The Blindeninstitutsstiftung supports blind, visually impaired, and multi-handicapped people in Bavaria and Thuringia, Germany. Initially founded as a school for blind children by Moritz Graf zu Bentheim-Tecklenburg in 1853, the foundation began to grow rapidly in the late 1960s by opening its school doors also for the visually impaired and by establishing the early childhood care program Vision. In addition to the main location Würzburg, another six institutes were set up and the focus of the Blindeninstitutsstiftung turned more and more to people with multiple disabilities. In 2018, the Blindeninstitutsstiftung supported over 4,000 people with disabilities. Due to this strong growth, a high degree of autonomy was given to the local institutes, which brought great advantages in terms of education, but also led to a variety of structures in the area of process and quality management. That included the realm of risk management where each institute had regulations and structures in place, but a central regulation or structured consolidation of developments and decisions was lacking.
The risk management system developed by Oliver Wyman provides us with the necessary tools to identify the risks that lie within our organization and to act accordingly. I also appreciate that the reporting system raises the awareness of those responsible for the risks that lie within their respective area. It is also very positive for us that in the future such information will be reported to the Executive Board in a structured manner. This will help us maintain an overview and structure the topic of risk management effectivelyDr. Marco Bambach, Director, Blindeninstitutsstiftung
Scope
Oliver Wyman supported the Blindeninstitutsstiftung in a six-week project to set up a structured risk management system. The project team first created a risk inventory that collects and structures all existing risks of the Blindeninstitutsstiftung. The basis for this were numerous interviews that were conducted with the department heads, the institute heads and the management board. Based on this, risks were mapped to who is accountable for them and which protection and mitigation measures per risk existed. In addition, and in alignment with best practices, Oliver Wyman also developed a risk management governance including a matching reporting scheme.
We found the team of Oliver Wyman to be listening very mindfully and we were very impressed with how well the team adapted to our organizational culture. The work of the team has created a tremendous value for us - the risk inventory and the developed reporting structure gives us a good sense of where potential blind spots within our organization are, so we are aware of existing and future risks and can thus decide on appropriate measuresJohannes Spielmann, Director, Blindeninstitutsstiftung
Results
The introduction of the risk management system provides the Blindeninstitutsstiftung with a clear overview and documentation of their existing risks, responsibilities and defined protection and mitigation measures. The newly developed risk assessment system also reflects the current implementation status of the measures plus any necessary changes and allows for fact-based proactive action in case a risk might materialize. The associated professionalization of risk management in the Blindeninstitutsstiftung enables a significantly better prevention especially against potentially existential risks – partially also because the prevalence of the topic raises the awareness for potential risks in the entire Blindeninstitutsstiftung.
Humility, empathy and a distinguished willingness to cooperate amongst all stakeholders have impressed me. What we achieved together is therefore of particular quality and a proof for the rationale to strive for higher valuesDominik Käfer, Partner, Oliver Wyman
