Risk culture at senior and middle management level: a telecommunications case study

Abstract

A mature risk culture is recognised as a key component of an effective risk management system. Such a system can support management in providing the required risk assurance to the board of a company, and ultimately assist the organisation in achieving its objectives. The aim of this study was to assess the maturity of risk culture at management level in a telecommunications company, with specific focus on exploring risk culture differences between senior and middle management. Risk culture maturity was assessed using the 2016 pilot version of the North-West University’s Centre for Applied Risk Management (UARM) Risk Culture Questionnaire (UARM RCQ-2016). The results revealed high levels of risk maturity for both groups, indicating that each of them perceived risk management as an effective tool to assist the organisation in achieving its objectives. However, significant statistical differences were observed between the two management levels relating to risk integration and personal assessment of the understanding of risk in the organisation (risk understanding). This study addresses the perceived value to organisations of assessing their risk culture maturity by demonstrating the application of a newly developed questionnaire, and provides insight into the potential usefulness of comparing risk culture across management tiers.