A successful risk management strategy requires a strong internal control environment. The risk control matrix (RCM) format emphasizes that strong and risk-oriented internal control environments are often optimized with automated/manual controls, depending on the situation.

An RCM provides an overview of different control objectives that organizations should take into consideration and the corresponding controls to safeguard the company against risks, which may arise if not checked timely. Once customized to an organization, this document can help the user in assessing each control. The control assessment can then also be summarized to develop an action plan.

This document outlines risks and controls common to the 10.1 Develop Sales and Marketing Strategy process in a risk control matrix (RCM) format.

Sample risks include:

• Information regarding factors that may influence the entity's marketing strategy is inadequate
• Information regarding pricing, products/services, actual or potential customers, and advertising and promotion is inaccurate, untimely or unavailable
• The number of appropriate distributors in the market is limited
• Information regarding competitive products/services or potential new products/services is not available or inaccurate and current products/services become obsolete
• Consumer demand for products/services is low

This document can be used as a sample RCM and is not meant to be an exhaustive list of risks and controls. The KnowledgeLeader team will periodically update this RCM with new content. Organizations should select, update and modify the risks and controls included in this document to ensure that it reflects business operations.