Culture, Conduct, and Consequences: The Operational Risk Lens on Today’s Most Dangerous Failures

Organizations are waking up to a hard truth: operational risk isn’t just about systems and controls—it’s about people, behavior, and culture. From misconduct in trading rooms to mismanaged whistleblowing programs, the failures dominating headlines today stem less from compliance gaps and more from breakdowns in cultural awareness, risk signal interpretation, and operational accountability.

As regulatory scrutiny intensifies and stakeholder expectations evolve, organizations must move beyond the traditional confines of Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC). They must build Operational Risk Management (ORM) programs that are equipped to detect, interpret, and act on cultural and conduct risks as core components of enterprise risk. This editorial series, Culture, Conduct, and Consequences, explores how non-financial risks—when left unmanaged—become operational failures. It sets the stage for the 2025 IRM Navigator™ ORM Report, to be published this June, and offers risk leaders a new lens for navigating the next era of operational resilience. all begins with an idea.