Key Success Factors of Enterprise Risk Management Systems: Listed Polish Companies

Abstract

Purpose: The main purpose of the article is to determine the key success factors of enterprise risk management systems, understood as the characteristics of these systems that have the greatest impact on the effectiveness of their functioning. Methodology: Bearing in mind the most accurate determination of key success factors of enterprise risk management systems, I used several research methods. The conducted research was divided into four stages: (1) literature review, (2) financial statements analysis, (3) individual in-depth interviews, and (4) anonymous surveys. The research embraced enterprises operating in Poland. Findings: Based on the literature analysis, in-depth interviews, and conducted surveys, a list of risk management systems’ success factors was created and sorted in the order from the most important ones – that have the greatest impact on the success of risk management – to the least important ones. Additional analysis of financial statements of all WSE-listed companies allowed me to discern that few of the surveyed companies use mature modern ERM systems, and it enabled me to identify a group of companies that qualified to participate in the survey. Moreover, a statistically significant positive correlation appeared between the degree of key success factors’ implementation and the overall ERM implementation’s impact on the organization, while a statistically significant negative correlation emerged between the overall impact of ERM implementation on the organization and the degree of ERM implementation goals’ achievement, but also between the degree of the implementation of key success factors and the degree of the ERM implementation objectives’ implementation. Moreover, I noted that the fact of using individual features has no significant impact on the assessment of a given feature by respondents. Implications: All factors included in the study are success factors of risk management systems. However, the surveys’ results suggest a different level of individual factors’ significance, thus a different degree of these factors impact on risk management success. Originality/Value: The article presents an original set of key success factors in risk management systems, created based on my own research. The obtained research results can be used by managers willing to implement or develop risk management systems in their organizations.