Reflective Essay on Corporate Governance and Risk Management Issues

This reflective essay examines the author's experiences with corporate governance and risk management within their workplace, a beverage company. The essay explores the implementation of corporate governance principles, including ethical decision-making and stakeholder expectations, and highlights the role of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) in mitigating potential risks. The author, as an HR Manager, discusses the importance of workplace governance, regulatory compliance, and the integration of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The essay also reflects on the author's strategies for managing and governing workplace risks, promoting employee productivity, and ensuring stakeholder satisfaction, ultimately emphasizing the significance of good governance and social responsibility for organizational growth and sustainability.

Running head: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT
Corporate Governance and Risk Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The reflective essay will focus about my personal experience and the issues I faced
related to corporate governance and risk management. Through risk assessment in my
workplace, I got to learn how to deal with critical situation and accordingly effective
strategies to reduce the organization’s risk. Furthermore, the essay will also reflect on the
issues related to social responsibility and corporate governance and accordingly learnt
strategies for managing and governing workplace and enterprise risk.
Discussion
According to me, Governance in relation to workplace governance refers to the
process how the organization can be effectively managed and organized by promoting
healthy and safe environment to the employees. Prior to that, by implying Corporate
Governance, an organization set certain rules and regulations that need to be followed by all
the employees (Tricker and Tricker 2015). Whereas, what I understood through risk
management is that identifying the potential risk and accordingly with better strategies will
try to reduce it, in order to incur the loss resources.
As per the ASX Corporate Governance Council, convened by ASX in Australia
implemented certain principles, legislations and recommendations. This needs to be
implemented by companies in order to promote confidence of the investors to meet the
expectations of the stakeholders (Christensen et al. 2015). The organization in which I work
is a beverage company that implemented the rules of corporate Governance so that our
organization can manufacture health drinks by not impacting the environment in a negative
way and besides that tried to meet the requirements of the stakeholders. Accordingly the
organization I work incorporated certain non binding guidelines such as shifting towards the

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principles governance systems. There are certain guidelines listed in the ASX principles and
recommendations that encouraged companies to follow in order to reach the global markets.
S per the principles, our organization has implemented an ethical and responsible decision
making board that examines that employee are working in safe and healthy environment
(Ruggie 2017). Furthermore, by adopting the principle “Encourage enhanced
performance” our organization from time to time evaluate employees’ reviews and
performance and accordingly motivates them with monetary and non-monetary rewards. All
the ten principles of the corporate governance are important for any business organization in
order to reach the global market.
Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) is an approach that deals with workplace risk
and accordingly provides measures to prevent those risks to provide better services to the
stakeholders and to achieve their goals (Olson 2015). For instance, one of my friends works
in DP World in Victoria, and through him I get to know that the company was found guilty
for polluting the atmosphere by releasing hazardous chemical and was charged $80,000 and
extra $ 10,000 (Christensen et al. 2015). After analyzing the risk and the huge loss, the
company implemented Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) approach to reduce the huge loss
and to incur from that loss. One of the important tools of ERM is the brainstorming tool,
through which various ideas and solutions to reduce the risk are being generated from the
group. Apart from this, “The Australian Securities Exchange Principles of Good
Corporate Governance and Practice” measures the risk appetite of every organization and
accordingly tries to perform in relation to Key Risk Indicators. My personal experience
from enterprise risk management is that, risks are inevitable for every business organization,
but organizations should check the potential risk that the organization is likely to suffer from
that and should implement ideas and strategies to prevent it. I myself being a HR Manager of

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a beverage company follow the same policies, so that there should not be any environmental
risk from manufacturing of beverages.
It is important to note that a good Corporate Governance promotes organization
growth and at the same time tries to meet the demands of the internal and external
stakeholders. Accordingly corporations tend to create employees that tend to increase the
productivity of the organization and the profit that receives is used in paying the shareholders
(Grayson and Hodges 2017). For instance, in my company, the profit and the extra wealth
gained are used in the research and development (R&D) process and sometimes invest in
technologies for manufacturing high quality beverages. For instance, KPGM in New Zealand
applied the concept of good Governance by involving the owners and the shareholders
regarding the financial health of the organization. On the other hand, Corporate Social
Responsibility mainly concerned in treating the stakeholders, in a responsible way and it also
helps to prevent risk within the organization. As risk is inevitable, therefore, CSR activity
will help to reduce risk to a certain amount (Hoyt and Liebenberg 2015). Accordingly the
higher authorities of the company initiated CSR activity through awareness campaign and
also by acting in human rights for environmental causes to reduce environment footprints. By
involving in CSR activity, we can get socially involved for creating a better and safe
community.
It is important to manage and govern the organization effectively for better
productivity and for providing satisfaction the internal and the external stakeholders (Hillson
and Webster 2017). However to manage and govern my organization I adhere to certain rules
and guidelines such as it is important to be consistent that means every employees should be
treated equally within the group. Apart from that, to retain skilled labour within the
organization, I evaluate the work performance and accordingly give rewards such as

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incentives, gifts and more. This has proved an effective way to mange employees. However,
to govern effectively, it is important to manage day-to-day operations and in case of conflicts
in the workplace, I try to implement best strategies to prevent it as fast as possible. Prior to
this, regulatory compliance is an important factor that ensures the implications of laws and
guides such as rules related to Safety and Healthy Environment, to minimise the (S,H&E)
risk (MacDougall et al. 2015).
Conclusion
From the above reflective essay, it could be concluded that from my personal
experience I got to learn about the principles of good Corporate Governance and the positive
outcomes of Social Responsibility. Apart from this with the implication of Enterprise Risk
Management (ERM), it is possible to monitor the risk and within the implication of risk
management tools, it is possible to reduce the risk. Prior to this, as an HR Manager I have
started implicating the principles of good Governance for promoting better growth and
customer satisfaction.

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References
Christensen, J., Kent, P., Routledge, J. and Stewart, J., 2015. Do corporate governance
recommendations improve the performance and accountability of small listed
companies?. Accounting & Finance, 55(1), pp.133-164.
Grayson, D. and Hodges, A., 2017. Corporate social opportunity!: Seven steps to make
corporate social responsibility work for your business. Routledge.
Hillson, D. and Murray-Webster, R., 2017. A short guide to risk appetite. Routledge.
Hoyt, R.E. and Liebenberg, A.P., 2015. Evidence of the value of enterprise risk
management. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 27(1), pp.41-47.
MacDougall, A.E., Bagdasarov, Z., Johnson, J.F. and Mumford, M.D., 2015. Managing
workplace ethics: An extended conceptualization of ethical sensemaking and the facilitative
role of human resources. In Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management (pp.
121-189). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Olson, D.L. and Wu, D.D., 2015. Enterprise risk management(Vol. 3). World Scientific
Publishing Company.
Ruggie, J.G., 2017. The theory and practice of learning networks: Corporate social
responsibility and the Global Compact. In Learning To Talk (pp. 32-42). Routledge.
Tricker, R.B. and Tricker, R.I., 2015. Corporate governance: Principles, policies, and
practices. Oxford University Press, USA.