ContinuitySA Affinity partner to Institute of Directors South Africa
You can't manage what you don't measure.
Maslow's hierarchy of human needs demonstrated the various changes in our human desire for change, from the basic need for food, shelter and safety changing to psychological - self-actualisation and peak experience as time evolved. The hierarchy of stakeholders' needs have changed too, and there has been a paradigm shift from pure bottom-line driven, revenue-generating activities to quality, assurance, reputation and values in business.
Much like the evolution of mankind, maturity in the governance, risk and compliance arena has evolved over time. In the beginning there was no uniform process, success when it happened was due to a heroic individual action of a handful of people.
As we evolved we saw processes being defined, a basic disciplined approach emerged. Then we saw processes being documents and integrated planning and forecasting taking place. Later, metrics were collected; processes understood and managed using quantitative methods. Today's corporate governance sees continued improvement to these tried and tested methods previously used.
The King Committee on Corporate Governance too has evolved and King III is more focused on risk management than its predecessors. Directors need a means to measure their risk. Business continuity management (BCM) is a methodology that has evolved as a proven science that enables businesses to identify potential operational risks, rate the severity of these risks and apply quantitative measures to mitigate the impacts that these risks could have on the business.
The Institute of Directors in Southern Africa (IoDSA), in conjunction with ContinuitySA, will host the first BCM Awareness Training session at the IoDSA's offices in Sandton, on 26 and 27 October. Business continuity management has become an essential component within companies' strategic risk management frameworks, and directors are encouraged to take into consideration all aspects of a company's operational affairs as part of their enterprise-wide risk-based reporting.
The board is responsible for the process of risk management. Businesses that take enterprise risk management seriously understand the fundamental role that business continuity management plays in sound corporate governance practices - it is after all about being prepared for any form of business disruption and keeping stakeholders satisfied that the existing and potential risks are contained - at the end of the day, you can only manage what you measure.