Management perceptions of executive risk culture in a South African retail and business bank

Abstract

According to the Financial Stability Board (FSB), leaders in financial institutions play a pivotal role in setting the core values and expectations of their organisations’ risk cultures. The FSB expects that these leaders ensure that this risk culture is understood and adopted, and that they communicate the importance of risk management through both their risk-related behaviour and the bank’s management structures. This survey-based quantitative study aimed to provide a South African bank’s executives with useful information to understand management perceptions of its executive risk culture, and suggestions on how to improve the bank’s risk culture, by comparing senior and middle managements’ perceptions of the executive risk culture at the bank. This study also tested the pilot version of a new risk leadership culture scale (RLCS), based on a risk-informed decision culture model. The scale measured two factors related to risk culture, namely, “perception of decision-focused executive risk leadership culture”, and “perception of own contribution to executive risk decisions”. Both management groups reported a largely positive view of the bank’s executive risk culture. The study also provided the executive with valuable information on perceptions of their risk-related behaviour and of areas of risk culture that need attention. It furthermore adds to our knowledge of the link between risk culture and leadership messages in organisations, by providing leaders and risk practitioners in the financial services sector with suggestions on how to measure and improve their institutions’ risk cultures, as part of their role to embed a positive risk culture in their businesses. Moreover, this study offers a novel academic view of the under-explored topical subject of the perception of risk leadership in banks, and demonstrates the value of using the RLCS, including initial suggestions on how to improve the scale.