ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview key concept discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the rapidly merging fields of internal control and risk management often look established, standardized, and even dull. Experts in these fields cultivate that impression but the truth is that were still at the Wild West stage. Most people working in this territory are pioneers trying to get by with a handful of crude tools. It's no surprise that many people today view internal control and risk management as dreary chores of little real value done only to placate regulators and auditors. Happily, it doesn't have to be that way, which is where the wagon-load of opportunities rumbles in. Rarely have the value of risk management or internal control been measured and we should not, at this early stage, expect all new ideas to be promoted with quantified evidence of effectiveness and value.
