The effect of risk management practices on research university performance

Abstract

This study examines how risk management practices (RMP) affect organizational performance in Malaysia's research university (RU) setting. The conceptualization of RMP and RU performance was based on the process theory, and the five RMP proposed - Risk Governance & Management System, Risk Identification, Risk Analysis & Evaluation, Risk Mitigation Strategy & Control, and Risk Monitoring & Communication - derived from literature review on risk management, focus group sessions with risk practitioners, and expert validation. Using a self-administered questionnaire, 288 senior administrators of the RU participated in this study. The SEM result shows that these RMP positively and significantly affect the RU performance. Theoretically, this study validated that the positive and significant association between RMP and organizational performance is also observed in the research university context. These RMP should be adopted when designing effective implementation of risk management to achieve the RU performance. However, the application of the RMP should be tailored to fit to unique risk profiles of the university environment, including the need to enhance some risk practices.