How one firm developed its systemic resilience capability

Jean-Michel Paris, head of corporate risk, group vice president, STMicroelectronics, is speaking at the Risk-!n conference on May 25 in Switzerland.

Ahead of his session, Strategic Risk caught up with him to find out what he would be discussing and why risk managers should attend.

What was the trigger that caused you to start the development of your systemic resilience capability?

The company had already achieved its first level of maturity in 2016 with the ISO 22301 (business continuity) certification.

Back in 2018, we knew we were entering a VUCA world (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity Ambiguity).

As a consequence, the company decided to invest to step up its business continuity and crisis management capability by adopting a systemic resilience approach, as part of its Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework.

What were the main steps that you took to achieve this?

We ensured the strategic alignment of our resilience roadmap by updating our risk appetite strategy, re-writing our risk policy, and all related procedures and toolkits.

Just as importantly we clearly defined our crisis management governance and prepared for potential crises with pre-identified executives.

What were some of the rollout challenges you faced?

Challenges were of different natures. As with any transformation programme, some are linked to the scale and complexity of the company and to the need to adapt its culture.

In addition, some are directly related to the evolution of the world, including climate change or geopolitical developments.

How did you overcome these?

We are dealing with internal challenges by taking an influencing role with executives and by leading a community of 100+ ERM and/or Resilience Champions, who collectively are driving the implementation of the programme across all units and geographies.

We are dealing with external challenges by taking a forward-looking view, to the extent this is possible.

What are some of the main things attendees will learn at your Risk-!n session?

Attendees will learn how we have structured our overall approach, will be taken on a deep dive in one innovative domain, and will have the opportunity to ask many questions.

To find out more about the conference, or to register to attend, visit the Risk-!n website.