© Risk Management and Insurance Review,2003,Vol.6,No.1,53-73 THE EFFECT OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ON THE USE OF ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT:EVIDENCE FROM CANADA Anne E. Kleffner Ryan B. Lee Bill McGannon ABSTRACT This article examines the use of enterprise risk management (ERM) by compa- niesinCanada,thecharacteristicsthatareassociatedwiththeuseofERM,what obstaclescompaniesfaceinimplementingERM,andwhatrole,ifany,corporate governance guidelines have played in the decision to adopt ERM. We obtained our data from the responses to a mail survey sent to Canadian Risk and Insur- ance Management Society members as well as telephone interviews with 19 of therespondents.Theresultsindicatethat31percentofthesamplehadadopted ERM and that reasons for adopting ERM include the influence of the risk man- ager (61 percent), encouragement from the board of directors (51 percent), and compliancewithTorontoStockExchange(TSE)guidelines(37percent).Thema- jor deterrents to ERM were an organizational structure that discourages ERM andanoverallresistancetochange.Althoughonlyaboutone-thirdofcompanies indicated that they had adopted an ERM approach, evidence was clear that a largerportionofthesamplewasmovinginthatdirection,asindicatedbywhat changes they had observed in their companies in the past three years. These include the development of company-wide guidelines for risk management (45percent),anincreasedawarenessofnonoperationalrisksbyoperationalrisk managementpersonnelandanincreasedawarenessofoperationalrisksbynon- operational risk management personnel (49 percent), more coordination with differentareasresponsibleforriskmanagement(64percent),andmoreinvolve- ment and interaction in the decision making of other departments. Contrary to what we expected, there was not a significant difference between firms that are listed on the TSE versus those that are not in terms of the propensity to use ERM. However, the fact that 37 percent of firms indicated that the TSE guide- lines were influential in their decision to adopt ERM provides some evidence that the guidelines are influencing companies’ risk management strategies. Anne Kleffner is an Associate Professor of Risk Management and Insurance at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary; phone: 403-220-8596; fax: 403-284-7903; e-mail: kleffner@ucalgary.ca. Ryan Lee is an Assistant Professor of Risk Management and Insurance at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary; phone: 403-220-4350; fax: 403-284-7903; e-mail: rlee@ucalgary.ca. Bill McGannon is a consultant with Risky Business, Calgary, Canada. 53