matters of truth and consistency Debate 1: Should the â€Å"Ashley X† treatments have been permitted? After reading all the articles, I believe that the Ashley X treatments should have been permitted. All parents want what is in the best interest of their child, even though sometimes they can make mistakes like all people. I am a parent and I could not imagine going through what Ashley’s parents go through every single day. If my child was like that I guess that I would probably do the same thing because having a child have a full grown body but the mind of a 3 month old baby cannot be a good thing.As parents, you have to protect your children t he best way that you know how. â€Å"The parents say that what they have done to Ashley is not for their convenience but for the girl's comfort. They say the medical procedures are not cruel; rather, â€Å"what is grotesque is having a fully grown fertile woman endowed with the mind of a baby (Andre, 2007). † There are many different types of fallacies and they are the straw man, attacks on character, post hoc, begging the question, appeal to popular belief, hasty generalization, irrelevant appeal to authority, over simplification, appeal to tradition, and false dichotomy.When reading through these articles, I see hasty generalization. I know that everyone has their own opinions but there are also facts to this case. â€Å"Once you start tinkering with nature, where do you decide to draw the line – if at all? As Ash-ley's father points out, â€Å"All medicine is about interfering with nature. Why not let cancer spread and nature take its course? Why give antibiotics for infections? † Science has kept Ashley alive; why shouldn't it be used to make her more comfortable (Lewis, 2007)? † â€Å"Modern medicine may save us from immediate tragedy, but only at the cost of our ethical peace of mind.We react violently to stories such as Ashley's because we are afraid of the miracles we have wrought. Where once there was just God and fate, now we face an endless panorama of impossible life-and-death decisions (Lewis, 2007). † With this statement, â€Å"What matters in Ashley's life is that she should not suffer, and that she should be able to enjoy whatever she is capable of enjoying. Beyond that, she is precious not so much for what she is, but because her parents and siblings love her and care about her.Lofty talk about human dignity should not stand in the way of children like her getting the treatment that is best both for them and their families (Singer, 2007). †, I completely agree with what was said here. For any person i n this world, we should all be able to enjoy whatever we can no matter what the situation is. In Ashley’s case, being that she has the mindset of a 3 month old; it would be hard to enjoy the life of an adult. References: Lewis, J. (2007, Jan 06). The moral line in medicine shifts once again; EDITORIAL ; OPINION. The Independent. Retrieved from

Quality, Affordable Health Care for All Americans - Medicare Reform Free Essay Example, 3250 words

The cost to keep Medicare running will increase by 5.9 per cent in 2003 and then 6.8 per cent annually over the next ten years. Considering Medicare in the broader picture of the federal budget, the CBO sees Medicare costs increasing from 2.5 per cent of the 2002 GDP to 9.2 per cent of the GDP in 2075. Medicare has other problems besides the shrinking worker to beneficiary ratio. Not only will there be more people who are 65 and older in the decades to come, but the number of those people aged 85 and older, is slated to increase as well. Today 4.3 million people fall into the "oldest-old" category, but the number is expected to increase to more than 8.5 million by 2030 (Robinson). These "oldest-old" will likely require more expensive, long-term health care services and such coverage may increase Medicare's expenses. Also, as medical advances tend to drive up health care costs, Medicare expenditures can reasonably be expected to increase as more recipients receive such new treatments . The CBO's Medicare projections are based entirely on the assumption that the Medicare program will remain as it is in its current form. We will write a custom essay sample on Quality, Affordable Health Care for All Americans - Medicare Reform or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page President Obama has said he does not want to finance expanded health coverage with more deficit spending. Rather, he says, Congress must find ways to offset the costs, so they do not add to the deficit over the next decade (Pear, 2009). The role of Medicare in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 is very important.