Gift-giving is an ancient tradition that has helped “maintain friendly relations between groups of people by building bonds of trust between them” throughout history. From Neolithic times to now, gifts have been exchanged to families, communities, organizations as tokens of connection.

In the United States, “white elephant” has come to mean an exchange of gifts that entail “great expense out of proportion to its usefulness or value to the owner.” The white elephant narrative comes from Southeast Asia where kings in old Siam (modern-day Thailand) would give their “wilier courtiers” the gift of a rare, pet white elephant hoping that the high cost of caring for the pet “would bankrupt them.” Outside of the old Siam gift-giving context, white elephants remain in many Asian cultures “not just symbols, but working charms that promote national wellbeing and stability.”

Third party risk management upholds the tradition of “building of bonds and trust.” Like white elephants in Asia, risk management promotes “wellbeing and stability.” This gift-giving season, our subject matter experts have each taken a moment to reflect on the gifts third party risk management brings to organizations.

Ron Bradley, Vice President says, “Risk management allows organizations to the ability to discern who has been naughty and who has been nice.”

“When it identifies who’s been naughty, the greatest gift third party risk management programs give is the deploying of the cyber model of Ralphie’s “Official Red Ryder” carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time,” Bob Jones, Senior Advisor continues.

Gary Roboff, Senior Advisor, considers what risk management brings from the organizational, community, employee, and customer viewpoints:

“The greatest gift from a risk management program is a much smoother path to achieving organizational goals. Good risk management helps organizations meet a diverse set of stakeholder expectations. For customers, risk management helps organizations design products with fewer flaws and present fewer risks to users. For employees, good risk management increases the likelihood of project success, builds a productive, sustainable organizational culture, and increases the economic stability of the workplace. For communities, good risk management ensures that there are no inappropriate organizational consequences from operations, whether they be hard (e.g. pollution) or soft (e.g. corruption).”

“Explaining risks, including impact in terms that are most meaningful to the business,” adds Nasser Fattah, Senior Advisor.

Colleen Milazzo, Senior Vice President, TPR Software Products shares that “Risk management provides a winter coat for the risks that are frightful and not showing signs of stopping. The best thing to do is bundle up as best you can and mitigate the fury.”

Lastly, Charlie Miller, Senior Advisor, Shared Assessments reminds us “Third party risk management programs give to any organization a safe, secure, and prosperous New Year!”

White elephants transported from Myanmar’s jungles are “heralded in lavish ceremonies in which…leaders sprinkle them with scented water laced with gold, silver,TP and precious gems.” Third party risk management and the gifts it brings are unrivaled in “usefulness and value” and should be treated the same…