Fundamentals of Risk Management

www.theiia.org
Woods, M (2011) Risk Management in Organizations: An integrated case study 
approach, 
www.routledge.com
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Risk assurance
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PART EIgHT cAsE sTUDIEs
Unilever: Our risk appetite and approach to risk management
Unilever adopts a risk profile that is aligned to our vision to accelerate growth in the business while 
reducing our environmental footprint and increasing our positive social impact. Our available capital 
and other resources are applied to underpin our priorities. We aim to maintain a strong single A 
credit-rating on a long-term basis.
The Unilever boards assume overall accountability for the management of risk and for reviewing 
the effectiveness of Unilever’s risk management and internal control systems. The boards have 
established a clear organizational structure with well-defined accountabilities for the principal risks 
that Unilever faces in the short, medium and long term. This organizational structure and distribution 
of accountabilities and responsibilities ensures that every country in which we operate has specific 
resources and processes for risk review and risk mitigation.
Unilever’s approach to doing business is framed by our purpose. Our code of business principles 
sets out the standards of behaviour that we expect all employees to adhere to. Day-to-day 
responsibility for ensuring these principles are applied throughout Unilever rests with senior 
management across categories, geographies and functions.
Assurance on compliance with the code of business principles and all of our code policies is 
obtained annually from Unilever management via a formal code declaration. The boards regularly 
review the significant risks and decisions that could have a material impact on Unilever. These 
reviews consider the level of risk that Unilever is prepared to take in pursuit of the business strategy 
and the effectiveness of the management controls in place to mitigate the risk exposure.
Edited extract from Unilever PLC
Annual Report and Accounts 2015 – Strategic Report