Date of Conferral
2020
Degree
Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)
School
Management
Advisor
Dina Samora
Abstract
More than 100 new 401(k) plan complaints were filed between 2016-2017, the highest two-year total since 2008-2009. Plan sponsors of retirement plans face personal financial liability for the risks associated with litigation focusing on their fiduciary responsibility. Grounded in the behavioral governance framework, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the communication of risk for workplace retirement plans. The participants comprised 10 business leaders who are fiduciaries responsible for their company’s retirement plan with a national geographic footprint. Data were collected from semistructured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Themes of benchmarking, the efficacy of committees, and resources to minimize risk were evident. Given the uncertain environment, fiduciary insurance and documentation of processes should be a standard practice among fiduciaries. The implication for social change is a leadership approach, inclusive of change management aspects, to amplify the trust of business leaders while mitigating organizational risk.
Recommended Citation
Blount, George, "Communication of Fiduciary Risk for Workplace Retirement Plans" (2020). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 8363.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/8363
