Transport industry leaders reckon theirs has been the sector hardest hit by the recession, according to a report, “Changing risks – changing responses: risk management in the transport industry”, by Marsh, the insurance broker and risk advisor.
In a survey for the report some 54 per cent of respondents said the transport industry had been hardest hit and 73 per cent said the downturn had led them to review their approach to risk management. In fact, Marsh has developed a register that identifies 17 risks that most commonly feature in the risk registers of logistics organisations.
Even so, there is some intriguing evidence that the recession is turning some executives into thrill seekers.
Only 40 per cent of participants believe that their board has become more risk averse, while a similar proportion see no change in risk appetite; 14 per cent believe their organisation’s risk appetite has actually increased.
There is no obvious explanation for why this should be – have this 14 per cent looked into the abyss and lost their fear of failure? It’s certainly an unexpected response – my assumption would have been that organisations facing a riskier environment would be looking for ways to mitigate those dangers.
Another explanation might be that some organisations can see rivals being weakened by the recession and are looking for opportunities to gain competitive advantage. In which case the rest of us better watch out.
