Global flavors and fragrances company develops risk management road map and completes maturity assessment

Client background

A large, international organization in the flavors and fragrances industry is focused on creating, managing and distributing products in the food, beverage, health and wellness space. The organization has a global footprint with over 24,000 employees who manage and distribute its diverse product offerings.

The business challenge

The global organization operates several diverse businesses which function under various levels of independence within their specific markets. Recently, the organization went through a transitional period in leadership roles which resulted in changes to their operations. As a result, key elements of their enterprise risk management (ERM) program were not adequately maintained to reflect the organization’s needs. The organization desired an outside perspective to provide objective guidance to recalibrate their ERM program.

Strategy and solution

Baker Tilly helped the organization by developing a risk management road map to advance the program’s maturity and get their risk management efforts back on track

First, Baker Tilly conducted a series of targeted interviews with management to gain a better understanding of the current ERM program and the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement. Leveraging industry knowledge and data from the interviews, the organization was provided with a peer-adjusted benchmark and associated rating for key elements of its existing ERM program. This included the following deliverables:

• A completed maturity assessment of the current state program
• Peer ratings on the same maturity assessment scale
• A listing of 20+ actionable recommendations to guide the company toward desired stages of maturity
• A road map of tasks to achieve the desired level of maturity, sequenced by level of effort and value derived

Baker Tilly is in regular communication with the organization as it addresses the initial recommendations and continues to strengthen its ERM program, which includes a refresh of the organization’s risk register and risk universe. As the organization welcomed a new chief executive officer (CEO) and global leadership team, the ERM maturity diagnostic and customized road map provided a foundation to achieve an ERM maturity level that will position the organization to manage enterprise risks and opportunities into the future.