The existence of complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity in current business environment promotes corporates need to establish good risk governance. Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) has been considered as a way to achieve good risk governance to deal with both upside (e.g. exploit opportunities) and downside (e.g. reduce insolvency) of risk and uncertainty. ERM holistically treats all risk to achieve organisation objective in normal, volatile and crisis situations. The thesis tackles issues in the implementation of ERM and how it has been adopted and implemented in Indian and UK insurance market. Mixed research methods have been employed from a qualitative stand point to explore the research issues, consisting of two surveys in UK and India, over 50 interviews and two case studies in the Indian and UK insurance markets. The research revealed that there is an ambiguity in the understanding of the definitions of ERM and risk appetite across both countries. Major issues in ERM implementation in Indian insurance market are fraud, under-risk reporting and insufficient resources to develop an appropriate risk culture. In the UK insurance market issues are related to customer complaints, fines/penalties, over-risk reporting and lack of capital efficiency. Regulatory risk seen as a major risk in both market, though, in the Indian market lack of regulation is the issue whereas in the UK insurance market lack of clarity in insurance regulation has been emphasised. From intuitional theory and strategic change perspective, the research presents cross-country comparative case studies highlighting four emerging ERM strategies based on the different state of development and maturity of companies: ‘Rudimentary’, ‘Anticipatory’, ‘Resilient’ and ‘Transformatory’ strategies. The case studies highlight the issues within the two insurance companies both internally and externally in a nascent and a mature market. Before companies can adopt a transformatory strategy, both companies require a fundamental understanding of strategic change that eventually can pave the way to good risk governance. Adopting the cognitive lens of strategic change will not only enhance company specific risk-based capabilities but it will improve industry risk-based capabilities through development of professional competence.

Diplomová práce zkoumá nejdřív funkci a posléze proces řízení rizik v rámci banky z hlediska zejména neoinstitucionální a behaviorální finanční teorie. Nejdřív je analyzována náplň funkce řízení rizik v kontextu maximalizace hodnoty banky. Je dokázáno, že specifický kontext bankovnictví vyžaduje zohledňování celkového rizika aktivit místo pouhé korelace se systematickým rizikem. Rovněž je třeba zohledňovat preference všech stakeholdrů banky a nejenom jejích vlastníků. Z tohoto důvodu se práce dále zaměřuje na trend směřující k integrovanému řízení rizik, který odpovídá na tyto potřeby. Analyzovány jsou zejména koncepty ekonomického kapitálu a podnikového řízení rizik (ERM). V další části práce je zkoumáno smysluplné začlenění procesu řízení rizik v rámci organizační struktury banky v kontextu konfliktních cílů maximalizace zisku a minimalizace rizika. Nesprávné propojení s ostatními bankovními procesy představuje jeden z hlavním problémů efektivního fungování řízení rizik obecně, jako i překážku při implementaci konceptu integrovaného řízení rizik v bankovní praxi. Je ukázáno, že funkce řízení musí mít na jedné straně dosah na strategické řízení banky, na druhé straně musí být transcendentní přes celou strukturu banky. Tyto shledání jsou konfrontovány s bankovní praxí v rámci případové studie.

The Himalayan region is experiencing population growth and a process of rapid urbanization. At the same time the existing government structure is struggling to provide basic services to the burgeoning urban population and does not have the financial or human resources to address urban risk. This dissertation explores how this problem can be addressed by urban risk governance rather than ‘all-of-society’ engagement. The rapidly urbanizing town of Almora in the Uttarakhand Himalayas is selected as a case study. Primary sources of data are government documents pertaining to land-use planning and building regulation, 150 household surveys as well as 24 key informant interviews. The dissertation identifies gaps in the existing government framework of land use and building regulation while arguing for the adoption of the concept of urban risk governance. However, various challenges to achieving a working model are revealed when risk governance is contextualized in the case of Almora. These are related to the local level developmental process, formal and informal actors as well as local risk knowledge. Such challenges must be resolved in order to successfully implement urban risk governance.

Public policies affect all of us, regardless of who we are or where we live. The study of public policymaking necessarily entails the study of the entire political system and to this end, researchers employ a multitude of frameworks, theories, and models, which tend to be complementary rather than mutually exclusive. The focus of this dissertation is on political entrepreneurship as an actor-based framework to examine and understand policy change. The dissertation’s main aim is to conceptually enhance entrepreneurship and the entrepreneur in the polis by leveraging them in the Swedish political context. In this research, political entrepreneurship and the political entrepreneur are examined in the background of the Swedish corporatist policymaking system with its consensual sensibilities. The five (two theoretical and three empirical) papers as well as the cover essay comprising this dissertation attempt to answer the following questions: first, how do contextual factors inform the realization of entrepreneurial agency? Second, how do contextual factors inform the strategies entrepreneurial actors use to affect change? Third, what is the role of political entrepreneurship and the political entrepreneur in macro-level theories such as critical junctures and policy transfer? Contextual factors here are understood to be the general political system; the level of governance; the substantive policy sector, and the stage of the policy process. Predominantly qualitative methods and a variety of analytical tools, ranging from formal social network analysis (SNA) to process tracing are used to investigate the research questions in the national, regional, and local levels of governance and in the fields of crisis management, risk governance, and economic development respectively. Findings suggest that overwhelmingly, political entrepreneurs come from the ranks of public officials and thus political entrepreneurship is a feature of the policy implementation stage rather than the agenda setting stage of policymaking. There is not a place for the outsider, single issue entrepreneur in the Swedish consensual system, which provides for extensive inclusion, but of actors organized in interest groups. Political entrepreneurs are action-oriented, problem solving doers, characterized by perseverance and resourcefulness and are key in consolidating policy change in the aftermath of a crisis. Though in broad terms the strategies political entrepreneurs use in the Swedish context are concomitant with the ones used in pluralistic contexts, specificities diverge. In the Swedish corporatist consensual system, political entrepreneurship becomes a conduit facilitating interconnections among a multitude of actors; opens up additional channels of communication, while the political entrepreneur is a network maker. Finally, political entrepreneurship is focused on forging a consensus rather than winning the competition: the art of quiet cooperation and collaboration. / Den offentliga politiken berör alla medborgare, oavsett vem man är och var man bor. Forskning om policyskapande och politiskt beslutsfattande omfattar det hela politiska systemet. Därför använder sig forskare av ett stort antal komplementära ramverk, teorier och modeller. Denna avhandling använder politiskt entreprenörskap som ett aktörsbaserat ramverkför att undersöka och förstå policyförändring. Avhandlingens huvudsyfte är att utveckla de teoretiska begreppen ”politiskt entreprenörskap”och ”politiska entreprenörer” genom att undersöka dem inom det svenska politiska systemet. Avhandlingen består av en kappa och fem artiklar, varav två är uteslutande teoretiska och tre omfattar analys av empiriskt material. Alla fem söker att besvara följande forskningsfrågor: Först, hur påverkar kontextuella faktorer möjliggörandet av entreprenöriell agens? För det andra, hur präglar kontextuella faktorer de strategier som entreprenöriella aktörer använder sig av för att åstadkomma förändring? För det tredje, vilken roll har politiskt entreprenörskap och politiska entreprenörer i makroteorier, särskilt critical junctures och policy transfer? Med kontextuella faktorer avses här det politiska systemets karaktär; governance-nivå; policyområde, och stadie i policyprocessen. Forskningsfrågorna undersöks huvudsakligen genom kvalitativa metoder; data analyseras med formell social nätverksanalys, innehållsanalys och process-spårning. Studierna behandlar olika politiska områden på olika politiska nivåer: krishantering på den nationella nivån, risk-governance på den regionala nivån och tillväxt på den lokala nivån. Resultaten visar att  politiska entreprenörer huvudsakligen återfinns bland byråkrater, vilket innebär att politiskt entreprenörskap sker i implementeringen av policyer snarare än i det politiska agendasättandet. Svensk korporatism kännetecknas av en omfattande inkludering av aktörer som organiserar sig inom intressegrupper. Däremot finns litet utrymme för enskilda politiska entreprenörer. Politiska entreprenörer beskrivs ofta som handlingsinriktade problemlösare, uthålliga och rådiga. Efter samhällskriser  är  de viktiga  i  förändringen av policyer. Även om de strategier som svenska politiska entreprenörer tillämpar i stort sett liknar de som används inom pluralistiska  system, finns det också flera  skillnader. Inom den svenska korporatismen, blir politiskt entreprenörskap en kanal som underlättar kopplingar mellan flera olika aktörer–entreprenören blir en nätverkskapare. Politiskt entreprenörskap i Sverige tycks handla om att skapa konsensus snarare än att vinna i konkurrens: det är det tysta samarbetets och samverkans konst. / <p>Vid tidpunkten för disputationen var följande delarbeten opublicerade: delarbete 3 inskickat, delarbete 4 accepterat, delarbete 5 inskickat.</p><p>At the time of the doctoral defence the following papers were unpublished: paper 3 submitted, paper 4 accepted, paper 5 submitted.</p>

This study examines the emergence of risk governance arrangements in US bank holding companies (BHCs) and tests for their impact upon performance and risk profiles. Following the financial crisis, regulators introduced several new risk governance processes, including the adoption of Risk Appetite arrangements and the establishment of Risk Committees, both board level features. In this study, a research gap is unearthed with respect to risk governance practices and their impact upon BHC performance and risk measures. The motivation of this research is to validate the adoption of these board-level practices in an evidence-based framework. The empirical research method relies on the collection of a unique data set. The sample covers a significant dollar-weighted portion of the US banking system. Multivariate analysis facilitates the testing of risk governance mechanisms to outcome variables, while controlling for firm-specific and standard corporate governance variables. The practical implication of this study with respect to Risk Appetite is clear. BHCs that practice Risk Appetite arrangements exhibit improved performance and lower realised loan losses. In contrast, while some limited evidence is presented that the marketplace may reward BHCs for certain composition aspects of the Risk Committee, the overall results suggest that the requirement for a Risk Committee has little impact to BHC’s operating performance and risk measures. In terms of academic contribution, this study examines two major risk governance mechanisms within a common framework, presenting evidence of a significant and positive impact of the board level articulation of Risk Appetite arrangements to a suite of BHC performance measures and a negative association to loan losses. As the first known empirical research study of Risk Appetite, it confirms that this board level mechanism should be included as an explanatory variable in bank or risk governance related empirical research studies. These findings provide industry practitioners (including BHC chief executive officers and board members) convincing arguments for the immediate adoption of Risk Appetite arrangements. US Regulators, who introduced Risk Appetite requirements in 2014 for larger BHCs, are presented with validation by this study for wider adoption of this risk governance mechanism, even if such practices are voluntarily adopted by BHCs. As signs begin to emerge in the United States of the possible relaxation of the regulatory requirements of certain aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act, this study contributes to this debate in a timely fashion by testing the veracity of two key supervisory-driven risk governance practices aimed at the boardroom in an evidence-based evaluation.

This thesis explains how China’s banking system has evolved since the establishment of the socialist market economy in 1993, when the state began to develop a more standardised and robust system of banking regulation and commercialise China’s state-owned banks. China’s large state-owned banks, which were technically insolvent in the 1990s, are now some of the biggest commercial banks in the world. There has been a remarkable transformation of systems of governance and risk management across all types of banking institutions. China has developed a system of financial regulation characterised by close supervision and strong regulation of financial institutions to mitigate risk and ensure the banking system serves the real economy. This thesis has relied on qualitative research to understand this change. Interviews of a number of past and present stakeholders in China’s banking system were undertaken, including officials from the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the agency responsible for the regulation and supervision of China’s banking system since 2003. The thesis also makes use of Chinese language texts which provide the views of Chinese political leaders and banking officials with respect to reform of the banking sector. The principal conclusion of the thesis is that the development of China’s banking system can best be understood as an evolution of institutions which reflect historical patterns of political and economic organisation in China. This finding is in contrast with the main body of academic literature which evaluates the development of China’s banking system according to its degree of conformance with a neoliberal economic system. The thesis argues that policy for China’s banking sector was conceived and implemented by officials through a politically united, centrally controlled bureaucracy reflective of China’s bureaucratic tradition. China’s leaders applied the concept of ‘Chinese studies at the base, Western studies for practical use’ (中體西用zhongti xiyong), when adapting Western ideas and technology within China’s traditional political and economic system to modernise the banking sector. The deep concern of officials for financial stability caused them to gradually and pragmatically adopt international standards of financial regulation and resist policies of financial liberalisation and deregulation which were advocated by self-interested Western-educated bankers and government officials.

Purpose: The purpose of this research study is to investigate the extent to which banks are using risk management practices in dealing with various risks and to compare risk management practices between Islamic and Conventional banks operating in Pakistan. Methodology: This is an empirical research study which has employed quantitative research methods. This study has used two sources of data, i.e. primary and secondary data. Secondary data is collected by using content analysis through annual reports of five Islamic and conventional banks for the six year time period from 2008 to 2013. The content analysis was performed by using frequency analysis and un-weighted index scoring. And primary data was collected through questionnaire from the senior managers, risk managers and CRO of Islamic and conventional banks. The sample size was consisting of 150 respondents from banks. The data was analysed by using descriptive statistics, regression analysis and Mann-Whitney U test. Findings: Islamic banks are found to be significantly different from their conventional counterparts in risk identification, risk management practices, liquidity risk analysis and risk governance. Moreover, risk identification, risk assessment and analysis, credit risk analysis and risk governance are most influencing and contributing variables in risk management practices of banks operating in Pakistan. Also, credit, liquidity, market and operational risk are found to be the most important risks faced by both conventional and Islamic banks. Practical Implication: Considering the importance of risk management practices in Islamic and conventional banks; Bankers, investors, regulators, and policymakers are likely to benefit from the results of the study as a guide, when developing and reforming the existing risk management practices. Originality: This study has extended the risk management practices model of banks by incorporating two more variables, i.e. liquidity risk analysis and risk governance into the model. Also, it is adding value methodologically, as data triangulation is used to draw a valid inference. So, this study will add value to literature and will be useful for Islamic banks, conventional banks, practitioners as well as for academic point of view.

This master´s thesis specifies theoretical and formal procedures used while controlling and limiting risks in a company´s business activities. It covers analysis of external and internal risk factors which affect the analyzed company and analysis of the methods of limiting the mentioned risks. Consecutive suggestions and recommendations result from the performed analyses.

Sammanfattning Bakgrund: Resiliens är ett begrepp som används i allt större utsträckning inom risk och katastrofforskningen för att beskriva samhällets motståndskraft mot, förmåga att återhämta sig från samt utvecklas positivt efter större naturhändelser. Forskning visar på vikten av att involvera alla nivåer i samhället för att skapa resiliens vilket även uttrycks i internationella ramverk för katastrofriskreducering, klimatanpassning och hållbar utveckling. Det är framförallt på den lokala nivån som konsekvenserna av extrema naturhändelser manifestera och måste hanteras vilket innebär att allmänheten anses vara viktig att involvera i det katastrofriskreducerande arbetet för en ökad resiliens. Detta innebär ett så kallat ”bottom-up” sätt att arbeta. En faktor som enligt forskningen påverkar risken för katastrofer är olika sårbarheter i samhället. Hur sårbart ett samhälle är påverkas bland annat av ekonomiska, ekologiska och sociala faktorer och hur resurser är fördelade. Vissa grupper i samhället pekas ofta ut som mer sårbara, och ett led i att skapa resiliens är att tillgodose dessa gruppers specifika behov i relation till katastrofrisker. Teorier och modeller gällande samhällets resiliens mot katastrofer är ofta framtagna med fokus på miljöer med mer frekventa och dramatiska naturhändelser, och samhällen som präglas av en högre grad av socioekonomiska skillnader än vi har i dagens Sverige. Ett förändrat klimat och andra globala processer påverkar även det svenska samhället. Svenska staten och dess myndigheter påtalar allt mer vikten av att arbeta utifrån ett resiliensperspektiv i samhällsbyggandet. I den svenska kontexten ligger ett stort ansvar gällande risk och krishantering på den kommunala nivån, samt även på den enskilda individen, vilket kan tänkas borga för att involvera allmänheten i katastrofriskreduceringen och tillika skapa ett resilient lokalsamhälle. Syfte: Syftet med studien är trefaldig. Primärt syftar den till att få en övergripande förståelse för hur personer som är verksamma inom risk och krishantering på lokal nivå i en svensk kommun ser på att involvera allmänheten i det katastrofriskreducerande arbetet utifrån ett resiliensperspektiv. Sekundärt syftar studien till att undersöka hur man förhåller sig till olika gruppers behov i arbetet utifrån ett sårbarhetsperspektiv samt att undersöka relevansen av ett befintligt teoretiskt ramverk för community resilience i en svensk kontext. Metod: Studien är en kvalitativ explorativ fallstudie av Örebro kommun med en abduktiv ansats. Genom en kombination av strategiskt urval och snöbollsurval har nyckelpersoner som är verksamma inom kommunal verksamhet samt frivilligorganisationer inkluderats i studien. Datainsamlingen bestod av semistrukturerade intervjuer som transkriberats och vidare analyserats genom kvalitativ textanalys. För att stärka studiens validitet har även kommundokument studerats för att möjliggöra en triangulering. Resultatet diskuteras utifrån teorier om resiliens, risk-governance och sårbarhet för katastrofer samt ett teoretiskt ramverk för community resilience. Resultat: Resultatet visar på: 1) en positiv syn hos respondenterna på att involvera allmänheten, framförallt som en resurs i den akuta krishanteringen genom att nyttja frivilliga, 2) möjligheter med att involvera allmänheten genom relationsbyggande nätverk och ökad samverkan med civilsamhället för att få information om hur människor upplever sin verklighet och vilka behov allmänheten har gällande information och stöttning, 3) hinder avseende kommunikation och samverkan mellan kommun och allmänhet vilket delvis kopplades till att det saknas användbara verktyg och att ny teknik inte nyttjas fullt ut, 4) brist på kontinuitet i samverkan mellan civilsamhället och kommunen och låg frekvens av större händelser, 5) ett bristande engagemang från allmänhetens sida. Resultatet pekar även på att resiliensramverket är relevant i den svenska kontexten. / Summary Background: Resiliens is a concept that is increasingly used in risk- and disaster research to describe society's resistance to, ability to recover from and to develop positively after major natural events. Research shows the importance of involving all levels of society in order to create resilience against disasters and is expressed in international frameworks for disaster risk reduction, climate change and sustainable development. Since the consequences of extreme natural events primarily manifests at the local level, they need to be locally managed. The importance of involving the public in disaster risk reduction, also called the “bottom-up approach” with the aim of building resilience is thus highlighted. One factor affecting societal disaster risk is vulnerability. How vulnerable a society is to disasters is influenced by economic, ecological and social factors and the distribution of resources. Certain groups in society are often referred to as more vulnerable and one part of building resilience against disasters is to cater to the specific needs of these groups in relation to disaster risks. Theories and models of societal resilience against disasters are often developed with focus on environments with more frequent and dramatic natural events and societies that are characterized by a greater degree of socio-economic differences than that of today's Sweden. But a changing climate and other global processes also affect the Swedish society. The Swedish state and its authorities increasingly emphasize the importance of taking a resilience perspective on societal development. The responsibility for risk and crisis management in Sweden is primarily focused at the municipal level, as well as on the individual, which could warrant the involvement of the public in disaster reduction in order to build a resilient local community. Purpose: The purpose of the study is threefold. It primarily aims at gaining an overall understanding of the views of individuals, involved in risk and crisis management at local level in Sweden, upon involving the public in disaster risk reduction from a resilience perspective. Secondarily, the study aims at investigating how the needs of different groups in the community is incorporated into the work, based on a vulnerability perspective, and thirdly to investigate the relevance of an existing theoretical framework for community resilience in a Swedish context. Method: The study was designed as a qualitative exploratory case study of Örebro municipality with an abductive approach. Through a combination of strategic selection and snowballing, key people working in the local council and non-governmental organizations have been included in the study. The data collection consisted of semistructured interviews that were transcribed and further analyzed through qualitative text analysis. In order to strengthen the validity of the study, municipal documents were studied to enable triangulation. The results were discussed through theories of resilience, risk governance and disaster vulnerability as well as a theoretical framework for community resilience by Norris et al. (2008). Results: The results show: 1) a positive view upon involving the public, primarily as a resource in emergency crisis management by using volunteers, 2) opportunities for involving the public through relational networking and enhanced cooperation with civil society, in order to gain information and knowledge on how people perceive their reality and the needs of the public regarding information and support, 3) communication and cooperation barriers between the municipality and the public are linked to the lack of useful tools and that new technologies are not fully utilized, 4) a lack of continuity in civil society and municipality collaboration, low frequency of major events, and lack of widespread commitment among the public. The result indicates that the resilience framework is also relevant in the Swedish context.

This thesis is concerned with what pervasive risk management is, and how it can be achieved in practice. Specifically, it examines the effect of social processes and cultural factors on how risk management can be coordinated across and embedded within business processes and organisational culture. A growing literature addresses what is termed risk management maturity: the capability of an organisation to assess, manage, communicate and govern risk (and opportunity). Notwithstanding its benefits, the emphasis of this literature on risk management benchmarking and standardisation has led, arguably, to a bureaucratisation of risk management process. Research followed a case study strategy and data were gathered through semi-structured interviews. A total of 43 interviews were conducted in one private and one public sector organisation. The findings describe a number of social processes and related cultural factors that significantly affected risk management pervasiveness in the two organisations. (1) Shared experience and respect for experience facilitated flexible coordination between operational and strategic risk management. (2) Informal, lateral communication integrated the knowledge of diverse stakeholders required to manage complex environmental risks. (3) Lack of common understanding of the purpose and function of risk management undermined coordination of risk management practice. These findings progress the debate on the balance between standardisation and informal social process to achieve pervasive risk management, and contribute to a richer description of organisational risk management maturity. The findings are of value to risk managers wishing to embed the adaptive and coordinated risk management required in dynamic and complex environments