Do smaller companies manage risk better than larger ones?

That seems to be the assertion by my good friend, Alexei Sidorenko, in a 2017 blog post I read for the first time this last week.

Why risk management in SME is better than in large corporations makes a number of good points. Here are some, with my comments.

• SMEs simply can’t afford to waste time or other resources on an activity that does not generate direct value.
  • Comment: neither can larger companies. The reason (IMHO) that many CROs feel starved of top management attention, let alone budget, is that top management just don’t see the value. They see it as a compliance activity that may satisfy the regulators and the board but doesn’t help them manage the company for success. It consumes management time that is needed in problem-solving and decision-making, rather than helping make their informed and intelligent decisions.
• Do modern day risk managers in non-financial companies in fact make money for their companies? Very few. Most of the modern day approaches used by the risk managers are so academic and superficial, that management has a tough job buying it.

Alex asks some penetrating questions to build on these points, including:

• do risk assessments…