The global financial crisis, the Iceland volcanic ash events, and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico have alerted us once again to the nature of risk, including both the opportunities and the potential impacts it can have on the business. In response to the demands of the modern dynamic business world and to general uncertainty in a global environment, businesses are seeking to formalize a risk-based approach to business (also called enterprise risk management -- ERM) because of the importance of risk to profit and cash flow.