DE
The ERM Report 2025, published by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) in cooperation with HAW Kiel, delivers a clear message to boards and executives across the DACH region: severe corporate crises are far more common—and far more internal—than many leaders assume. The study analyzes 669 publicly listed companies from 2018 to 2024 and finds that nearly one in three experienced a share-price collapse of 25% or more within a single month. Recovery is slow and costly; on average, affected firms require almost two years to return to pre-crisis levels, trailing significantly behind the broader market.
The Silent Drivers: Strategy Missteps and Internal Weaknesses
What stands out most in the data is that the majority of crises originate inside the organisation.
The report attributes:
- 41% of crises to strategic failures, including excessive leverage, flawed capital allocation, overreliance on key customers, or misjudged market dynamics.
- 19% to preventable internal shortcomings—reporting delays, governance lapses, compliance failures, and operational mismanagement.
These findings confront a long-standing misconception in corporate risk discussions: that crises are primarily triggered by unpredictable external shocks. Instead, the ERM Report 2025 shows that internal decisions—not the macroeconomic environment—pose the greatest threat to corporate stability. Even more telling, roughly one-third of affected firms suffer repeated crises, indicating vulnerabilities that remain unresolved over years.
External Shocks Reveal What Was Already Weak
External risks—geopolitical tensions, inflation, supply chain disruptions, financial-market volatility—certainly matter. They account for about 40% of crisis events and are especially visible during periods such as 2022, when inflation spiked and the war in Ukraine intensified pressures across industries. But the report makes clear: external shocks become catastrophic only when internal resilience is weak.
The sector comparison illustrates this vividly. Technology companies were significantly overrepresented among severe declines, while industrials displayed notable stability thanks to diversified structures, disciplined governance, and long-term project management. Swiss companies overall demonstrated greater resilience than German peers, supported by more stable sector composition and stronger governance frameworks.
A Strategic Imperative: Elevate ERM Beyond Compliance
Taken together, the findings point to a decisive conclusion: Enterprise Risk Management must evolve from a compliance-driven activity to a strategic leadership instrument.
High-performing organisations increasingly use ERM to refine capital allocation, test strategic assumptions, understand customer dependencies, and prepare for geopolitical and macroeconomic shifts. ERM becomes valuable not when it documents risks, but when it influences decisions.
This strategic lens is also reflected in the guest contribution included in the ERM Report 2025, authored by Gentian Ajeti, Chief Customer & Commercial Officer and Member of the Board of Directors at Swiss GRC, and Yahya Mohamed Mao, Chief Marketing Officer and Member of the Board of Directors at Swiss GRC. Their essay, «Strategic Value Creation Through Organizational Resilience,» extends the report’s empirical findings into practice, arguing that resilience must be viewed not only as protection against downturns but as a driver of long-term competitiveness.
Ajeti and Mao highlight that organisations capable of anticipating disruption, adapting quickly, and maintaining strong governance structures do more than survive crises—they use uncertainty to strengthen customer trust, accelerate strategic clarity, and unlock new opportunities. Their perspective reinforces a central theme of the report: resilience is not a defensive posture; it is a strategic capability that shapes performance over time.
A Call to Boards and Executives
The ERM Report 2025 arrives at a moment when volatility has become the norm rather than the exception. Its findings urge leaders to reassess long-held assumptions about risk. Crises are seldom sudden. They build slowly—in the blind spots of strategy, governance, and culture.
The organisations that prosper in this environment will be those that treat ERM as a forward-looking discipline and resilience as a strategic investment. As the report and Swiss GRC’s contribution jointly emphasise, value creation and risk management are no longer separate conversations. They are one and the same.
