Operational risk management in SMEs: Case of SMEs in the Sous Massa region

Abstract

The objective of this research is to identify operational risks within SMEs in the Sous Massa region, it aims more specifically to determine whether these risks are well controlled, first by the adoption of a risk management process but also using hedging methods. We establish hypotheses according to which operational risks would have a negative impact on the activity cycles of said companies and the risk management function would have positive effects on the control of these risks. To verify these hypotheses, we conducted a quantitative survey of managers of SMEs in the region, through which 30 companies took the time to respond to our questionnaire. The data collected is processed using SPHINX software. The results of the analysis showed that operational risks negatively affect the business cycle of SMEs, this is mainly due to the nature of the activity as well as the nature of its operational risks. We found that the risk management policy adopted, which is not standardized to address them, has a positive effect on their mastery, and that the most used source of information for detecting them is control in the absence of other methods.

Keywords: Operational risks; Small and medium-sized enterprises; Operational risk management

JEL Classification: G32

 Paper type: Empirical research