Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Practices of Private Higher Education Institutions in Botswana: A Critical Analysis

The primary objective of this study was to investigate how enterprise risk is understood and managed in private higher education institutions in Botswana. A number of authorities in the field of enterprise risk management (ERM) have consistently shown that higher education institutions in general show very little commitment to the implementation of ERM despite numerous enterprise risks these institutions fall victim to in their operations on a day to day basis. Private higher education institutions (PHEIs) are especially susceptible to a myriad of enterprise risks which include unreliable sources of revenue, low enrollments, high staff turnover, a highly regulated higher education environment, ad stiff competition for students and staff among higher education institutions among others. This paper therefore investigated how effectively private higher education institutions in Botswana are in the implementation of ERM practices with regards to how these institutions assess, respond to and monitor enterprise risk. A reviewed of some of the theoretical underpinnings of enterprise risk management including examples of best practice was done. In the final argument the paper concluded that against best practice, ERM practices of private higher education institutions are ineffective and need a thorough relook at in terms of implementation processes and procedures. The quantitative research approach that employed a questionnaire as a tool for data collection was used and also convenience sampling technique was used to select respondents from a population of board members, school advisory council, and executive management of the five private higher education institutions in Botswana. Keywords: Risk, Enterprise risk, Enterprise risk management, private higher education, best practice, systematic risk, unsystematic risk