nach oben

2017 | Buch

Kapitel lesen Erstes Kapitel lesen

People, Risk, and Security

How to prevent your greatest asset from becoming your greatest liability

verfasst von: Lance Wright

Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan UK

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Einloggen, um Zugang zu erhalten

Über dieses Buch

Lance Wright shows why business in the 21st century requires a new understanding of the intersection of risk, security, and human resource management. He argues that these areas should no longer be considered separate processes, handled by technical specialists with limited spheres of expertise. People, risk and security management should be treated as a critically important integrated business management system.

People may be your greatest asset – but they can also be your biggest liability.

They expose you to all sorts of risks – risks from things they can do (or fail to do) and from things that can be done to them. No matter how tight a risk and security management policy may be in theory, it can fail on its first contact with reality if it doesn’t understand the people involved.

Wright understands people, risk and security like few others. For years he was in charge people management for leading oil companies – getting people into and out of some of the most dangerous and hostile work environments on the planet – and keeping them safe while they were there. Then he was responsible for a private army, literally licenced to kill, guarding nuclear submarines that were being decommissioned as part of the Megatons to Megawatts program.

Risk is more than a set of formulas. Security is more than guns, gates, and badges. Both ultimately come down to the people you are responsible for. One day, the depth of your understanding of that connection may what stands between you and disaster.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

1. Introduction

Abstract

People, Risk, and Security— is targeted primarily at readers who may not be professionals in the fields of risk management or security. The book focuses on how people can impact risk and security in an organization. It discusses the nexus of human resource management, risk management, and security management. A review of case studies and an analysis of pertinent management theories are used to provide the reader with an increased understanding of the key topics involved in effectively managing people, risk, and security.

Lance Wright

2. Rethinking People, Risk, and Security

Abstract

‘Change is constant’ is one of my favorite business adages. Over the course of my career, I have heard countless consultants and management gurus expound on the importance of understanding and embracing change. After participating in numerous organization reshuffles, mergers, and divestitures, the message eventually sunk in. I believe the adage is true. Change really is constant.

Lance Wright

3. The Causes of New Threats

Abstract

Has the world become a riskier and less secure place? This question is often asked by many business and government leaders, as well as risk and security professionals. Most people would answer with a definite ‘yes’ based on the events that occupy today’s headlines. If we look back on the list of terrible events that have occurred since the new millennium it is easy to think more has happened in recent memory than ever before. However, does that really mean the world is a riskier place? Instead, have the risks that organizations now face evolved and accelerated? Have they become more complex? I believe the answer to this last set of questions is also yes, based on the ‘big picture overview’ I received from Maurice Daugherty that was covered in the previous chapter.

Lance Wright

4. Managing the People Risks to Organizations

Abstract

The word ‘organization’ causes many people to first think of the tools that help them to function—the rules, the policies, and the bureaucracy. No organization can function effectively without these things. However, organizations, at their very core, are simply about people. People are the fuel and the glue of organizations. People are what make organizations successful and they are the means through which they are able to accomplish their goals and objectives. There are many businesses that are profitable because of the cleverness of the human asset. The people in virtually all businesses are the key to success, even in those businesses in which one may think the technical innovation or the secret formula is what makes it all happen.

Lance Wright

5. A Primer on Political Risk and Terrorism

Abstract

The thoughtful business executive or organization leader who wishes to understand the world of political risk and terrorism has to successfully navigate waters that are populated today with newspaper and television sharks looking to capitalize on the next sensationalist event to boost ratings or sell their publications. The waters are also populated by intelligence and security professionals who see a potential terrorist lurking behind every bush or building because of their training and their personal experiences that may sometimes have included dangerous encounters.

Lance Wright

6. Managing Cyber Security

Abstract

It is hard to imagine there was once a time when the internet did not exist. It is equally hard to imagine a time when you did not sit in front of a laptop or a desktop computer to pay bills, find a date, sell things second hand, order food, or do just about anything imaginable. However, many readers over a certain age (like me) can remember the days before the digital revolution that resulted in the brave new world of technology that we now inhabit. There were other periods in history that were similar to the period we are now in when it comes to astounding applications of new forms of technology.

Lance Wright

7. Economic Espionage and Business Intelligence

Abstract

If you mention the words intelligence, espionage, and sabotage there is a very good chance that the listener will go to a place where the thoughts of dry Martinis, fast cars, and pretty women in scanty designer outfits comes to mind. People will think about the world of superhero intelligence agents and all that goes with it. Many will be disappointed to learn that often the real world of economic espionage and business intelligence usually has to do with things that are much less glamorous.

Lance Wright

8. Business Continuity Planning

Abstract

Businesses have always provided key services and goods to communities. In recent years, there has been a trend to increase the number of key services managed and overseen by companies in the private sector. The privatization of critical society services such as telecommunications, waste management, sanitation, electrical and water provision, transportation, and others has supporters and detractors depending upon an individual’s political leanings. Services and functions that in the past were considered part of the essential role of government, and its respective specialized agencies, are now carried out by businesses and other organizations. Whether a person views privatization positively or not does not erase the fact that many societies with developed economies have increasingly relied upon the private sector to provide vital functions.

Lance Wright

9. Managing Crisis and Disaster

Abstract

If you are a business leader or senior manager and have never been faced with an organization crisis, consider yourself very fortunate. The larger the organization you help lead, the greater the probability that something, somewhere, somehow in the intricate interconnected systems of your enterprise will go wrong. You will then need to effectively manage a crisis that may seem to have been suddenly thrust upon you. If you are lucky, the crisis will result in only a limited loss of money, or possibly some embarrassment, or slight damage to your organization’s reputation. However, it is possible the worst may happen and the crisis may result in the loss of life—the death of one or more of your employees, or members of the public, or both. The event, or events, at the root of the disaster may or may not have anything to do with your business operation. It may have been caused by an unforeseen ‘killer storm’ that suddenly develops without warning. Or, there may be an earthquake that impacts the geographic area of your operations that then causes secondary and tertiary events that place you and your organization in a state of crisis. Figuratively, the crisis may seem as if it has come out of the blue. For some organizations and public authorities, this has literally been true.

Lance Wright

10. Planning for Pandemics

Abstract

We lost the veterans of World War I—the Great War—some time ago. Many of the people who survived the events of that war were aware that there was a greater loss of life due to the influenza pandemic that raced around the globe following the end of the horrific battles. The pandemic resulting from the influenza outbreak around 1918–19 as the war was winding down impacted such a large number of the world’s population; it is difficult to imagine a similar event today. Looking back, it is estimated that over 500 million people were infected. At the time, the number of people infected represented about one third of the world’s population. In the USA, almost 700,000 Americans died during the pandemic and one in four of the US population became sick.

Lance Wright

11. Effective Substance Abuse Programs

Abstract

The consumption of alcohol and drugs can impact mental function. If we are frank about it that is precisely the reason why many people use these substances. The general attitudes regarding the consumption of alcohol have changed over the years. More importantly, many organizations have implemented and administer strict alcohol and drug programs that require compliance by a broad range of employees and executives. All of these actions, however, take place in the context of society’s schizophrenic attitude about alcohol. In most industrialized nations, there has been increased importance upon not consuming alcohol in the workplace while advertising and other cultural triggers continue to betray alcohol as an important and enjoyable aspect of life.

Lance Wright

12. Reducing Workplace Violence

Abstract

One of the more unfortunate additions to the modern American colloquial lexicon is the phrase ‘to go postal’. According to the Urban Dictionary, ‘postal’ or to go postal refers to going crazy or insane and to act irrationally. The same dictionary states that the term came into use after a number of workplace or workplace-related shootings were committed by disgruntled US Postal Service (USPS) workers. Regrettably, the term is now commonly used as shorthand for instances of rage and violence in and out of the workplace, often resulting in mass murder. As unpleasant and distasteful as the use of the phrase ‘to go postal’ may be—particularly to the rank and file, management, and senior leadership of the USPS—there is a valid reason why it found its way into the vernacular of the USA. Over an 11-year period, from 1986 to 1997, the USPS was plagued by 40 killings of its employees by other employees or ex-employees.

Lance Wright

13. The New World of Corporate Security

Abstract

The roots of corporate security in the USA can be traced back to a stout Scot named Allan Pinkerton who left Glasgow in 1842 and immigrated to Chicago. Originally a barrel maker, Pinkerton performed his first bit of sleuthing five years later when he stumbled upon a ring of counterfeiters and helped the local police crack the case. He joined the police department and shortly later became its first detective. In no time, he opened his own detective agency and the Pinkerton Detective Agency was on its way to becoming part of American history. The Pinkerton agency uncovered a plot and protected Abraham Lincoln from an assassination. Pinkerton personally served as head of the Union Intelligence Service—a precursor to the US Secret Service—during the Civil War. The agency was called in to apprehend the first train robbers in America, shortly after the Civil War ended. It went on to chase down Jesse James, the Younger Gang, and Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch. Pinkerton pioneered many of the methods and procedures used in law enforcement today.

Lance Wright

14. Conclusion

Abstract

The topic of how to effectively manage the processes at the intersection of people, risk, and security will be of interest for some time. One of the drivers at the macroeconomic level is the ongoing trend in more nations to move in the direction of free markets and private enterprise. As a result, businesses and other non-governmental organizations will be required to become more expert in people, risk, and security systems that were once strictly the province of government. Businesses and other organizations will need to be more proficient in understanding the riskiness of the world in which they operate. Furthermore, they will need to continue to hone the skills of their leaders, managers, and employees in identifying and managing those business risks and security issues.

Lance Wright

Backmatter

Titel: People, Risk, and Security
verfasst von: Lance Wright
Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan UK
Electronic ISBN: 978-1-349-95093-5
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95092-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95093-5