EY Geostrategic Business Group
Geostrategy Seminar
23 November 2019
Mary K. Cline, PhD – Director and Insights Leader, EY Geostrategic Business Group
Kyle P. Lawless – Associate Director, EY Geostrategic Business Group

Geostrategy: navigating the transformative age
Overview
Mary Cline and Kyle Lawless from the EY Geostrategic Business Group held an interactive seminar on political risk assessment, impact and management for students on November 23, 2019.
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Outline
I. Welcome and Introductions
II. Why Now: Setting the Scene
a. Economic integration + political disintegration
b. “[T]here exists a real risk that we are at a tipping point where political and social forces
reverse or reshape the long-term trend toward globalization…on which many long-term
corporate strategies and valuation models rest.” (Henisz, et al. 2019)
III. Political Risk Assessment (Scan)
a. The Science and Art of Political Risk
b. Risk vs Uncertainty c. Thinking in Frameworks
d. Levels of Analysis
e. Tools and Measurement – Quantitative vs Qualitative
IV. Political Risk Impact (Focus)
a. “Volatile political events and trends do not pose a risk to a company per se. Only in case they are transmitted into its operating environment and compromise corporate performance indicators they transform into risks.” (Sven Behrendt)
b. Impact Framework
V. Political Risk Management (Act)
a. Government Affairs / Public Policy
b. Enterprise Risk Management
c. Corporate Diplomacy / Stakeholder Management
d. Geostrategy
e. *Class Exercise*
VI. Conclusion