This thesis describes some of the practical issues faced by a portfolio manager in analyzing the risk associated with a portfolio of assets. The main tools used are the mean-variance optimization algorithm introduced by Markowitz and multi-factor models for risk decomposition. A sample portfolio designed to track the Russell 1000G stock index is constructed that minimizes tracking error while satisfying constraints on the exposure of the portfolio to particular factors (growth and market capitalization).

<p><strong>This thesis presents a generic framework for project managers and/or other stakeholders to assist them in qualitatively assessing and evaluating project risks. The main structure of this framework is constructed based on risk management area in PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) standard. Additionally, different best practices and methods in the field of risk management and decision making are studied and embedded in the framework. In spite of being theoretical in nature, the framework can contribute to the project risk management area developed by PMBOK, opening the possibility of further research for its verification.</strong></p>

Risk management (RM) is a knowledge area in project management (PM). The challenges of project complexity require astute RM. However, RM practices in Lesotho appear to lag behind international trends. Within the sub-Sahara African region, RM incompetence affects timely delivery of public projects owing to PM practices that do not address risks. This study, which adopts a case study approach, unravels the „how and why‟ of contemporary RM practices which are lacking in Lesotho, despite a poor record of project success in the construction industry. Through the reviewed literature and primary data collection, this study investigates three elements in order to determine the level of RM practice within Lesotho public sector construction projects. These elements were the basis of RM, the RM processes, and the peoples‟ perceptions which were essentially centred on the probability of risk and the impact thereof. The results from the study achieved through cross-case synthesis show that the level of RM practice in the Lesotho public sector construction projects is at variance with international practice. The notable gaps in practice include construction professionals who do not know about or who have not practiced project RM. The study thus propose that the Government of Lesotho (GoL) should invest in educating more people in the areas of construction project management or engage professionals with extensive project RM experience. The recommended initiatives should promote professionalism and accountability that are essential for bracing the RM practice in public sector construction projects.

Businesses are continuously exposed to a changing business environment which may either exert positive or negative influences on profitability. The banking industry, in particular, is highly competitive and bank failures can have significant consequences for customers. Commercial banks, therefore, have a responsibility to protect their customers by implementing sound risk management strategies. In light of the recent financial crises (since 2007), risk management has once again become a popular topic of discussion since adequate risk management should have prevented or minimised the impact of the risks faced by failed banks. The primary objective of this study was to develop a framework that could be used by South African commercial banks to investigate risk management. Qualitative research was conducted in this regard. From this, findings and recommendations were derived in order to provide banks with a tool by which they could assess their exposure to risk. Various journals, websites, newspapers, bank reports and textbooks were consulted in support of the literature. The literature provided background information on the history and development of the risk management process. Considerable attention was given to the categories of risk that an adequate risk management framework should address. Furthermore, the current models used to manage risk in commercial bank were provided, as well as the specific reasons for bank failures. The main findings of this study were the identification of the most significant reasons for banking failures. These were identified as capital inadequacy, credit risk due to non-performing loans and a lack of banking supervision. In addition to these reasons, several other contributing principles were identified as important factors to be included in a risk management framework. A risk management framework was thus constructed in Table 5.1 based on the literature regarding global banking failures and the relevant conclusions made by the researcher.

The main objective of this thesis is not only to describe and categorize risk but also to look at Porsche AG and determine how they deal with strategic risks. Primary focus is on the description and categorization of risks, strategic risks, importance of Risk Management and strategic risks faced by Porsche AG and their mitigation.

The Master thesis deals with the Riskmanagement in Service Center Organizations and its implementation. The thesis show in detail how Service Center Organizations are working and where and how Risk management has to be implemented. The thesis analyzes the differences in organizing Risk management in the stage of implementation of the Service Center Organization and afterwards. The first part of the Master thesis is theoretical and is devoted to Risk management and the origin of Service Center Organizations. The autor stresses the differences of Service Center Organization, Centralization and Outsourcing. The second part of the thesis demonstrates the typical processes in Service Center Organizations and how Risk management is applied. In the third part the findings are presented as the differences in Risk managent during implementation and afterwards as well as additional findings are presented.

Operational risk was identified as one of the primary risk types that a bank faces. Neglected for many years, there is a growing awareness in the banking industry that the management of operational risk is crucial for their future existence. The effective management of operational risk, however, requires a structured approach. This study, therefore, investigates the management of operational risk by way of a literature study and empirical research in order to develop a framework for a structured approach to operational risk management in banking. The framework comprises the primary risk factors of operational risk, namely: people, processes, systems and external events, as well as a definition of operational risk. The operational risk exposures that apply to the aforementioned primary risk factors are identified. It, furthermore, illustrates that operational risk management is an ongoing process that consists of risk identification, risk evaluation, risk control and risk financing and addresses the methods that could be applied in the management process. As operational risk management in the banking industry is still in a development stage it is believed that this study could assist banks with establishing formal operational risk management processes. The framework demarcates the area of operational risk properly and provides insight into all the activities that should be performed in the operational risk management process, but the following issues still require further research: • The practical implementation of methods for the quantification of operational risk and determining a capital charge for it; • The effect of the requirements of corporate governance on banks as it relates to the management of operational risk; and • The interaction between operational risk and the other primary risk types to ensure an effective, enterprise-wide risk management process. The framework that has been developed could also be applied to any other enterprise as operational risk management is not unique to banks and the basic principples are generic. / Business Management / D. Com. (Business Management)

No description available.

The examination of the topic of market risk management in Islamic finance is a complex endeavour. At a basic level, the subject matter, being multifarious in a manner that mixes religion and economics, requires the conjoining of religious faith with scientific objectivity in order to ascertain the truth contained in the scripture as it pertains to the Mua’amalat (dealings between individuals) matter of entering into financial contracts with others to manage market risk exposures. Moreover, the complexity is compounded due to the need to disentangle the ambiguity that has beset the discourse on the topic due to historically being mostly legal-centric with a focus on debating the contractual elements rather than attempting to comprehensively address the myriad issues that relate to market risk management in contemporary contexts. These issues, for the most part, revolve around the reliance on market risk transfer as a strategy and derivative contracts, with monetary underlying variables, as tools to implement that strategy. Thus, the journey of investigating the rationale, permissibility, and usage of derivative hedging instruments for market risk management in Islamic finance is, essentially, an undertaking that seeks to engage in a wide-ranging and multi-layered examination of the subject matter as well as the exploration of new areas of relative significance. This, in turn, and subsequent to the analysis of data generated from documentary sources and forty-one interviews which were collected from numerous sources within four locations, led to the elaboration of the contention that market risk management through derivative instruments for legitimate hedging purposes should not be prohibited in the Shari’a, albeit with certain conditions that limit unproductive behaviour. The basis for the aforementioned contention is built on the fact that market risk management has undergone a paradigm shift in how exposures are identified and measured as well as in the emergence of innovative tools which can result in a better ability to address the opportunities and challenges facing institutions that provide value to society (i.e., the real sector). Moreover, there is little substantive evidence that proves that the utilization of derivative instruments for hedging purposes leads its users to partaking in transactions that circumvent the prohibition of Riba (usury), Gharar (excessive uncertainty), and Maysir (gambling). In effect, the derivative instruments used for the management of market risks are not only disassociated from usurious debt transactions, they are also transacted in the financial markets in a manner that is transparent to all the parties involved. Along the same lines, the prohibition of Maysir, which is apparently an overarching concern, should be conceptualized with the focus on the proscription of the act of gambling, not necessarily the instruments (e.g., derivatives) and/or any particular framework (e.g., zero-sum arrangements). Ultimately, one should be cognizant of the fact that the true intentions of Islamic jurisprudence in Mua’amalat (as a manifestation of divine guidance) always centre on human well-being. Accordingly, the religious prohibitions are, in essence, within the realm of acts that adversely affect human well-being. This is a constant theme that is present throughout the thesis; and is one that exists at the heart of a wider aspiration of its adoption to a greater extent than is currently present in the Islamic finance discourse.

This research examined the psychology of leadership with respect to Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). ERM a risk management process that has been developed to enable organizations to minimize internal and external risks and exploit opportunities for gain. Despite the prevalence of several ERM frameworks for various kinds of risk, their implementation has been at best, partially effective. Given that the implementation of ERM's is the responsibility of senior management / leaders of organizations, it was assumed that one of the reasons for the faulty ERM implementation may be attributed to poor leadership. The literature indicated that the psychology of leadership related to implementation of risk management programmes refers to the ability to make rational decisions under condition of risk and uncertainty and the ability to influence others in the organizations to adopt and develop a risk management culture. However, the elements of a psychology of leadership that would lead to effective ERM implementation have been largely ignored in the literature. The gap in the literature this research attempts to bridge. The abductive pragmatic approach was used using qualitative and quantitative methods and primary and secondary data. The analysis of the secondary data led to the formulation of a framework containing various psychological factors related to decision making, leadership style and organisational culture. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 42 respondents from private organisations operating in the Saudi oil and gas sector, whilst quantitative data were gathered from 100 respondents from private organisations operating across various sectors in Saudi Arabia. The analysis of primary data collected from the empirical survey and the information gathered from the literature review corroborated all the factors identified in relation to decision making, leadership style and organisational culture. The key factors found to impact psychology of decision making included risk perception, psychometric paradigms, bias, culture, gender, emotion, decision-making style, attitude and protective zones. The factors impacting psychology of creating organisational culture of risk included leadership style, development, communication and appetite for monitoring risk, the development of an ethical organisation, role identification, the transformational leadership style and facilitation of the emergence of champions at all levels of the organisational hierarchy. One of the key findings of this research highlighted the occurrence of bias or heuristics that can impede rational decision making under condition of risk and uncertainty. The most important of these include representation, availability and anchoring, which can lead individuals to overestimate or underestimate the consequences of their decisions, and make decisions that do not lead to the desired outcomes from occurring. Another finding is the corporate environment in Saudi Arabia related to risk management. It was found that women in Saudi Arabia are more risk averse than their male counterparts. Findings suggest that this is the outcome of social prescriptions related to the role of women and indicate that steps must be taken to break down cultural barriers that prevent female participation in decision-making processes. In this connection, it was also found that in Saudi Arabia there is low tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity, high tolerance for hierarchy, that values the community over the individual and that is more masculine than feminine in its worldviews. All of these have resulted in a risk averse management culture in Saudi Arabian organizations. It was also found that it is the transactional leadership style that is better suited to risk management activity than authoritarian, individualistic or transactional leaders. These finding are relevant as they constitute a framework or model of ERM implementation that may be used by any organization that seeks to effectively implement ERM frameworks. The leaders of these organizations can use this framework to understand the mental processes that they undergo when they have to make rational decisions under condition of risk and uncertainty as also how to leverage various psychological factors in creating an organizational culture of risk. The key limitation of this research is that it does not conduct statistical tests to explore positive and significant links between the various dimensions of the psychology of risk leadership and the benefits of an effective ERM implementation. The recommendations aims to help improve ERM implementation in Saudi Arabia and a future research for those interested in investigating the influence the psychology of leadership on ERM in a context of a particular sector.