DRIVEN
Business Strategy, Human Actions and the Creation of Wealth
By Mark L. Frigo and Joel Litman 

This landmark book is being used by management teams and boards of directors to guide strategy development and strategy execution.   With the current challenging business environment, companies must realign business strategies to deal with the short issues, while positioning the business for growth opportunities.  Authored by Dr. Mark L. Frigo and Joel Litman. DRIVEN is about RETURN DRIVEN STRATEGY, a framework for business analysis and planning. It has been built on a simple theme: If we can better understand how the success or failure of a business is driven by its plans and actions, then we can greatly improve how we value companies and how we run our businesses.  Chapters are arranged in the same order as the elements of the Return Driven Strategy framework, making DRIVEN both an interesting read and a valuable guide for ongoing reference.

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Strategic Risk Management - 
A Primer for Directors and Management Teams
By Mark L. Frigo and Richard J. Anderson

The Strategic Risk Management Primer is designed to help management teams and boards to proactively manage enterprise risk and develop a workable plan with incremental steps for developing risk management capabilities and processes within an organization.  This primer focuses on the latest developments in the area of Strategic Risk Management, which is a necessary foundation and component for effective Enterprise Risk Management (ERM); Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) and overall risk management.  

The Strategic Risk Management Primer is designed to be an easy-to-use source of information and tools on Strategic Risk Management for directors and executives.  The content in the primer is presented in a series of articles, short narratives, tools and diagnostics, grouped into chapters by topic, to provide quick readings in short time periods.  The primer begins with a chapter on integrating risk management into strategy development, performance measurement systems and Balanced Scorecards.  This chapter provides an overview on where and how to incorporate risk management into strategic planning and strategy execution processes.   The primer also includes a chapter which describes how to conduct a Strategic Risk Assessment using the tools in the primer which serves as a foundation for effective ERM, GRC and risk management.  
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Transforming Talent at Whirlpool – How to Build a World-Class Finance Organization through Talent, Capabilities and Leadership
Mark L. Frigo, JD Rapp and Roy Templin
Strategic Finance (Cover Article) May 2011

This cover article is based on the experience of a CFO and his team in developing and leading an initiative to develop a world-class finance organization at Whirlpool.  It describes how CFOs can develop and execute a plan for building a high performance finance organization.  It is part of a continuing CFO Strategic Leadership Initiative in the Center for Strategy, Execution and Valuation on leading practices in finance and executive leadership.
How can the finance area become a competitive advantage for an organization? In 2006, Whirlpool Corporation CFO Roy Templin knew something had to change. Whirlpool had experienced plenty of milestone successes: the acquisition of Maytag, significant growth in international markets, and leadership of innovation and productivity in the global home appliance industry. Yet the company was struggling to attract and retain top finance talent.  This article describes how CFOs can build a world-class finance organization through talent, capabilities and leadership.
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What is Strategic Risk Management?
Strategic Finance April 2011
Mark L. Frigo and Richard J. Anderson

This article defines Strategic Risk Management and the principles of Strategic Risk Management that can be adapted by organizations to drive a strategic risk management initiative.  The area of strategic risk management is a way for organizations to increase the value of enterprise risk management (ERM) by integrating risk management within strategic planning, strategy execution and decision making.
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Strategic Risk Management: A Foundation for Improving Enterprise
Risk Management and Governance
JCAF Cover March-April 2011
Mark L. Frigo and Richard J. Anderson

This landmark article define Strategic Risk Management and the six principles of Strategic Risk Management based on extensive work with management teams and board members.
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Focusing on Profitable Growth Opportunities
How Your Business Can Thrive
NAMA InTouch • Spring 2011  
By Dr. Mark L. Frigo
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Embracing Enterprise Risk Management: Practical Approaches for Getting Started
COSO Releases Thought Paper on Enterprise Risk Management
By Dr. Mark L. Frigo and Richard J. Anderson

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – January 11, 2011 – The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) – an organization providing thought leadership and guidance on internal controls, enterprise risk management (ERM), and fraud deterrence – is releasing thought papers relating to ERM aimed at providing guidance to help organizations advance along the ERM maturity curve.

The thought paper,Embracing Enterprise Risk Management: Practical Approaches for Getting Started, developed by Dr. Mark L. Frigo and Richard J. Anderson of the Center for Strategy, Execution, and Valuation at DePaul University, describes how an organization can begin implementing an ERM process. It also examines perceived barriers to effective ERM and how to work through those barriers.
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How Enterprises Can Drive New Value Creation
Strategic Finance – October 2010
By Mark L. Frigo
An interview with Venkat Ramaswamy

Co-creation is a new way companies can collaborate and is a key approach to managing risk and driving returns.  In this article, Venkat Ramaswamy from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan offers CXO's advice on how they can drive new value creation through co-creation. 
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Become a High-Performance Company
Insight – September-October 2010
By Mark L. Frigo
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How CFOs Can Drive Innovation
Strategic Finance – July 2010
By Mark L. Frigo
An interview with Vijay Govindarajan

Innovation is one of the most difficult areas for companies to master.  In this article, Vijay Govindarajan from the Dartmouth Tuck School of Business offers CFO's advice on how they can drive innovation in their organization.
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Cleaning Up: Implementing Sustainability by Using Management Control Systems
Cover article in Strategic Finance – July 2010
By Busco, Frigo, Leone and Riccaboni

Balancing financial performance and corporate sustainability is a challenge, especially in today’s economic environment.   This article written with the research team from the University of Siena (Italy) Sustainability Management Lab describes how GE and P&G have implemented corporate sustainability using management control systems.
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Co-Creating Strategic Risk-Return Management
Cover article for Strategic Finance Magazine May 2009
By Mark L. Frigo and Venkat Ramaswamy

This article written with Dr. Venkat Ramaswamy from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan is based on the premise that sustainable wealth creation requires balanced risk taking by focusing on co-creation opportunities that can generate superior returns while simultaneously reducing risks for companies and their stakeholders. CFOs are in a position to lead the effort to achieve greater returns and growth while reducing risk and cost.  To achieve this, companies will have to co-create wealth by consistently executing the strategic activities in the Return Driven Strategy framework while concomitantly co-creating value through engagement platforms. 
Click here to view the most recent cover article.


Strategic Risk Assessment
Cover article for Strategic Finance Magazine December 2009
By Mark L. Frigo and Richard J. Anderson

At a time when interest in and focus on risk management are increasing, a Strategic Risk Assessment provides a valuable foundation for assessing, monitoring, and managing risk. The seven steps create a closed-loop, ongoing process that is flexible enough to be tailored to a company’s maturity, culture, and understanding of its risk and will put the whole organization on the path to effective risk management and governance.
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Books & Recent Articles

"Strategy and execution knowledge products"

“Return Driven Strategy® and its Strategic Risk Management framework can be invaluable to business leaders in navigating an ever-changing and complex business environment and provide a systematic approach for assessing and managing strategic risk of an organization.”  --Ray Whittington, PhD, CPA  CMA Dean, College of Commerce, DePaul University and Kellstadt Graduate School of Business
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