Abstract
M.Comm.
This exploratory study investigated how the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (“the City”) can optimise enterprise risk management as a business enabler. In this regard, the study explored the definition of enterprise risk management and the objectives for enterprise risk management within the City. The alignment of the risk management process with the objectives of enterprise risk management and the governance (accountability and responsibility) structures for enterprise risk management given various municipal Acts were also investigated.
Qualitative research was used in the study. Data was collected by means of a two-part questionnaire comprising of open-ended and close-ended questions. In order to ensure the validity and reliability, open-ended and close-ended questions were self-administered at different stages. The units of coding which are linked to the secondary objectives of the study were used to analyse the data.
The results of the study showed that the City defines risk as a threat, enterprise risk management as managing threats to service delivery, and that there is no overall objective for enterprise risk management. Although the risk management process supports the objectives of enterprise risk management, it is not fully embedded and is in early stages of maturity. The study found that appropriate governance (accountability and responsibility) structures are in place. However these governance structures are ineffective in evaluating the effectiveness of enterprise risk management as such enterprise risk management is not evaluated in terms of the achievement of the service delivery objectives. The study also revealed that there is limited understanding of enterprise risk management amongst individuals who have the accountability and responsibility for it. This results in enterprise risk management being not optimised as a business enabler.