The Best Fit

It is not news that an organization's culture plays a crucial role in the implementation of ERM. Dysfunctional cultures have been blamed for everything from catastrophes, such as space shuttle disasters, to corporate scandals. Multiple studies have identified organizational culture as a top barrier

It is almost redundant to say an organization needs a strong "ethical climate," a "mature risk culture," or a "culture of compliance" for successful ERM deployment. To understand the relationship between culture and ERM, one must characterize an organization's culture at a more fundamental level.

Over the years, management theorists have devised a variety of models for describing organizational culture. One model that appears to address issues of interest to ERM deployments was developed by Dr. Ronda Reigle in 2003. This model assesses an organization's culture based on a continuum ranging from "mechanistic" to "organic."