The global financial collapse should have sent corporate executives running to implement enterprise risk management (ERM) strategies, but so far it hasn't.

That's the conclusion of two recent reports by KPMG and the Risk Management and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) that both issue wake-up calls for corporations to revamp and strengthen ERM practices. "This is an imperative that says, in order to prevent another financial catastrophe, organizations must change the way they think about risk and consider implementing an enterprise risk management program or improve the one they already have in place," warns Joseph Restoule, RIMS president and head of risk management at NOVA Chemicals Corp.

Most companies remain out of the loop. For example, when KPMG asked 130 audit executives and board members about their ERM strategies, the consulting company found deficiencies around risk culture. Almost 60% acknowledged that their companies' employees had little or no understanding of how to assess risk.