Oct 19, 2021
Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.
This week, Justin Smulison is joined by Kirk Andersen, the Global Risk Manager at Tsubakimoto Chain Co., a company based in Japan. He has over 13 years of experience working in a variety of translation, planning, and risk management roles; five years of experience working in Japanese local governments, and over 20 years of Japanese corporate/governmental experience. His career history is deeply fascinating and demonstrates how a love of linguistics and travel has brought him to the risk profession and Japan.
In this episode, Kirk shares all about his career experience with risk management in Japan. As the first risk professional based in Japan to earn the RIMS-CRMP, he also speaks about his inspiration to pursue the certification and how he believes it can positively impact professionals in the country.
Key Takeaways:
[:01] About RIMS’ Global Membership.
[:26] About today’s episode with Kirk Andersen.
[:32] Upcoming RIMS current virtual offerings.
[:56] How to register for the upcoming RIMS ERM Conference.
[1:14] Other upcoming RIMS virtual conferences.
[1:40] More about today’s episode.
[2:30] Justin welcomes Kirk Andersen to RIMScast!
[2:42] Justin congratulates Kirk as the first RIMS-CRMP holder in Japan.
[3:05] Kirk shares what originally brought him to both Japan and risk management.
[5:42] Did Kirk find that risk management came naturally to him?
[6:54] About the company Kirk works for, Tsubakimoto Chain Co., and what they produce.
[8:15] The Japanese culture’s approach to risk management.
[9:12] Kirk shares how he meets his Japanese counterparts halfway when it comes to risk.
[10:35] How did Kirk feel when he realized he would be staying in Japan for the long term?
[11:30] Does Kirk have dual citizenship?
[11:51] All about the upcoming RIMS webinars!
[12:43] Justin welcomes Morgan O’Rourke to the podcast for a quick chat about the RIMS app!
[13:09] Who can download the RIMS app? Where can you download it?
[13:30] What you will find on the RIMS app.
[14:06] Is the RIMS app constantly evolving? Will there be updates down the line?
[14:25] How to provide feedback on your RIMS app experience.
[14:41] Returning to the interview with Kirk Andersen.
[14:53] In Kirk’s RIMS-CRMP story (published on RIMS.org), he mentioned that part of his work involves “J-SOX” (also known as the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act). Kirk elaborates on what this is, his involvement with it, and why other risk professionals across the globe might need to know about it at some point.
[19:30] What led Kirk to pursue a RIMS-CRMP certification.
[20:05] How obtaining his CRMP certification has helped Kirk stay connected to risk management and risk professionals all around the world.
[20:57] Has Kirk run into other risk professionals such as himself in Japan?
[21:32] Kirk shares some final words of wisdom for risk professionals around the world.
[22:51] About Kirk’s virtual presentation at the upcoming Annual Fall Conference for the Association of Risk Management.
[23:25] Justin thanks Kirk for joining RIMScast and shares some of the links to look out for in this episode’s show notes!
Mentioned in this Episode:
RIMS Events, Education, and Services:
RIMS ERM Conference 2021 will be held Nov. 11th & 12th in NYC
RIMS India 2021 — Virtual Two-Day Event! December 3rd & 4th — Register Today!
RIMS Risktech Forum 2021 — Virtual Two-Day Event! December 7th & 8th — Register Today!
NEW FOR MEMBERS! RIMS Mobile App
Kirk Andersen’s RIMS-CRMP Story: First CRMP in Japan
Upcoming Webinars:
October 21, 2021 | “Community-Sourced Risk Research & Best Practices” | Sponsored by Vector LiveSafe
October 26, 2021 | “Cyber Risk and the C-Suite” | Presented by RIMS Path To The Boardroom
October 28, 2021 | “Risking it All? Taking the Leap into Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) from RMIS” | Sponsored by Origami Risk
November 1, 2021 | “Recertification: Keep Your RIMS-CRMP Active” | Presented by RIMS
November 4, 2021 | “Using IoT Technology to Lower the Cost of Commercial Insurance Risk” | Sponsored by The Hartford
Sponsored RIMScast Episodes:
“What Could a CRO Do for Your Business?” | Sponsored by Riskonnect
“Hard Reality: A Look at Rising Rates in Property & Excess Casualty” | Sponsored by AXA XL
“Property Valuation Deep Dive” | Sponsored by TÜV SÜD
“Property Loss Control Engineering” | Sponsored by Prudent Insurance Brokers
Virtual Workshops:
RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep Virtual Workshops (October 2021) — Gain an edge with the RIMS-CRMP; the only internationally accredited risk management certification!
RIMS Virtual Workshops: Claims Management — Register now for Nov. 8‒9th
Spencer’s Risk Manager on Campus Program — Volunteer Today!
Related RIMScast Episodes:
“Rethinking the Impact of Disruption on ERM Tools and Processes with Ward Ching and Dr. Paul Walker”
“Debt and Economic Risk with Marco Dondi”
“Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2021”
“RIMS 2021 Risk Manager of the Year: Michael Harrington”
“Managing and Measuring Resilience in India with Ashish Parakh of Marsh”
“Deepak Padaki and the RIMS Award-Winning ERM Program at Infosys”
“ERM in Shanghai, China with Robert Zhang, IKEA China Risk Management & Compliance Director”
RIMS Publications, Content, and Links:
RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community!
RIMS Path To The Boardroom — Visit for past webinar presentations and interviews!
RIMS Advisory Services — Ask a Peer
RIMS Coronavirus Information Center
RIMS Risk Leaders Series — New interview with RIMS 2021 Risk Manager of the Year, Michael Harrington!
RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)
RIMS-CRMP Stories — New interview featuring Kirk Andersen!
Spencer Educational Foundation
Want to Learn More?
Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org and listen on iTunes.
Have a question or suggestion? Email: Content@rims.org.
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Follow up with Our Guests:
Tweetables (For Social Media Use):
“There are different theories of language. One I like is the idea that language is innate; that we … are born understanding language. … To the same extent, there’s a lot of innateness to risk management. … We innately understand what our risk tolerance is.” — Kirk Andersen
“There’s more to risk than just the negative side. [There’s] the proactive side that you can take advantage of.” — Kirk Andersen
“Japanese companies are like a cruise ship. It takes a long time and many minor course corrections to change course, but once you’re on a new course, you’re on there for a long time.” — Kirk Andersen
“It’s important to be able to take a step back and reformulate how you approach [risk].” — Kirk Andersen