August 22, 2023 2:31 pm
At this stage of our fight against climate change I would expect that most people are well aware of at least the high level environmental risks, their effect on global warming and the devastating results we are seeing in worldwide weather. Lately there seem to be hundreds of extreme weather events all over the world including heatwaves in Beijing, floods in Nepal and wildfires in Canada, Maui and Tenerife. No one can deny that these events have been increasing each year as a direct result of climate change and in a bizarre twist of fate many of these are happening... Read more
August 22, 2023 2:22 pm
BarnOwl Info Sharing Insight: The State of AI and AI in Corporate Governance with Michael Judin and Lionel Moyal BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 17 August 2023 Presented by: Michael Judin (Partner at Judin Combrinck Inc. Attorneys, Johannesburg, and Lionel Moyal (the SI and Channel Partners Lead at Microsoft Africa Region. Introduction Thank you very much Michael and Lionel for your most informative presentation on ‘The state of AI and AI in corporate governance’ at the BarnOwl info-sharing event held on 17 August 2023. Thank you too, to all those who attended the session. We have entered a new era of... Read more
July 6, 2023 9:15 am
BarnOwl info sharing session: – Greylisting creates new risks for companies. Are you exposed? BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 29 June 2023 Presented by: Robert Davies, Robert Davies is an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa and a member of the Law Society of the Northern Provinces Introduction Thank you very much Robert for your most informative presentation on ‘FATF Greylisting’ at the BarnOwl info-sharing event held on 29 June 2023. Thank you too, to all those who attended the session. South Africa has been grey listed by global financial crime watchdog the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for... Read more
July 4, 2023 1:11 pm
Climate change has become one of the most significant global challenges of our time, presenting risks that extend far beyond our sometimes limited view of affecting the environment only. The impact of extreme weather events right through to ecosystem disruptions, pose substantial threats to our society, economy and the overall stability of the planet. As the Earth’s average temperature continues to rise due to human activities, it is crucial to comprehend the risks associated with climate change and the potential consequences if we fail to take swift action. In this article, we will explore the pressing risks of climate change... Read more
April 17, 2023 2:46 pm
The psychology of risk deals with the mental processing we undertake in perceiving, evaluating and responding to risks. This involves both cognitive and emotional processes with our decisions highly influenced by both cultural and social factors. One key insight from the psychology of risk is that people do not always make rational or objective decisions when faced with assessing risks. Instead, our perceptions and judgments are influenced by a variety of factors, such as our past experiences, our emotions, our beliefs and values. The psychology of risk is a multidisciplinary field that draws from, amongst others psychology, sociology and economics.... Read more
March 9, 2023 2:38 pm
Latin for “who will guard the guards themselves?” – Roman poet Juvenal. Generally used to describe a situation in which a person or body having power to supervise or scrutinise the actions of others, is not itself or themselves subject to supervision or scrutiny. Detecting unauthorised changes to records in a table is crucial for maintaining data integrity and ensuring that financial data is accurate and trustworthy. Unauthorised changes to financial data can lead to serious consequences, such as financial loss, legal and regulatory non-compliance, and reputational damage. In this article, we will discuss how data analytics can be used... Read more
March 7, 2023 11:26 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: Cyber security trends for 2023 – What to expect, what to defend against BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 23 February 2023 Presented by: Michael Davies, CEO of Pax Resilience | Tim Gilman, CEO of Cyber Armed Security Introduction Thank you very much Michael and Tim for your most informative presentation on ‘cyber security trends in 2023’ at the BarnOwl info-sharing event held on 23 February 2023. Thank you too, to all those who attended the session. Cyber Security has never been and never will be static. It is an ongoing cat-and-mouse game that changes daily. Tim... Read more
December 2, 2022 11:32 am
Fraud describes any dishonest or criminal deception or misrepresentation designed for an individual’s own advantage or to cause loss to another. The words scam and con are perceived as less harmful and are often thought of as trickery or lying when in reality, they are versions of fraud and should be treated as such. William Thompson was a 19th century American criminal and con artist. A genteel and polite man, he would approach strangers and start a conversation leading up to asking them if they had the confidence to lend him their watch. He would depart and never return the... Read more
November 30, 2022 11:56 am
BarnOwl info sharing session: Build resilience into your business before a crisis hits BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 24 November 2022 Presented by: Tracey Linnell | Director | Morgan Solus Introduction Thank you very much Tracey for your most informative presentation on ‘building resilience into your business before a crisis hits’ at the BarnOwl info-sharing event held on 24 November 2022. Thank you too, to all those who attended the session. What can go wrong? As we know, the world at the moment is in quite a state of upheaval and especially in South Africa with an increase in load shedding,... Read more
October 9, 2022 9:41 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 29 September 2022 Forensic Management in the Umbrella Trust/Beneficiary Fund Environment Presented by: William Lourens Introduction Thank you very much William for your most informative presentation at our info-sharing event held on 29 September 2022. Thank you to all those who attended the session. William’s info sharing session provided a practical walk through of: Fraud prevention, both internal and external, Addressing need, opportunity, and justification, The utilization of polygraphing, Fraud detection and management – is fraud just a cost to company? The following write up is an overview of William’s slides and a few snippets... Read more
October 5, 2022 1:11 pm
Risk management requires effort, knowledge and teamwork along with a significant amount of specialist knowledge. Economic risk management is one of those specialised areas that is normally left to the likes of Chartered Accountants and MBAs to forecast accurately and provide relevant control measures. We tend to associate economic risk with fiscal crises, soaring energy prices, unemployment and currency exchange rates, however there are a number of achievable mitigation strategies that can be put in place by most organisations. The following are four relatively straight-forward methods that could form part of your operational risk management plans which will have a... Read more
August 12, 2022 9:31 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 28 July 2022 Influencing Business Strategy – Alignment Between Performance Management and Risk Management Presented by: Deon van der Westhuizen Introduction Thank you very much Deon for your most informative presentation at our info-sharing event held on 28 July 2022. Thank you too, to all those who attended the session. I’m sure Deon’s opening statement with reference to some of his engagements resonated with many of us in the audience: “Senior management understand that risk management is important, but they just don’t buy into it. There’s no commitment from the top, and the end result is... Read more
July 12, 2022 8:02 am
The definition of corporate governance for the purposes of King IV (copyright the Institute of Directors South Africa), is defined as the exercise of ethical and effective leadership by the governing body towards the achievement of the following governance outcomes: Ethical culture, Good performance, Effective control and Legitimacy. Ethical Leadership is exemplified by integrity, competence, responsibility, accountability, fairness and transparency. It involves the anticipation and prevention, or otherwise amelioration, of the negative consequences of the organisation’s activities and outputs on the economy, society and the environment and the capitals that it uses and affects. Effective leadership is results-driven. It is about achieving... Read more
June 6, 2022 7:58 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 26 May 2022 Low Code / No Code Data Analytics Presented by: Anton Bouwer, Director, Head of Analytics Beta Software Introduction Thank you very much Anton for presenting at our info-sharing event held on 26 May 2022. Thank you to all those who attended the session. Data analysis is being performed by more people than ever in internal audit, GRC, marketing, financial controls, and other organisational areas. In this presentation, Anton shared with us the current state of Low Code/No Code (LC/NC) functionality, the benefits as well as the challenges. Anton showed us how to build... Read more
May 26, 2022 1:18 pm
Introduction – using Risk Management as a decision-making tool “Organisations must develop the competence to use risk management as a decision-making tool and not merely as a compliance tool. Unfortunately, many organisations continue to lament that their risk-management processes do not provide a competitive advantage and are not a helpful tool for decision-making. An organisation’s governance policy should ensure that the organisation is making the best decisions possible and, to this end, directors and executives must demand more than a risk register, a report, or a heat map. They need to ensure that a structured process exists for improving the... Read more
April 7, 2022 12:14 pm
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 31 March 2022 The greatest Risk within your organisation: The Human Factor Presented by: Amanda Marais and Moné Clay – People Advisory Manager IQ Business Introduction Thank you very much Amanda and Moné for presenting at our info-sharing event held on 31 March 2022. Thank you too to all those who attended. People are an organisation’s most valuable asset and strength, yet can generate significant Risk for a business if not properly looked after. It is really important for HR and risk management to work closely together to protect, equip, and motivate this critical asset. I... Read more
April 6, 2022 10:03 am
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) seems to be stepping up a gear with an increasing number of successful prosecutions of tax dodgers. Only a few short years ago, SARS was intentionally sabotaged and appeared to be a shell of what was once a world-lauded institution. Lately it seems that SARS is finally showing its teeth with these successes. SARS is keeping up with technology and trends by closely monitoring the popular social media platforms where on a regular basis people are boasting about their wealth. Apart from not wanting to attract any undue attention to any legally obtained status... Read more
November 22, 2021 2:47 pm
The complete Data Analytic and GRC solution doesn’t exist? Think again! With the extremely powerful Data Analytic capabilities of Arbutus Analyzer, fully integrated with BarnOwl’s risk, compliance and audit software solution, you get the complete solution. This article focusses on the features that make Arbutus Analyzer integrated with BarnOwl GRC, arguably the best continuous monitoring solution on the market. With the depth, scope, flexibility and functionality that these two powerhouse solutions offer in their own right, integrating Arbutus Analyzer and BarnOwl GRC brings you the very best in integrated GRC with data analytics: Data Import – Virtually any file type\... Read more
October 15, 2021 11:49 am
The desire to work from home has been quite high up on the wish list of many employees for a number of years, so when the Covid-19 lockdown accelerated the decision taken by most companies to work remotely, it was a rare silver lining in an otherwise traumatic lockdown experience. “The grass is always greener on the other side” comes to mind in this regard as the initial working from home bonanza starts to lose some of its sparkle. Some advantages of working from home for both employee and employer are: More autonomy in structuring your work day. Elimination of... Read more
October 6, 2021 12:58 pm
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 30 September 2021 Compliance: One bite at a time Presented by: Cherryn-Paige Bissett, CEO – Paige Law, Introduction Whilst compliance has always been critical to the operating of any business, many sectors have arguably paid lip service to compliance apart from sectors such as banking, financial institutions, telcos and the mining sector who face heavy fines and / or in extreme circumstances could lose their operating licenses for non-compliance. Compliance is often seen in a negative light as being an inhibitor of business. However, this is not the case; compliance when implemented effectively is a necessary... Read more
August 20, 2021 1:09 pm
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 29 July 2021 The evolving role of the CRO to Power Business Performance Presented by: Mark Victor, Partner – Deloitte Risk Advisory Africa, Christopher Palm, Chief Risk Advisor – Institute of Risk Management South Africa (IRMSA) Facilitated by: Jonathan Crisp, Director – BarnOwl Introduction The pandemic has heightened the importance of proactive risk management in the first line, and executives have challenged the current mandate and functioning of risk functions to proactively drive risk management processes and activities that ensure risk powers business performance, beyond compliance. This is evident through increased risk uncertainty, the need for... Read more
August 16, 2021 8:41 am
Written by Prince Shonhiwa and his team Principle Specialist: New Business Risk Vodacom South Africa https://linkedin.com/pulse/your-risk-team-slowest-cog-machine-irmsa Change is always a constant that businesses must contend with, and the pandemic that decreased South Africa’s GDP by 7% in 2020, highlighted just how important a business’s agility and speed of execution in responding to change is. As businesses forge forward on their way to recovery from the pandemic, the challenges will include the effects of macro-environmental factors such as, disruptive technologies, hyper-competition and the effects of globalisation. Many will be forced to enter new markets, change their business models, and offer new... Read more
July 8, 2021 11:23 am
We call them forecasts or budgets but aren’t they really predictions based on data? Forecasting is considered a sub-discipline of Prediction and is usually done using scientific methods. However, forecasting is still an educated guess based on the most probable events occurring. The major risk of sales forecasting is whether the underlying data is accurate and reliable and a simpler risk could very well be that time spent forecasting is less time selling. Most predictions are wrong and do not materialise – we tend to focus on those made by well-known people in much the same way as attention grabbing... Read more
June 9, 2021 2:16 pm
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 27 May 2021 NETSTOCK and managing inventory risk Presented by: Tony Sinton, CEO of NETSTOCK, Miles Crisp, former CEO of Tarsus Technology Facilitated by: Ronald Laxton, MD NETSTOCK South Africa, Jonathan Crisp, Director BarnOwl Thank you very much Tony and Miles for presenting and Ronald for facilitating at our info-sharing event held on the 27th May 2021. We had a great turn out at over 140 attendees. Thank you to all those who attended. Introduction Managing inventory risk is a complex process. Organisations continually fight the battle of having too much or too little inventory... Read more
June 2, 2021 3:28 pm
Did you know ? There are various ways in which BarnOwl can be used to capture and report on combined assurance. This article will show you how to configure and report on Combined Assurance in BarnOwl. Combined Assurance rating methods in BarnOwl Within the Risk Management module, control effectiveness ratings can be input (imported or captured) per assurance provider from different lines of defence per period. See point 1 below. In line with risk and control based auditing, the Audit module allows the auditor to automatically ‘import’ risks and controls from Risk Management specific to the business units and /... Read more
April 14, 2021 11:29 am
During March 2021 the Ever Given became the most notorious ship in the world and highlighted the lack of preparedness by the Suez Canal authorities. For a couple of weeks everyone appeared to be a maritime recovery expert with opinions on the best method to move the boat. A new Twitter account called ‘Guy With The Digger At Suez Canal” already has over 65 000 followers. The majority of the press reports and media attention were around the cost of delay with estimates of up to $1 billion and our reliance on global supply chains, however there are many other aspects... Read more
April 1, 2021 8:00 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 25 March 2021 Gearing up for POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act) Presented by Karus Prinsloo (inlexso (Pty) Limited) Thank you very much Karus for presenting at our info-sharing event on the 25th March 2021. Thank you also to all those who attended which was over 160 attendees. Introduction Organisations are gearing up for 1 July 2021! The Protection of Personal Information Act (“POPIA”) has commenced and the year grace period for enforcing POPIA by the Information Regulator established in terms of POPIA, will end at 30 June 2021. The Information Regulator will be enforcing the... Read more
February 16, 2021 8:12 pm
Why are SA businesses not realising ROI from their GRC initiatives? In order for an organisation to realise a ROI on GRC, the GRC process must add value by being a business enabler, providing up to date meaningful business intelligence (facilitating business decision making) as well as drive a culture of continuous monitoring and improvement. Failing this, GRC becomes a compliance tick box exercise with no real buy in from the top which in turn means no buy-in at the lower levels of the organisation. Some of the reasons why SA businesses are not realising ROI from their GRC initiatives... Read more
December 1, 2020 9:54 am
Written by: Jonathan Crisp, Director, BarnOwl GRC software solutions It has been an extremely tough year for everyone and for most businesses and countries worldwide. There are a few exceptions where some industries have flourished such as those providing telecoms and digital services including cyber security services. However, it has been devastating particularly for industries such as the tourism, restaurants, airlines and the commercial property sector whose problems are still to filter through as leases expire and hybrid rental models become the norm. Businesses have found innovative ways to survive including the adoption and acceleration of various technologies especially collaborative... Read more
November 10, 2020 8:45 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 29 October 2020 How Has Lockdown Changed How We Run Tarsus Technologies? Presented by Miles Crisp, CEO, Tarsus Technologies Thank you very much Miles for presenting at our info-sharing event held online on the 29th October 2020. I would also like to thank Ronald Laxton who kindly did the write-up of Miles’s presentation below. Finally thank you to all those who attended our info sharing session. Introduction This session was a most informative, interesting & thought-provoking session. One of the reasons why this discussion is so valuable is that Miles has thought specifically to address changes... Read more
October 27, 2020 11:23 am
Written by: Jonathan Crisp, Director, BarnOwl GRC software solutions and Chandu Kashiram, Principal Associate, Lucidum (Pty) Ltd. (Governance | Risk | Compliance | Ethics) Chandu and I recently interviewed Junaid Amra, head of the Forensics Technology Solutions division at PwC and were somewhat terrified to hear the extent and sophistication of organised cyber-crime and that it is on the increase. This, at a time when the world is reeling from the effects of Covid. PwC has various business units within their forensics technology division ranging from eDiscovery, search and seizure operations, data analytics, threat intelligence (which includes the monitoring of... Read more
September 8, 2020 8:31 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 22 August 2020 The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) is here! What now? Presented by Karus Prinsloo, Manager: Regulatory Compliance at Inlexso (Pty) Ltd (inlexso) Thank you very much Karus for presenting at our info-sharing event on the 27th August 2020. Thank you also to all those who attended which was over 180 attendees. Karus shared insights with us on: • How to make sure your organisation is ready by 30th June 2021 • Lessons learned whilst assisting organisations from various sectors and industries • Risks & opportunities Introduction The commencement date of almost all of... Read more
August 14, 2020 1:32 pm
Are risk professionals seeing more than what has been ingrained in them? Have all risks been identified and documented? The likelihood of this is NO! Simon van Wyk describes these as risk blind spots. It is often the risk blind spots or in other words those risks that were not thought of that cause the most damage be it reputational and/or financial. Risk professionals work on the basis of frameworks but now is the time that risk management should evolve into a broader spectrum and for us to think outside of the box. (Cheryl Keller: BarnOwl) It is becoming more... Read more
August 12, 2020 8:15 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 30 July 2020 Integrated BCM (Business Continuity Management) and Risk Management explained Presented by Steve Simmonds, Director, SynergyGRC and Jonathan Crisp, Director, BarnOwl Thank you very much Steve for presenting at our info-sharing event on the 30th July 2020. Thank you also to all those who attended. Introduction Whilst, BCM is a sub-set of the greater enterprise risk management discipline, the link between BCM and Risk Management is often not very well understood. This presentation focusses on BCM and how risk management integrates with BCM, provides objective value, and the ability to recover from setbacks, adapt... Read more
July 3, 2020 11:52 am
Written by Karus Prinsloo, 30 June 2020 1 July 2020: the effective date for the bulk of POPIA’s requirements. POPIA provides for a window period of one year in order for organisations to comply with POPIA’s obligations. POPIA gives effect to the constitutional right to privacy. It is based on international best practice and reflects some of the best features of international privacy legislation. The protection of personal information is now a statutory duty; POPIA represents sound business practice… and brings opportunity for your organisation! Areas of business impacted by POPIAAlthough all businesses differ, the biggest impact is generally in... Read more
June 25, 2020 11:39 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 17 June 2020 Elevating Audit through Risk-based Auditing with Continuous Monitoring Presented by Anton Bouwer, Director, RSM South Africa and Jonathan Crisp, Director, BarnOwl Thank you very much to RSM South Africa and Anton Bouwer for hosting this info-sharing event online on the 17th June 2020. Introduction The audit standards and definitions of audit make it clear that Internal Audit needs to transition from the business of providing subjective opinions on “control effectiveness” on a small fraction of the risk universe to ensuring senior management and the board are aware of the current residual risk status... Read more
May 8, 2020 1:04 pm
“We will re-look at that when things return to normal?” This or a similar statement is commonly heard these days and clearly indicates that many people have not yet come to terms with the fact that we have no idea what the new ‘normal’ will be. Now is the time for Risk Management professionals to make themselves heard and become the trusted advisors in their respective organisations. No one really had a ‘Pandemic with extended country wide lockdown’ risk in their register. Yes, some organisations may have identified a risk of disease outbreak or possibly an epidemic, and even if... Read more
April 1, 2020 12:57 pm
The Bad: No one can deny the tragic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic which is wreaking havoc across the world, not only in terms personal loss but also in terms of the strain put on all countries’ resources and the imminent economic meltdown. Spare a thought for industries such as travel, tourism, hospitality and retail industries and all the knock-on businesses which are reliant on them. We live in an eco-system of supply (suppliers) and demand (customers) so every business will be affected. Spare a thought too for the elderly, frail and lonely and a huge thank you to our... Read more
March 23, 2020 9:24 am
Dear Valued Client, In order to protect our staff, clients and the wider community during this difficult time we have implemented the following policies for the foreseeable future: Our staff have been given the option of working from home provided they have facilities to enable this (which the majority of our staff do) There has been a major increase in frequency and intensity of cleaning and disinfecting of our office with the provision of soap and hand sanitisers Any staff member that has any of the symptoms of COVID-19 or has come into contact with anyone that has the disease... Read more
March 4, 2020 7:55 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 20 February 2020 Understanding the important role the Risk Function plays in the production of an organisation’s annual Integrated Report Presented by Sheralee Morland, CEO, Joshero (Pty) Ltd Thank you very much Sheralee for your interactive presentation at our BarnOwl info-sharing event held at the BarnOwl offices in Bryanston on the 20 February 2020. Introduction: Integrated Reporting is an approach that helps businesses think holistically about their strategy and plans, make informed decisions, manage key opportunities and risks to build investor and stakeholder confidence, and help manage the organisation’s performance: Integrated reporting seeks to explain how the... Read more
February 19, 2020 2:17 pm
What is a deepfake? Deepfake is a linguistic blend of “deep learning” and “fake” and is described as a synthetic medium in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else’s likeness. There are three main elements to creating deepfakes – large datasets, machine learning and computing power plus one key element to circulate – internet platforms. The American biologist, Paul R. Ehrlich said it best “To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer”. Popular examples of deepfakes. The earliest examples of deepfakes involved pornography and quickly moved to... Read more
December 4, 2019 2:43 pm
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 29 August 2019 People Risk Workshop Objectives, Outcomes & Benefits Presented by Khosi Mpungose – Managing Director: AAM HR Consulting & Sheralee Morland – CEO: CandidAssure (Pty) Ltd Thank you very much Khosi and Sheralee for a most passionate, hard hitting, candid and entertaining presentation held at our BarnOwl info sharing event on the 28 November 2019. Introduction: Today’s presentation really reminded us and emphasized to us that people are major contributors to all types of risk. When we think of ‘people’ risk we think of traditional HR risks such as ‘attracting and retaining the right... Read more
November 28, 2019 1:32 pm
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 31 October 2019 Embracing Human “Be-ing” In Uncertainty, Change and Disruption Presented by Robert Koch: Senior Manager: Enterprise Resilience – Eskom Holdings SOC Limited Thank you very much Robert for your fascinating presentation at our BarnOwl info sharing event held at the BarnOwl offices in Bryanston on the 31 October 2019. Introduction: What does it feel like to be a human being in a world that is in a continual state of uncertainty, change and disruption? We have all heard that ‘change is the new normal’. The question is do we have the tools to do... Read more
November 27, 2019 9:44 am
As 2019 comes to a close we get a chance to reflect on a year that has delivered copious uncertainty, a frustrating lack of tangible action on the challenges facing South Africa, and a populace that suffers bipolar swings between depths of despair triggered by economic uncertainty, world-leading crime rates, world-lagging education levels and rampant corruption, juxtaposed against the absolute heights of ecstasy experienced watching the Springboks clinch the Rugby World Cup, Trevor Noah selling out Madison Square Garden, Sho Madjozi dancing the John Cena with the man himself, and Western Cape dams rising to their highest levels in 5... Read more
October 11, 2019 7:36 am
Quick recap – what is the GDPR? The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union and the European Economic Area. It addresses the export of personal data outside the EU and EEA and became effective on 25 May 2018. Similar to our Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), the GDPR makes organisations accountable for personal data protection and governs the handling, collection, processing and storage of information that could lead to the identification of an individual. It is one of the most complex pieces of EU legislation and understandably many small business owners are confused... Read more
September 10, 2019 10:02 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 29 August 2019 Hack Uncertainty Presented by Simon van Wyk, Infrastructure Advisory, Aurecon Thank you very much Simon for your hard hitting presentation at our BarnOwl info sharing event held at the BarnOwl offices in Bryanston on the 29 August 2019. Introduction: We all wondered about the strange title of the presentation; ‘Hack Uncertainty’ which many of us may have thought was going to be about tools and techniques used in the hacking of systems. Simon used words such as ‘Hack’ uncertainty and ‘Crush’ uncertainty which are very strong words. It soon became apparent in Simon’s... Read more
August 27, 2019 8:07 am
A lot has been made and will continue to be made of the impact of the fourth industrial revolution on every single aspect of our private, public and corporate lives. Robotics and artificial intelligence already has and will continue to replace a large number of human-based roles, and of course, at the same time also opens up the path to new functions and tasks that people with the right skills will be able to fulfil and take advantage of. Parallel to this runs an ever increasing human population, a decreasing level of skills in too many parts of the world,... Read more
July 25, 2019 8:58 am
The strength of organisational culture determines how a company responds to risk. Risk culture is an invaluable aid in moving from a “have to do” compliance attitude to adding proper value for an organisation. History is littered with corporate failures and risk culture is often a major reason. Company values and norms do change over time as the company matures and a perfect example of this is Uber. In late 2017, the Uber CEO publicly shared the new cultural norms including “We do the right thing. Period” and “We celebrate differences”. Former values included “always be hustling” and “toe-stepping” which... Read more
June 3, 2019 9:35 am
Much has been written about the disruptive effect of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. The fears range from widespread job losses on the sensible side of the scale to nothing short of a “Skynet” state of affairs with a tip of the cap to the main protagonist in the Terminator movies, leading to the inevitable elimination of humankind at the behest of our robot masters. Computer scientist Roman Yampolskiy together with hacktivist and entrepreneur Federico Pistono came up with a set of worst-case scenarios the world could potentially experience in the face of a malevolent AI (MAI). Societal impacts such... Read more
April 24, 2019 8:24 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 27 June 2019 Blockchain Technology Presented by Liam du Plessis is a director at Hiraeth Consulting Thank you very much Liam for your enlightening presentation on Blockchain technology at our BarnOwl info sharing event held at the BarnOwl offices in Bryanston on the 27 June 2019. Introduction: Many of us associate Blockchain with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin however Blockchain is the underlying technology and has many other applications such as intercompany transactions, warranties financing, trade finance etc. Liam took us through quite a few examples of organisations who have successfully used Blockchain technology to digitize their... Read more
April 12, 2019 11:06 am
I would like to pose the question: “Should we be more attentive to geopolitical risks when buying software and technology?” In other words: “Should the origin outweigh the cost?” The Economist describes political risk as “In essence, political risk is the danger that the actions of governments might reduce the cash-flows that investors expect from their investments.“ Traditionally we have viewed political risk with regard to a country’s instability resulting from military takeover, change of government or major change in foreign policy. It has taken a few years, but now purchasing technology from another country is fully in the spotlight... Read more
April 11, 2019 9:01 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 11 April 2019 Risk Management Maturity (RMM) Presented by Dr Arthur Linke, University of Stellenbosch Business School, turricula risk advisory and member of the IRMSA Risk Intelligence Committee Thank you very much Arthur for your enlightening presentation at our BarnOwl info sharing event held at the BarnOwl offices in Bryanston on the 11 April 2019. Introduction: In the BarnOwl Info Sharing Session on the 11th April 2019, Dr Arthur Linke of the University of Stellenbosch Business School, turricula risk advisory and member of the IRMSA Risk Intelligence Committee presented on Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and Risk Management... Read more
March 5, 2019 10:45 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 28 February 2019 Risk Governance Presented by Christelle Marais, Managing Director, Lucidum Thank you very much Christelle for your enlightening presentation at our BarnOwl info sharing event held at the BarnOwl offices in Bryanston on the 28 February 2019. Introduction: Some of the largest corporate failures in both the public and private sectors have been laid at the door of Boards of Directors. At the same time, many Directors voice the concern that they are not able to provide adequate governance and oversight due to the disparate approach in which the various assurance providers submit information... Read more
February 27, 2019 8:07 am
The dawning of the fourth industrial revolution is set to fundamentally alter so much of what we’ve become accustomed to. Take a moment to reflect on the dynamic nature of work, travel, leisure and relationships in your own life, and compare it the far slower and more stable evolution our parents and their parents experienced, and it becomes glaringly obvious that the current rate of transformation is anything but steady. From AI to big data analytics, bio-innovation to anti-ageing breakthroughs, the leaps and bounds in the transport industry to the highly intrusive yet connecting internet of things, from blockchain to... Read more
January 24, 2019 7:07 am
It’s a mild early summers day, with temperatures only just creeping up over 36 degrees Celsius, and I’m standing at the McDonalds 4D vending machine, old technology, but still reliable. I can’t decide between the insect patty McMuffin, or the synthetic beef Big Mac. Closing my eyes, I activate the body maintenance menu on my neural link device, and it’s clear from the readings that the McMuffin is the lesser of two evils. Ever since the “Et Ius Illud” principle was enacted, what we ordinary folk call the “do the right thing law”, it’s a lot more difficult, if not... Read more
December 6, 2018 2:18 pm
Innovation that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market-leading firms, products, and alliances. Disruptive technology applies to hardware, software, networks and combined technologies. According to Gartner, by 2020, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is projected to create 2.3 million new jobs worldwide while eliminating 1.8 million traditional jobs. A computer can beat the world chess champion and understand voice commands on your smartphone, but real artificial intelligence has yet to arrive. The pace of change is quickening, though. Because of new computing technologies, machine learning today is not like machines learning... Read more
November 5, 2018 1:22 pm
The exact moment the first auditor blinked into existence is a difficult one to pinpoint. It’s intrinsically entwined with the accounting profession which traces its roots back over 7,000 years from the days of early Mesopotamia where lists showing expenditures, and goods received and traded have been found. Even then mankind had an inexplicable desire to collect, count and document “things” from the growth of crops to the management of herds of domestic animals. By counting it was easy to ascertain whether there was a shortage or an excess, and from these numbers, taxation could be calculated and trading activities... Read more
September 27, 2018 11:31 am
Introduction The following article is based on my opinion of the risk maturity level in Southern Africa given the numerous clients whose risk methodologies we review and the 100s of detailed risk registers that we convert from unstructured Excel into a structured database such as BarnOwl. Below are my comments pertaining to the seven elements of Risk Maturity aligned to the RIMS Model. Adoption of ERM In general, I think most organisations see the need for effective risk management and are keen to adopt risk management; however, the embedding of the risk management is not there yet. Reporting on risk... Read more
September 20, 2018 9:27 am
See the presentation here: https://barnowl.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ALICE-Slides.pdf
September 6, 2018 10:53 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 06 September 2018 Why Risk Management fails Presented by Mira Butler, Managing Director, Mira Consulting Thank you very much Mira for your enlightening presentation at our BarnOwl info sharing event held at the BarnOwl offices in Bryanston on the 6th September 2018. Chris Palm, Chief Technical Advisor of IRMSA was unfortunately not able to present today due to personal reasons. Thank you Mira for filling in for us at such short notice. Mira’s presentation covered the following top 10 reasons for ‘why risk management fails in organisations’: 01. Poor governance and “Tone at the Top” 02.... Read more
September 3, 2018 12:44 pm
Andre Roux from the Institute of Future Research (IFR) University of Stellenbosch spoke at the recent IRMSA Risklab conference on the ‘Future of South Africa’. Andre’s presentation was impressive in that it was full of facts, stats and examples which debunks many of one’s own perceptions and / or misconceptions. For example, it was a pleasant surprise to see a chart showing that the primary sector of the SA economy (minerals and resources) is far less dominant than one would think compared to the secondary and tertiary sectors such as services etc. South Africa has a far more diversified economy... Read more
August 31, 2018 7:20 am
One definition of risk is “a situation exposing someone or something of value to danger, loss, or harm”. From a young age, we are taught to not make mistakes and avoid failure as much as possible. However, we are often taught from a similar age that from failure we should learn a lesson. To extract a lesson from failure we need to overcome the natural risk aversion which is much easier said than done. Human brains are hardwired to react with fear when facing uncertainty or risk. This made perfect sense years ago when as cavemen our survival depended on... Read more
July 24, 2018 10:01 am
Eeste Begin Farm Worcester BarnOwl would like to extend a big thank you to the organisers of the Cape Winelands Risk and Audit Forum for inviting Jonathan Crisp, Director at BarnOwl GRC and Audit solutions to present on the practical implementation of risk appetite and tolerance. The venue was set in the majestic mountains of Worcester and as always such a warm reception. Thank you. Jonathan briefly ran through the various definitions of risk appetite and risk tolerance which are a bit vague to say the least and a bit contradictory. The aim of my presentation however was to demonstrate... Read more
July 10, 2018 10:46 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 28 June 2018 Building a Risk Aware Culture for Success Presented by Mira Butler, Managing Director, Mira Consulting Thank you very much Mira for your enlightening presentation at our BarnOwl info sharing event held at the BarnOwl offices in Bryanston on the 28th June 2018. Introduction Enhance your organisation’s ability to effectively manage uncertainty. Today’s business world is constantly changing. It’s unpredictable, volatile, and seems to become more complex every day- by its very nature, it is fraught with risk. Enterprise risk management is a comprehensive, systematic approach for helping the organisation to identify, measure, prioritise and... Read more
June 29, 2018 9:52 am
In the risk management fraternity, we’ve often said or at least heard said that a risk manager has a multitude of hats to wear in terms of the role they play in the organisation. At some point in their careers, a risk manager would have performed functions typically associated with positions such as company secretary, legal consultant, HR practitioner, health, safety or security manager, credit and market analyst, financial manager, logistics manager, strategy guru, IT specialist, project manager, office manager and so many others in between. Versatility has become a vital characteristic in ensuring the long-term success of your risk... Read more
June 4, 2018 8:12 am
Towards the end of May 2018 did you receive a surprisingly large amount of emails informing you of new privacy policies from websites and service providers that communicate with you and store your data? Companies have had over two years to comply with GDPR, yet the flurry of activity, particularly on 24 May 2018, indicates that most left it until the last minute. From blocking EU website visitors to temporary server shutdowns to completely withdrawing services to the EU the implementation of the GDPR has had a major effect. What is the GDPR? The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation in EU law on data... Read more
May 3, 2018 11:41 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 26 April 2018 Managing Procurement Fraud Risk through Continuous Monitoring Presented by Anton Bouwer, CEO, BST Data Technologies Thank you very much Anton for your enlightening presentation at our BarnOwl info sharing event held at the BarnOwl offices in Bryanston on the 26th April 2018. Anton, demonstrated how continuous auditing was used to ‘catch a thief’ as well as provide evidence which would otherwise be impossible to find. Mountains of data reside in all systems and when monitored continuously and visualised intelligently often paint a very different picture to what something looks like at face-value. Whilst... Read more
May 3, 2018 10:21 am
In South Africa we recently celebrated Human Rights Day when we remember the Sharpeville massacre that took place on the 21st of March 1960. On that fateful day 58 years ago 69 people died and 180 were wounded when police fired on a peaceful crowd that had gathered in protest against the pass laws of the time. These laws were enforced through a form of domestic passport system (referred to by its carriers as a “dompas”) fundamentally intended to segregate the population across racial and tribal lines, controlling the flow of migrant labour, and to manage urban development, essentially framing... Read more
April 12, 2018 7:40 am
In This Month’s Issue: Latest Insight • Upcoming Events • Past Events • Roundup of the Latest GRC Industry News • Tip Of The Month Latest Insight: Asking The Right Questions The last 20-25 years has seen a broad effort to transform the field of risk management into a science. One in which we see complex matrices with convoluted weightings, multiple parameters and rating mechanisms, quantitative and qualitative inherent and residual risk, where… READ MORE Events BarnOwl was proud to sponsor the 9th CIGFARO Public Sector Audit and Risk Indaba 2018, hosted at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from the 26th to the 28th of March. READ... Read more
April 5, 2018 6:31 am
The last 20-25 years has seen a broad effort to transform the field of risk management into a science. One in which we see complex matrices with convoluted weightings, multiple parameters and rating mechanisms, quantitative and qualitative inherent and residual risk, where the rating and analysis thereof often transcends into advanced scenario planning, Monte Carlo Simulations and Bow-Tie risk treatment tools. We talk about impact and the severity thereof, likelihood and probability, contributing factors and root causes, consequences and outcomes, incidents and risk events, plot risks on heat maps, and execute estimation, validation and stress testing. There are multiple frameworks... Read more
March 13, 2018 12:05 pm
In This Month’s Issue POPIA • Latest Insight • IIA Public Sector Forum • Upcoming Events • Past Events • Roundup of the Latest GRC Industry News • Tip Of The Month POPIA, Are You Ready? The Protection of Personal Information Act (“POPIA”) gives effect to the constitutional right to privacy, enshrined in South Africa’s Constitution. (The right to privacy includes a right to protection against the unlawful collection, retention, dissemination and use of personal information)… READ MORE Latest Insight – The IGRC Framework There are many variations of frameworks out there. Advisory practices are famous at coming up with new ideas and creating impressive/ pretty infographics. What I really like about... Read more
March 8, 2018 10:49 am
1.Why POPIA? The Protection of Personal Information Act (“POPIA”): gives effect to the constitutional right to privacy, enshrined in South Africa’s Constitution. (The right to privacy includes a right to protection against the unlawful collection, retention, dissemination and use of personal information). is based on international best practice and is a reflection of the best features of international privacy legislation. It follows King IV’s principles and accommodates international standards. Protecting personal information is not only a statutory duty but also represents sound business practices. 2.Timeline 2.1 During April 2014, sections of POPIA dealing with the aspects listed below, came into... Read more
March 1, 2018 6:33 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 22 February 2018 The Integrated Governance, Risk and Compliance (iGRC) Framework Presented by Gary Khan, Risk Advisory, EOH Thank you very much Gary Khan (Risk Advisory) and Justin Clarke (Business Unit Head) for your enlightening presentation at our BarnOwl info sharing event held at the BarnOwl offices in Bryanston on the 22nd February 2018. The event was well attended and very well received. Thank you Gary and Justin. There are many variations of frameworks out there. Advisory practices are famous at coming up with new ideas and creating impressive / pretty infographics. What I really like... Read more
February 28, 2018 9:10 am
Presented by Gary Khan, Risk Advisory, EOH There are many variations of frameworks out there. Advisory practices are famous at coming up with new ideas and creating impressive / pretty infographics. What I really like about the EOH iGRC (Integrated GRC) framework is its simplicity and its practicality. Traditional pillars of GRC: Traditionally, organisations have treated governance, risk and compliance as a compliance exercise. Organisations have put in place some policies (e.g. an Enterprise-wide Risk Management Policy) that governs a process (e.g. the ERM process), and the governing body has created committees and groups to regulate and monitor these processes... Read more
February 15, 2018 10:06 am
The signs all suggest that the world is now entering a time of disclosure, exposure, revolution and hopefully, an uncovering of the truth. The last five years in particular have seen massive global scandals being brought to light revealing massive corruption and mismanagement across organizations, public and private, knowing no borders and seemingly unstoppable. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that corruption costs the global economy $2trillion a year, with the South African GDP suffering to the tune of approximately R27billion annually. The knock-on effect on the SA job market is hard to quantify, but it’s not unreasonable to estimate... Read more
December 14, 2017 8:20 am
Happy Holidays from all of us at BarnOwl! We look forward to seeing you in the New Year It was the best of times, it was the worst of times And so, in the blink of an eye, another action-packed year has hastened past sowing turmoil and peace, fear and love, trauma and healing, decline and growth, and leaving some lamenting the path of seeming destruction they’ve had to walk, and others celebrating an incredible journey. READ MORE A Special Thank You to All our Clients LEARN MORE About Compass BarnOwl will be making a donation to Compass on... Read more
December 11, 2017 12:00 pm
And so, in the blink of an eye, another action-packed year has hastened past sowing turmoil and peace, fear and love, trauma and healing, decline and growth, and leaving some lamenting the path of seeming destruction they’ve had to walk, and others celebrating an incredible journey. We live in a truly dichotomous world, and the way we process and interact with our environment plays a massive role in both how we view and interpret what is going on around us. 2017 has seen some colossal events take place that will quite possibly shape the future of humankind in ways we... Read more
October 26, 2017 12:37 pm
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 26 October 2017 So You’ve Installed the Security Software…Think You’ve Covered Your POPI Risk? Think Again Presented by Ron Keschner, one of the founders and creators of Tarsus Dispose IT Thank you very much Ron Keschner for your enlightening presentation at our BarnOwl info sharing event held at the BarnOwl offices in Bryanston on the 26th October 2017. The event was well attended and very well received. Thank you Ron. Ron showed a video (included in the presentation link below) where 2nd hand photo copiers were purchased and the hard drives removed to find out... Read more
October 4, 2017 8:30 am
In This Month’s Issue: Last Chance to Participate – BarnOwl’s 3rd Annual Risk Maturity Survey 2017 Key Insights – Good Corporate Governance – Alive and Kicking! Upcoming Events – See all upcoming events Past Events – Key insights from past events Roundup of Latest GRC Industry News – See what’s trending Tip-of-the Month – BarnOwl Dashboard Reports Last Chance To Participate! Your Insight is Valuable! BarnOwl is conducting it’s third annual survey to assist with the measurement of risk maturity in Southern Africa.As an incentive to participate in the survey, respondents will automatically: • Be granted priority access to the report• Stand a chance to win a R4,000 Takealot... Read more
September 27, 2017 11:01 am
Reading the news day in and day out it’s difficult to believe that the term ‘good corporate governance’ means anything anymore. Good corporate governance seems to be dead and buried. Has it just become a cliché bandied around to look good and ‘tick the boxes’? It seems as if crime, corruption and cronyism pay off big time. The gravy train and anarchy rule! In the recent survey on Ethical Practices conducted by the Anti-Intimidation and Ethical Practices Forum (AEPF), only 9% of professionals working in the public sector believe their leaders are ethical, while a substantial 66% private sector professionals... Read more
August 22, 2017 8:53 am
BarnOwl Newsletter August Edition 2017 In this month’s issue: Exclusive Event – BarnOwl Invites you to their Municipal Risk Management Forum Key Insights – 3-step approach to implementing Risk Appetite and Tolerance Upcoming Events – See all upcoming events Past Events – The Role of a Future Risk Manager by Christopher Palm Tip-of-the Month – Quantifying Risk Appetite Exclusive Event BarnOwl invites you to their Municipal Risk Management Forum 2017 Don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights into embedding Risk Management in your organisation. Practical advice and experiences will be shared by leading Risk experts from the Public and private sector. See Event Details Click... Read more
August 1, 2017 1:26 pm
Step 1: Understanding Risk Appetite and Tolerance Whilst Risk Appetite deals with the level of risk that the organisation will pursue to meet their organisational objectives, Risk Tolerance defines the upper and lower levels that an organisation is able to deal with / absorb, without significantly impacting the achievement of the strategic objectives. Tolerance levels can be graphically represented alongside the appetite levels on what is referred to as a risk matrix or heat map taking into account the Impact (Consequence) x Likelihood of the risk. The example below shows the appetite line, above and to the right of which... Read more
July 27, 2017 1:52 pm
Why implement internal audit software Besides being general best practice, Internal Audit Software provides an organisation with a systematic and disciplined approach to the audit process. Using Internal Audit software can boost efficiency for internal audit departments creating greater cost savings and they can boost the overall capacity of understaffed departments. Other benefits of using internal audit software include: Creating a central and secure repository for all audit documentation Giving access to audit information and documentation regardless of location, or stage of the audit process Providing a highly structured format to support the audit process of planning, execution, reporting, follow-up... Read more
July 27, 2017 11:49 am
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 27 July 2017 The Role of the Future Risk Manager Presented by Christopher Palm, Chief Risk Advisor, Institute of Risk Management SA (IRMSA) Thank you very much to Christopher Palm for his enlightening presentation at our BarnOwl info sharing event held at the BarnOwl customer centre in Bryanston on the 27th July 2017. The event was well attended and very well-received. Thank you Christopher. The content of Christopher’s presentation was much more than just theory; Christopher’s delivery of the presentation included practical insights and advice based on many years of real-life risk management experience.... Read more
July 25, 2017 10:02 am
BarnOwl Municipal Risk Management Forum It was with great excitement and pleasure that BarnOwl hosted its first Municipal Risk Management Forum. A cold Johannesburg winters morning saw delegates welcomed to the BarnOwl auditorium for some breakfast that offered some fantastic networking opportunities for colleagues from the local and national government sphere. Proceedings kicked off with a fascinating presentation from Betty Spencer, Director of Risk Management at the Department of Arts & Culture, on the value of risk management where she offered great advice on using the various tools at our disposal to navigate risk management more effectively. Betty emphasised that... Read more
July 6, 2017 11:24 am
GRC SOFTWARE Key Insights “Common sense just ain’t that common anymore” – Let’s get back to plain thinking We live in a modern information age of big data, enormous computing power, massive quantities of statistics, facts and figures at our fingertips and hundreds, if not thousands of analysis tools to make sense of this material. You’ll find bar charts for this, pie charts for that, radar graphs, histograms, doughnut wheels, Venn diagrams, scatter charts, bowtie analysis and Monte Carlo simulations… Read More Exclusive Offering For Municipalities Download The Full “Exclusive Offering for Municipalities Infographic” Upcoming Events ————————>... Read more
June 29, 2017 11:04 am
We live in a modern information age of big data, enormous computing power, massive quantities of statistics, facts and figures at our fingertips and hundreds, if not thousands of analysis tools to make sense of this material. You’ll find bar charts for this, pie charts for that, radar graphs, histograms, doughnut wheels, Venn diagrams, scatter charts, bowtie analysis and Monte Carlo simulations. There are almost as many ways to cut, slice and dice information, as there are sources for this information. It has become very easy to over-analyze a situation, so much so that the decision we should have taken,... Read more
May 30, 2017 11:32 am
BarnOwl Newsletter May Edition 2017 In this month’s issue: Key Insights – Managing risk at the coalface of service delivery Past Events – Information Sharing Session for Public Sector with Michael Judin AND IRMSA Public Sector Breakfast Presentation- Series 2 Upcoming Events – 2017 Audit & Risk Indaba AND Cruywagen- IRMSA Risk Foundation Risk Lab & Masterclass Tip Of The Month – Using data periods in BarnOwl Key Insights Managing risk at the coalface of service delivery Part One – An overview of Risk Management at a Local Government level In this, the first of a series of articles exploring the role and impact of... Read more
May 29, 2017 3:04 pm
Part One – An overview of Risk Management at a Local Government level In this, the first of a series of articles exploring the role and impact of risk management at a local government level, we provide a general overview of risk management within this vital sector and the overwhelming impact it can have on society. “May you live in interesting times” has long been quoted as an old Chinese curse, used ironically to imply that uninteresting times, where conflict, political turmoil and instability are absent, offer conditions far more favourable to living a longer life than do interesting times,... Read more
May 25, 2017 12:01 pm
BarnOwl Info Sharing session for the Public Sector: 25 May 2017 The journey from King I to King IV: Why King IV is not another layer of regulation but creates add-on value. (King IV is copyrighted to The Institute of Directors Southern Africa). Presented by Michael Judin, partner in the Johannesburg based law firm, JUDIN COMBRINCK INC By popular demand initiated by interested parties from the public sector, we asked Michael Judin to re-run his presentation on King IV with a focus on the public sector. The event was extremely well attended with over 40 people attending. Michael was as... Read more
May 21, 2017 10:07 am
BarnOwl were proud to sponsor the IRMSA 13th Annual General Meeting and Breakfast Presentation, held on Thursday 21st June 2016, at Johannesburg Country Club in Woodmead. We were welcome by Gillian le Cordeur the CEO of IRMSA and given great feedback in the president’s report on the progress of IRMSA over the past year delivered by Sheralee Morland. In addition, we welcome the election of two new executive committee members being Berenice Francis and Malebu Makgalemela. IRMSA is going from strength to strength with individual membership growing significantly to almost 2000 members as well as corporate membership growing steadily. IRMSA is doing a fantastic... Read more
May 11, 2017 9:04 am
BarnOwl Newsletter April Edition 2017 In this month’s issue: Key Insights – Counting the cost of poor governance and reputational risk BarnOwl Datasheets – Downloadable Versions Upcoming Events – Spotlight, IRMSA Public Sector Breakfast, Info Sharing with Micheal Judin Tip Of The Month – Creating Recurring Votes, Surveys and Questionnaires Key Insights Counting the cost of poor governance and reputational risk I suppose that by now we are all tired and worn out by all the bad news of the ratings downgrade and the strange decisions that have and continue to be made by the government that seem to defy all logic… Read More Now BarnOwl Datasheets Download Now... Read more
April 26, 2017 1:46 pm
I suppose that by now we are all tired and worn out by all the bad news of the ratings downgrade and the strange decisions that have and continue to be made by the government that seem to defy all logic. Whether the real reasons for the cabinet reshuffle are related to power, money, corruption, cronyism, radical transformation (transformation to what one may ask?) or fear of Russia’s Rosatom State Energy Corporation or all of the above, we don’t really know however there is no doubt that huge damage has been done to the reputation of ‘South Africa Inc.’ resulting... Read more
April 12, 2017 10:03 am
IRMSA Public Sector Breakfast on ‘Navigating your Universe – Let’s get real: Series 2: Regulation Legal and Compliance BarnOwl were proud sponsors of the IRMSA public sector Series 2 breakfasts recently held on: 9th May 2017, at the Johannesburg Country Club in Woodmead 25th May 2107 in Durban at the Sun Coast Conference Centre 1st June 2017 In Cape Town at Century City The Johannesburg breakfast saw informative presentations from: Adv Monwabisi Nguqu Musawakhe Khumalo Now more than ever governance, risk, compliance and audit practitioners need to be seen and heard:... Read more
April 5, 2017 12:17 pm
BarnOwl Newsletter March Edition 2017 In this month’s issue: Key Insights – Is Risk Management Software The Yellow Brick Road To Risk Maturity? Risk Management Guide – Selling Risk Management to the Board and the Executive Past Events – BarnOwl March Spotlight Upcoming Events – The Governance Conference Tip -Of -The -Month – Creating and Using Custom Incident Registers Key Insights IS RISK MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD TO RISK MATURITY? Several surveys and studies conducted over the last few years have set out to clearly define, measure, and assess risk maturity using several indicators, attributes and methodologies, the application of which has had varied... Read more
March 27, 2017 11:17 am
Several surveys and studies conducted over the last few years have set out to clearly define, measure, and assess risk maturity using several indicators, attributes and methodologies, the application of which has had varied levels of success when organizations attempt to quantify their real maturity levels. We know of course that risk management is hardly ever an exact science, especially when one takes into account the fact that uncertainty is at its core. However, the industry has seemed to gain a considerable appreciation for the value of a clear and concise plan of action when it comes to improving on... Read more
February 28, 2017 8:17 am
BarnOwl Newsletter February Edition 2017 In this month’s issue: Key Insights – Reputational risk-make or break? Past Events – Information Sharing Session – Michael Judin Upcoming Events- Spotlight Session, Audit and Risk Indaba 2017 Tip Of The Month – Using Favourite Views Key Insights Reputational risk- make or break? I wonder if management and employees of an organisation really appreciate what goes into building a great brand and reputation. People buy from people and organisations they like and trust. Trust is built up over time through exemplary conduct, great products and services combined with a lot of passion and an obsession with client satisfaction. We... Read more
February 23, 2017 12:04 pm
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 23 February 2017 The journey from King I to King IV: Why King IV is not another layer of regulation but creates add-on value. (King IV is copyrighted to The Institute of Directors Southern Africa). Presented by Michael Judin, partner in the Johannesburg based law firm, JUDIN COMBRINCK INC We were delighted to have Michael Judin present to us on the 23 February 2017 at our info sharing breakfast at the Bryanston Country Club. The event was extremely well attended with over 150 people attending, thanks to Michael being a most entertaining and informative presenter speaking... Read more
February 20, 2017 9:41 am
I wonder if management and employees of an organisation really appreciate what goes into building a great brand and reputation. People buy from people and organisations they like and trust. Trust is built up over time through exemplary conduct, great products and services combined with a lot of passion and an obsession with client satisfaction. We take big brand names for granted every day; they have all put in huge effort and time (especially in the early years) getting people to: know about them, like them, try them, trust them, buy them, re-buy them and refer them. How long does... Read more
December 9, 2016 12:53 pm
The following points are taken from the King IV report copyrighted to The Institute of Directors Southern Africa NPC. Introduction to King IV The definition of corporate governance for the purposes of King IV, is defined as the exercise of ethical and effective leadership by the governing body towards the achievement of the following governance outcomes: Ethical culture Good performance Effective control Legitimacy Ethical Leadership is exemplified by integrity, competence, responsibility, accountability, fairness and transparency. It involves the anticipation and prevention, or otherwise amelioration, of the negative consequences of the organisation’s activities and outputs on the economy, society and the... Read more
December 6, 2016 3:48 pm
Another year has flown by at an unbelievable pace, and once again the holiday season has begun rampaging through shopping malls, saturating tourist destinations, ringing the tills for retailers, and bleeding the wallets and bank accounts of consumers caught up in the end of year hedonism, myself included (thank you, Black Friday!). I know we’re all ready to call an end to proceedings for a short while, and to bask in the holiday spirit with friends and family, giving in to some good old overindulgence in the merry things, and a measure of mild avoidance of the responsible things. But... Read more
November 25, 2016 8:26 am
The world of software abounds with examples of the impact of GIGO – garbage in, garbage out or even garbage in, gospel out. The Wikipedia definition explains GIGO in reference to the fact that “computers, since they operate by logical processes, will unquestionably process unintended, even nonsensical input data and produce undesired, often nonsensical output”. And with the advent of far more powerful computers, able to process inconceivable amounts of data at lightning speed, this concept has acquired even greater relevance. Considering the brain is an organic super computer, controlled by applications science still cannot entirely explain the workings of,... Read more
November 4, 2016 12:27 pm
The final draft version of the King IV Report on Corporate Governance in South Africa 2016 (King IV) places a different focus on the Governance and Management of Risk compared to the situation that existed before. It now states that: “The governing body should assume responsibility for the governance of risk by setting the direction for how risk should be approached and addressed in the organisation. Risk governance should encompass both: the opportunities and associated risks to be considered when developing strategy; and the potential positive and negative effects of the same risk on the achievement of organisational objectives.” The... Read more
November 4, 2016 12:06 pm
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 27 October 2016 How to manage invisible risks that threaten your business Presented by Terence Singh, Director, Ruhi Consulting We were delighted to have Terence Singh from Ruhi Consulting present to us on the 27 October 2016 at our info sharing breakfast. What a great presentation; very thought provoking and pretty frightening for any person in business. Thank you Terence for your time and insights. When we consider what it will take to succeed in business and stay in business, we look at the world and market place around us, we benchmark ourselves against our known... Read more
October 27, 2016 1:39 pm
Humans have only been practicing science for a couple of hundred years yet nature has had the benefit of 3 billion years to design, test and perfect some of the strongest, most flexible and adaptive materials. That is an impressive track record. Imagine if we could harness nature’s hidden power and combine animal and plant material that could transform how we live? The following article is inspired by the amazing work performed by Obed Shoseyov, a nanobiotechnologist and his team at the Hebrew University in Israel, hereafter referred to as the “Team”. Plants Sequoia trees are named after Sequoyah, a... Read more
October 26, 2016 2:15 pm
The value of the Internal Audit function is becoming increasingly critical to the strong corporate governance, risk management, effective internal control, and efficient operations of any organisation. The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) framework defines internal auditing as: ‘An independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization’s operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes’ (IIA 2004:8). It is a common fallacy that the Internal Audit function exists to pick holes in management’s operations. This... Read more
October 24, 2016 1:15 pm
A decade ago, lack of risk awareness might have satisfied litigators in the aftermath of a loss event. However, today’s regulations have made board members and senior leadership teams accountable for risks, regardless of at what level the risk materialises. Mature Risk Management programs are more than a safety net. These programs are invaluable insurance policies against the surprises your business might face and assure achievement of corporate performance objectives. Gerry Grimstone, keynote speaker at the IIA’s recent conference in London, had a message for senior executives. “You can’t easily blame a board member for not knowing something,” Grimstone said.... Read more
October 24, 2016 1:03 pm
Software implementation: 1. Ensure you have an existing risk management policy, risk framework and methodology 2. Identify the risk champions and risk owners at the various levels of your organisation. 3. Get buy-in from the top and educate your users as to the value of ERM and the reason for a system 4. Confirm the kinds of risk management reports you would like out of the system: heat maps, trend analysis etc. 5. Sanitise and import your existing Excel-based risk registers into the system Now that you are ready to use the software: 1. Inform users that whilst the system... Read more
September 27, 2016 1:36 pm
I’ve had several interactions with people in the Governance, Risk, Compliance (GRC) and Internal Audit space who comment on a growing sense of excessive legislation. The overarching attitude is that this leads to an exceedingly complicated burden on an organization and its employees to function in accordance with sometimes conflicting laws, acts, regulations, standards, policies, procedures, best practices, statutes, guidelines and rules from a multitude of bodies, chambers, courts, institutes, foundations, bureaus, agencies, societies and other groupings. If you thought that was a mouthful, perhaps it is a flickering endorsement of the true state of affairs. Industry and society is... Read more
September 1, 2016 12:06 pm
BarnOwl Newsletter August Edition 2016 In this month’s issue: Best Practice Risk Management Software Implementation – Infographic BarnOwl/IRMSA Risk Maturity Survey 2016 – Win a Kindle Key Insights – The Hidden Risks of Climate Change Past Events – Information Sharing Session and Leaders Luncheon Upcoming Events – BarnOwl Usergroup and IRMSA Conference Tip Of The Month – Quantifying Risk Exposure Best Practice Risk Management Software Implementation – Infographic Organisations are exposed to risks on a daily basis and these risks can hamper their ability to achieve their business objectives. Initially, implementing Risk Management Software can seem like a challenge but... Read more
August 30, 2016 7:41 am
View a web copy of this email BarnOwl Newsletter July Edition 2016 In this month’s issue: Key Insights – Anarchy – A recipe for disaster, or the only choice left for humanity? Latest Events – “ Information Sharing Session” Upcoming Events Tip of the month – Maximising Screens in BarnOwl Key Insights Anarchy – A recipe for disaster, or the only choice left for humanity? “Anarchy in South Sudan: Mass looting of aid to leave many hungry and desperate” “Former police chief says we are on the precipice of anarchy” “Anarchy in the UK: Brexit leaves disunited kingdom flailing... Read more
August 25, 2016 12:09 pm
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 25 August 2016 The Evolution of Competition: Beyond the Red Queen Presented by Mark Casey, Deloitte Director and Global TMT Executive We were honoured to have Mark Casey, the leader of Deloitte’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) industry for Africa and more recently the leader of Deloitte’s global Media sector present to us. What a brilliant presentation. Seriously thought provoking stuff and the audience like myself was spell bound. Thank you Mark for your time and insights.... Read more
August 15, 2016 11:24 am
The background Climate change is the change in average weather conditions over a long time period and includes temperature, wind, rainfall, length of seasons and even the frequency of extreme weather. Earth’s climate is undergoing substantial changes mainly as a result of human activity causing greenhouse gas emissions. In a normal greenhouse exposure to sunlight causes the internal temperature to become warmer than the external temperature, thus protecting the plant life in cold weather. Similarly, the greenhouse gases in earth’s atmosphere act like a huge glass enclosure that traps the heat and stops it from escaping to space. Before the... Read more
August 12, 2016 10:05 am
BarnOwl and the King IV Launch: 01 November 2016 Sandton Conference Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa Written by Jonathan Crisp, Director, BarnOwl GRC and Audit Software We were delighted to be a sponsor at the launch of the King IV report which was a most prestigious event attended by over 1,400 delegates, many of whom were senior executives, risk and audit committee members and captains of industry and government. We were entertained to not only high profile and brilliant speakers but also to a ‘show’ not to be forgotten. The event was extremely vibey with state of the art effects including... Read more
July 29, 2016 12:10 pm
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 29 July 2016 The Integrated Report and Integrated Thinking in the reign of King IV By Leigh Roberts CA(SA) – IRC of SA –CEO We were honoured to have Leigh Roberts, the CEO of IRC (Integrated Reporting Committee) of SA presenting at BarnOwl’s info sharing session on the 29th July 2016. There was a great turn out which is an indication of how much interest there is in integrated reporting and the need for us to hear the latest developments and thinking. Leigh has been integral in the development of integrated reporting in South Africa and internationally.... Read more
July 27, 2016 2:37 pm
“Anarchy in South Sudan: Mass looting of aid to leave many hungry and desperate” “Former police chief says we are on the precipice of anarchy” “Anarchy in the UK: Brexit leaves disunited kingdom flailing in every direction” Society has been conditioned to read these newspaper headlines by interpreting anarchy as chaos and disorder. And in the context of these three events (political vacuums in South Sudan causing tribal clashes, the death of police officers in Baton Rouge, and the exit of the UK from the European Union), the perception seems fairly close to the real situation on the ground. However,... Read more
July 8, 2016 9:39 am
BarnOwl Newsletter June Edition 2016 In this month’s issue: Latest Events – “ IRMSA 13th AGM ” & “The IIA Namibian Conference – Mind The Gap” Upcoming Events Tip of the month Feedback from our latest client satisfaction review Latest Events IRMSA 13th Annual General Meeting The video below is a compilation of interviews with established Risk Management industry leaders who shed light on the importance of Risk Management in organisanisations today. View the video below as we chat to Gillian le Cordeur (CEO-IRMSA), Berenice Francis (Group Commercial Executive-Imperial ) and Ingrid Ravenscroft (Head of Internal Audit- Mercantile Bank).... Read more
June 30, 2016 12:11 pm
BarnOwl Info Sharing session: 30 June 2016 EXTERNAL CONTEXT SETTING, MONITORING AND REPORTING WITHIN RISK MANAGEMENT By Michael Ferendinos – IRMSA Chief Risk Advisor Michael, with his wealth of experience presented to a packed audience today at BarnOwl’s bi-monthly info sharing session. Michael speaks with authority having been the chief risk officer of AECI Limited, the Head of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and Business Continuity Management (BCM) for Rand Refinery, and prior to that an ERM consultant for Marsh (incorporating Alexander Forbes Risk Services). Michael is also the Chairman of the IRMSA Risk Intelligence Committee which informs the risk fraternity and... Read more
June 27, 2016 10:06 am
LEADERS LUNCHEON AND CONFERENCE PLENARY SESSION 17 August 2016 BarnOwl was the proud sponsor of the guest speaker, none other than Clem Sunter at The Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa (IIA SA) CAE luncheon, exclusively for Heads of Internal Audit (CAEs), Directors, Audit Committee Members and CEO’s held at the Sandton Convention Center, Johannesburg on the 17 August 2016. Highly acclaimed locally and internationally, Clem Sunter is South Africa’s pre-eminent scenario planner and voted by leading South African CEO’s as the speaker who has made the biggest impact on local best practice. Clem demonstrated in his presentation how critical... Read more
June 1, 2016 12:19 pm
BarnOwl Newsletter May Edition 2016 In this month’s issue: Featured Article – “Why The Hesitancy To Invest In Effective Risk Management” Latest Events – “Economic Review & Outlook 2016” by Nicky Weimar, Senior Economist at Nedbank Spotlight Event on Compliance Key Insights – Auditing Talent To Unearth Potential – Talent Management And It’s Alignment To Objectives Upcoming Events Tip of the month Featured Article So Why The Hesitancy To Invest In Effective Risk Management? So why the hesitancy to invest in effective risk management? Typical objections to investing in risk management and possible responses. Despite evidence that mature risk management... Read more
May 30, 2016 8:46 am
South Africa’s unemployment rate recently clambered back over the 25% level, the highest reading since 2005, and the 12th highest unemployment rate globally. 5.7 million people are unemployed in South Africa, not counting those who aren’t economically active. Under the expanded definition of unemployment, including those discouraged job seekers who have given up on looking for work, this figure soars to 36% of the population. In view of this state of the labour market, an effective talent attraction and retention strategy becomes vital to the continued success of the organization. Talent needs to be viewed as a scarce commodity, and... Read more
May 16, 2016 10:45 am
The concepts of internal audit performance and value add are used interchangeably more often than not. How often has one heard that the internal auditors have completed their annual plan, or their recommendations have been accepted and as a result, they have added value. Has the term “Adding Value” been thrown around, twisted and changed to now mean an entirely different thing? Does it mean that if internal audit performs their work they are paid to do, they are actually adding value? Do these two concepts have the same meaning or are they totally different? For years internal auditors have... Read more
May 10, 2016 2:42 pm
Preview View a web copy of this email BarnOwl Newsletter April Edition 2016 In this month’s issue: 1. Featured Guide – “Selling ERM to the Board and the Executive” 2. Latest Insights – “The Risk & Reward of Free Diving” & ” The Benefits of an Effective ERM Strategy” 3. Upcoming Events – “Economic Review & Outlook 2016” by Nikky Weimar, Senior Economist – Nedbank (NOT TO BE MISSED) 4. Key Insights 5. Tip of the month Featured Guide Selling Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) to the Board & the Executive This guide takes a critical look at the value of... Read more
May 9, 2016 2:52 pm
SO WHY THE HESITANCY TO INVEST IN EFFECTIVE RISK MANAGEMENT (RM)? TYPICAL OBJECTIONS TO INVESTING IN RM AND POSSIBLE RESPONSES Despite evidence that mature RM programs add significant value, many organisations remain hesitant when it comes to adopting RM and embedding their RM processes. Below, are some of the typical queries / objections when it comes to investing in RM. Typical objections to investing in RM: “We are not convinced of the value of GRC. It’s a nice to have and not a necessity. As long as we can tick the box to say that we comply.” RESPONSE Clem Sunter... Read more
May 5, 2016 12:12 pm
BarnOwl Information Sharing Session 5th May 2016 on: “Economic Review & Outlook 2016” by Nicky Weimar, Senior Economist – Nedbank Recently Nicky Weimar, the senior economist of Nedbank very kindly presented her “Economic Review and Outlook 2016”at our info sharing event on the 5th May 2016. What a brilliant presentation as always, however I have to say that it was a most sobering experience if not darn right depressing. The Bad: Commodity related prices which make up approximately 60% of our exports are right down, agricultural production is in the grips of a major drought and also down, our inflation rate is... Read more
April 26, 2016 11:45 am
An effective, Enterprise Risk Management (RM) strategy has become widely recognized as a key contributor to the achievement of objectives within an organization, regardless of the size of the organization, or the industries they ply their trade in. As opposed to just putting a risk management policy in place, or compiling and assessing a list of risks, RM is dependent on a co-ordinated effort throughout the various departments, divisions or business units to manage the organization’s risks in a holistic, synchronised fashion, including responding to these risks, and the opportunities or threats that arise. Combining risk information across the entire... Read more
April 21, 2016 1:30 pm
Freediving refers to competitive breath-hold diving and is also known as competitive apnoea. The oldest evidence of freediving has been found about 10,000 years ago on the coast of the Baltic Sea. This ancient civilisation has been named “The Clam Eaters” because the remains of clams and shellfish have been found indicating these people obtained their food from the ocean floor by means of freediving. Pearls that can only have been retrieved from the bottom of the ocean were used in jewellery in Egypt around 5,000 year ago. Archaeological findings and both Greek and Latin literature indicate that Mediterranean cultures... Read more
April 7, 2016 8:29 am
View a web copy of this email BarnOwl Newsletter March Edition 2016 In this month’s issue: 1. Featured Article – “It’s a Turf War on a Global Scale” 2. Latest Insights – “Still Using Excel for Risk Management and/or Audit?” 3. Upcoming Events 4. Key Insights 5. Tip of the month Featured Article It’s A Turf War, on A Global Scale “Paris attacks will add to Wall Street anxiety”, “Thousands feared dead in terrorist attacks on US”, “Marikana violence is a sign of things to come”……. News headlines of this nature often spread hysteria far and wide, whether... Read more
April 7, 2016 7:42 am
View a web copy of this email BarnOwl Newsletter February Edition 2016 In this month’s issue: 1. Feature Article – “Compliance – A Business Imperative” 2. Latest Insights – “South Africa Risk Report 2016” 3. RFT Template 4. Upcoming Events 5. Key Insights 6. Tip of the month Featured Article Compliance – A Business Imperative Many organisations see compliance as a ‘necessary evil’ and in many cases try to ignore it hoping it will go away. Whether we like it or not compliance is here to stay and it’s not only getting more and more complex in an... Read more
March 29, 2016 2:17 pm
“Paris attacks will add to Wall Street anxiety”, “Thousands feared dead in terrorist attacks on US”, “Marikana violence is a sign of things to come”……. News headlines of this nature often spread hysteria far and wide, whether stirred up through the mainstream media, or whipped into a frenzy via social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Stock markets plunge, consumer confidence nosedives, businesses bolt down the hatches in fear of the shockwaves, and families relocate to perceived “safer” places. We’ve seen it time and time again globally where undesirable occurrences lead to far bigger impacts than they should have in... Read more
February 26, 2016 12:13 pm
The Biggest Risks Are Sometimes the Ones We Never Talk About By Miles Crisp: CEO – Tarsus Technologies Group Wow what a presentation. Thank you Miles. I think everyone will agree that we were spell bound and highly entertained by a real heart to heart, honest and refreshing look into corporate culture. My short write up won’t do justice to what Miles spoke about. Fortunately we videoed the event which will soon be up on the web-site and well worth a look at. ... Read more
February 16, 2016 8:24 am
IRMSA South African Risk Report Launch 2016 held on the 10th February 2016 The South African Risk Report was officially launched on the 10th February at a breakfast presentation hosted by IRMSA at the Johannesburg Country Club. The turnout was excellent. Well done to Gillian and her team! Michael Ferendinos, (Chief Risk Officer of AECI) who is the chairman of the IRMSA risk intelligence committee did a brilliant job of taking us through the salient points of the 2016 risk report. You can find a summary presentation at www.barnowl.co.za/knowledge-centre/ The highlight of the morning was Clem Sunter, who as always entertained... Read more
February 3, 2016 12:05 pm
Many organisations see compliance as a ‘necessary evil’ and in many cases try to ignore it hoping it will go away. Whether we like it or not compliance is here to stay and it’s not only getting more and more complex in an increasingly complex and connected world but is having a bigger and bigger impact on business. The effects of non-compliance / unethical behaviour: Just a few examples that highlight the impact of non-compliance and / or unethical behaviour: Just look at what MTN is facing right now relating to the so called non-compliance with the Nigerian Communications Act... Read more
February 1, 2016 9:57 am
BarnOwl Newsletter January Edition 2016 In this month’s issue: 1. Feature Article – ” Keys Areas of Risk affected by Social Media“ 2. Latest Insights – “Compliance Software Buyer’s Guide” 3. Latest Event News & Upcoming Events 4. Tip of the Month Feature Article Four Key Areas of Risk affected by Social Media The prolific rise of social media, particularly over the past 6 years has created many new commercial and marketing opportunities for business. Many organisations are seeing the real and measurable benefits of adopting social media into their marketing and business strategies, elevating the customer and... Read more
January 14, 2016 3:34 pm
The prolific rise of social media, particularly over the last 6 years has created many new commercial and marketing opportunities for business. Many organisations are seeing the real and measurable benefits of adopting Social Media into their marketing and business strategies, elevating the customer and prospect base. However, social media inherently carries risk which interconnected with many areas of an organisation’s risk taxonomy. Four of the key categories that can be directly associated with social media are Reputation, Information Security, Regulatory and Operational risk. 1. Reputational Risk A company’s reputation and brand are an asset and when impacted negatively, that... Read more
December 8, 2015 11:36 am
We’ve come to that part of the year when a good number of people, employees and business owners, start to look forward to the end of year break, and the opportunity to recharge those batteries. Business meetings seem to become less frequent, traffic develops into a far more merciful activity, and our minds tend to wonder to laughter-filled holidays and festive cheer. Days and nights spent in reckless abandon, the worries of our nine to fivers a hazy mist barely pressuring the edges of our holiday realities. Of course, for most people, the true “reality” is something far more complicated... Read more
November 13, 2015 8:58 am
If you can’t read this email, please view it online BarnOwl Newsletter November Edition 2015 In this month’s issue: 1. Latest Insights – “BarnOwl GRC Video” 2. Buyer’s Guide – ” Enterprise Risk Management Software Buyer’s Guide” 3. Key Insights 4. Upcoming Events 5. Tip of the month Latest Insights BarnOwl is a Fully Integrated Governance, Risk Management, Compliance and Audit Software Solution. BarnOwl was designed by risk management, internal control, compliance and audit specialists who ensure that universally accepted best-practice methodologies and frameworks are, and continue to be, supported by the solution. Read more about BarnOwl. Buyer’s Guide Enterprise Risk Management Buyer’s Guide Download the Enterprise... Read more
October 29, 2015 12:15 pm
The BarnOwl info sharing breakfast held on the 29th October 2015 focused on the topic of “The Role of Internal Audit in Integrating Reporting” We would like to thank our guest speaker Albert Gerber, Chief Audit Executive of Pinnacle Holdings. Albert is a qualified certified internal auditor and also holds certificates in control self-assessment and risk management assurance. Albert developed a sound business knowledge through exposure to various types of industries including manufacturing, services, property, technology, mining and distribution. We would like to extend a big thank you... Read more
October 16, 2015 11:15 am
If you can’t read this email, please view it online BarnOwl Newsletter October Edition 2015 In this month’s issue: 1. Feature Article – “Are we there yet?“ 2. Latest Insights – “BarnOwl/IRMSA ERM Risk Maturity Survey Results” 3. Buyer’s Guide – “ Internal Audit Software Buyer’s Guide” 4. Key Insights 5. Upcoming Events 6. Tip of the month Feature Article Are we there yet? Risk management as a studied and documented practice is believed to have started evolving in the 1950’s, largely resulting from the reality that insurance, the risk management option of choice for a large part of the... Read more
October 2, 2015 1:03 pm
Risk management as a studied and documented practice is believed to have started evolving in the 1950’s, largely resulting from the reality that insurance, the risk management option of choice for a large part of the previous four centuries, had become an increasingly costly, and rather imperfect solution. A large proportion of business risks had become simply too expensive, or even impossible to insure. Very large companies began to develop and implement methods to self-insure against risks (e.g. co-operatives, employee benefits such as UIF, self-funded healthcare plans and policies, executive compensation, pension funding, etc.), the thinking being that by calculating... Read more
September 18, 2015 7:39 am
BarnOwl Newsletter September Edition If you can’t read this email, please view it online BarnOwl Newsletter September Edition 2015 In this month’s issue: 1. Feature Article – “Key updates to the IPPF framework you should know about“ 2. Latest Insights – “BarnOwl/IRMSA ERM Risk Maturity Survey” 3. Key Takeouts – Info Sharing, Spotlight Sessions & User Group 4. Upcoming Events 5. Tip of the month Feature Article Key updates to the IPPF framework you should know about In July this year the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) unveiled enhancements to its International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF). It’s important to know what’s changed and... Read more
September 3, 2015 11:46 am
In July this year the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) unveiled enhancements to its International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF). It’s important to know what’s changed and what hasn’t and that’s why we’ve summarized the changes for you. More resources and comprehensive update descriptions can be found on the IIA website (https://global.theiia.org/standards-guidance/Pages/New-IPPF-What-to-Expect.aspx). A great video of the changes developed by the IIA can be found here: https://global.theiia.org/standards-guidance/Pages/New-IPPF.aspx#ippfvid What’s new? Mission The IPPF now contains a “Mission of Internal Audit” statement. The mission reads as follows: “To enhance and protect organizational value by providing risk-based and objective assurance, advice, and insight.” This... Read more
August 27, 2015 12:17 pm
The BarnOwl info sharing breakfast held on the 27th August 2015 was very well attended and focused on two topics, namely ‘King IV – an update on the progress so far’ and ‘What makes an internal audit function a valuable asset’. We would like to thank our guest speakers; Gert Cruywagen, Director of Risk at Tsogo Sun Group and a member of the King Committee on Corporate Governance and Liesl Brown, head of internal audit at Cell C for their time and insightful presentations. We would also like to acknowledge the Institute of Directors and the King Committee for the feedback... Read more
August 18, 2015 7:58 am
If you can’t read this email, please view it online BarnOwl Newsletter September Edition 2015 In this month’s issue: 1. Feature Article – “Managing and Auditing Ethics – Starting point or end goal?“ 2. Latest Insights – “Starting a Compliance function” 3. Key Takeouts – Info Sharing & Spotlight Sessions 4. Upcoming Events 5. Tip of the month Feature Article Managing and Auditing Ethics – Starting point or end goal? Ethical business practice is an ideal many corporations strive for, but often fall short of due to an overwhelming focus on the bottom line in tough global economic times. Companies are having... Read more
August 5, 2015 9:48 am
Ethical business practice is an ideal many corporations strive for, but often fall short of due to an overwhelming focus on the bottom line and risk processes in tough global economic times. Companies are having to walk a fine line, and sometimes even cross it to ensure they stay relevant in an increasingly challenging marketplace. An ongoing spate of business scandals uncovered through whistle blowers, internal auditing, general investigations etc., both in the private and the public sector has brought ethics to the forefront of many a corporate dialogue, where trust and reputation are seen to tip the scales against... Read more
July 30, 2015 12:18 pm
The BarnOwl info sharing breakfast held on the 30th July 2015 was very well attended and focused on two topics, namely ‘Cyber Security’ and ‘Combined Assurance’. We would like to thank our guest speakers; Craig Rosewarne, Managing Director, Wolfpack and Carla Clamp, Director, Business Risk Services, Grant Thornton for their time and insightful presentations. Craig’s presentation on cyber terrorism and security, I found to be pretty daunting and frightening. With the dawning of... Read more
July 21, 2015 9:15 am
Many companies struggle to identify what to be compliant with let alone staying compliant with existing laws and acts. Compliance does not need to be overly complex to start with. Compiling a Regulatory universe and applying your mind to which acts are pertinent to your organisation is a major step in the right direction. The definition of the idiom, “Trying to run before you can walk”, is trying to do something requiring a high level of knowledge before you have learned the basics. Too many organisations attempt to address too many compliance areas and end up doing a bad job... Read more
June 30, 2015 2:54 pm
The value of the Internal Audit function is becoming increasingly critical to the strong corporate governance, risk management, effective internal control, and efficient operations of any organisation. As per the IIA, “at its simplest, internal auditing involves identifying the risks that could keep an organization from achieving its goals, making sure the organization’s leaders know about these risks, and proactively recommending improvements to help reduce the risks”. It is a common fallacy that the Internal Audit function exists to pick holes in management’s operations. However, this is not at all the case. There are so many reasons to regard audit... Read more
June 25, 2015 12:19 pm
The BarnOwl info sharing breakfast on ‘Practical insights into conflict of interest’ with a focus on supply chain was very well attended on the 25th June. We would like to thank our speakers, André Stürmer from Inoxico and Mbulelo Gingcana from supply chain management of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). We would also like to thank everyone who attended our breakfast. We had very positive feedback after the breakfast. André spoke about ‘Conflict of Interest within a coherent Supply Chain Governance framework’ and amongst other things gave insight into what the Inoxico Matrix software is capable of doing in terms of... Read more
June 19, 2015 10:07 am
How does a corporation with an ERM program, which is recognized as one of the most effective worldwide, get caught in the grip of a strategic failure that is as damaging to their reputation and bottom line as the recent vehicle recall crisis? Investigations around the causes and contributing factors brought risk awareness, and the assignment of ownership to all business and non-business risks, firmly into the spotlight. In February of 2014 General Motors recalled about 800,000 of its small cars due to faulty ignition switches. As of June of the same year, nearly 28 million cars worldwide: around 88%... Read more
June 2, 2015 6:43 am
Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, Warren Buffet, Sheryl Sandberg, Elon Musk. Recognized and acknowledged as some of the most successful businesspeople of our time, all of them can tell a story of how success very nearly eluded them, and big risks had to be taken at some point. In the case of these mega-entrepreneurs, the majority still thrive on big risk-taking for big reward, and in fact the most common belief is that the biggest risk to them was not taking one at all. Business risk management is too often about risk aversion, as opposed... Read more
May 7, 2015 7:53 am
Most of us and especially the younger generation understand the power and benefits of technology and yet we often choose to ignore better ways of doing things and stick to the ways we have always done things. For example, Excel is still often the tool of choice and used in preference to or outside of an enterprise database-driven solution. There is a proliferation of Excel spreadsheets floating around all organisations. So why is this the case when we know the many benefits of a GRC and Audit software solution? Excel is pervasive in an organisation, Most people have a reasonable... Read more
April 1, 2015 12:50 pm
Having a defined Risk Appetite Statement is a crucial starting point to the Risk Management process. Risk Appetite and Risk Tolerance are terms that are often incorrectly interchanged without a solid understanding of the definition of each of these related yet different concepts. What is Risk Appetite? It is often said that no company or organisation, regardless of its sector, can make a profit without taking a risk. The only question is how much risk do they need to take? Taking risks without consciously managing those risks can lead to the failure of an organisation and therefore a well researched,... Read more
April 1, 2015 11:59 am
There is a lot of debate (and often emotional debate) within the risk management fraternity surrounding various topics – from COSO framework versus the ISO31000 standard, to risk appetite versus risk tolerance, to how risks are rated (rating scales, calculations, inherent, residual, exposure, velocity, qualitative, quantitative, weighted at each business unit, monte carlo simulation etc.). As risk practitioners we are often so busy with the technical debate that we can’t see the ‘wood for the trees’ and lose sight of our main objective, which is to ‘sell’, evangelise and demonstrate the value of risk management to our board, management, our... Read more
April 1, 2015 11:53 am
Risk management consulting and the companies involved in my opinion relates greatly to the article below. Fear of Flying 1 – Commercial Airlines A friend of mine, let’s call him Sam, is terrified of flying. His fear stems from a belief that there is a good chance that the plane will crash and he will most likely die in the accident. Sam is no expert when it comes to the risk management of anything, but he would understand that “risk” is “the possibility that an event will occur and adversely affect the achievement of objectives”[i]. If his objective is to... Read more
