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Research Assessment #2

Patrick Flaherty

13 September 2017

Royal, C., J. Evans, and S.s. Windsor. "The Missing Strategic Link: Human Capital Knowledge,

and Risk in the Finance Industry. Two Mini Case Studies." Venture Capital 16.3 (2014):

189-206. Web.

Assessment:

Focussing on expanding human capital knowledge allows for better understanding of the

ambiguities in human behavior, and thus improved certainty of investment professionals in the

finance industry. It is critical that the HRM/HR is focused on risk management in internal and

external affairs.

For the finance industries of investment banking and mergers and acquisitions, increasing

human capital knowledge is crucial. I learned that finance, although based on mathematics, must

rely on the individual employees ability to manage risks in order to succeed. In other words,

CFOs and investment bank managers can be as competent as possible, and the company can still

fail to manage risks. This is because the mathematically gifted investment analysts and fund

managers may not be able to analyze risks of unsustainable human resource management. I am

led to believe that is up to higher-level officials to ensure that all of the employees are competent

in risk management.
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Previously, I thought that the finance executives role was to manage the entirety of the

company financially. After reading this article, I am beginning to think that it is important for a

controller or CFO to set the standard in terms of competence, and to aid in the non-mathematical

risk-management education of the analysts. There are many aspects of finance that I had never

realized existed, and this is only the first of many for me to uncover, I suspect

Although it is possible to design a professional education course or program that would

aid in teaching risk mitigation with respect to HRM and organizational change systems, it seems

like a challenge suited for an individual with an education background. The connection needs to

be drawn between the non-mathematical aspects of an organization and risk management. As far

as I can tell, there is no widely available course teaching finance professionals how to manage

risks that do not seem to mathematical or financial at first glance, such as internal HR.

I do not plan on making an educational tool for my final product, but I am open to

investigating the gap in knowledge in human capital for finance companies. Anything supporting

maximizing the efficiency of a company in the finance area would be invaluable for my learning

experience. I may bring up the topic with some interviewees to learn more about this so-called

missing strategic link. It is unlikely that any of the people on my list have read the article that I

just did, but they may have interesting points about the subject when they consider it.

All in all, I can not presently ascertain the usefulness of the missing strategic link in the

field of finance. If I am able to confirm the articles accuracy during an informational interview,

it will improve the odds of me using the article in further independent research. The information

about risk management was different than I expected, but only because I have very little previous

knowledge of managing the human capital skills in finance companies.