Business security management is the process of risk assessing, developing, implementing, directing, and monitoring the organization’s security strategy and activities so that security goals can be achieved. It is a systematic study at the component parts of job or process in order to identify whether they could represent a hazard, individually or in combination with each other. The aim of security is to secure a company’s profitability and competitiveness, the continuity of its operation and well-being of its employees, clients, partners, and society at large.
With political instability and growth of violent culture in the country, security has become one of the most urgent issues for many business organizations. Several criminal acts such as murder, kidnapping, blackmailing, treachery, and highly-organized type of daylight robbery and incidents of accidents and disasters (both manmade and natural), apart from trade union tribulations, are plaguing the business community. These are resulting in the loss of valuable life, property, and reputation. These organizations are threatened to the extent of their survival. The Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) are recurrently demanding the government to provide security to the industries. With persisting pressure from the business organizations, the Nepal government has reluctantly agreed to set up “industrial security force” to provide security to the violence-stricken business industries. However, the modality and terms of reference for the new force are still at quite a distance.
Cosmetic solutions
The FNCCI approach to industry security raises debates. The security is no more a state business only; it is a private sector business also. The business organizations must do some soul-searching analysis on the approach. Because there are numerous enterprises, the first question is: Which type of enterprises – small, medium, or large – will be protected? The other is whether or not the new “force” will absolutely eliminate all the problems of the business houses. Of course, several other security problems will continue to remain (other than physical protection) within the business activities. It will not be a surprise if this much cherished and hyped “force” will only be able to replace the few private security guards that the business houses have deployed at the outer perimeter.
We will have to wait to witness that even after the deployment of the force, the core problems of security at the operational stage will remain unchanged. On the one hand, this “force” in no way is going to solve the operation security challenges of the businesses: The threats to employees and data piracy will remain as before and the corruption and sabotage on part of the dishonest employees will always torment the organizations. The union problems in these business houses will not evaporate. On the other hand, the maintenance cost of such a force will be huge and counterproductive in the long run. This will extort the limited resources of the stakeholders for seemingly good reason but bad plan.
Generally, we have lack of understanding of business security risk; most of us depend either on state machinery or “right” insurance. Many businesses have failed to explicitly align security activities to strategic drivers – organization’s mission, goals, and objectives – by using them as an organization’s critical success factors. The senior management even fails to recognize the organizational value of security, to sponsor security efforts, and to recognize their role in security governance and prefer to continue focus on the ad hoc and intermittent type of management. For durable solution, the private sector leaders will have to opt to capitalize the capability and resources to use internal security governance to uphold adequate security in a constantly changing business, customer, risk, and technology environment.
Durable alternatives
Security is a business problem. The organizations must activate, coordinate, deploy, and direct many of its existing core competencies to work together to provide effective solutions. Security lives in an organizational and operational context; it is woven into the system. It is not an isolated issue, and thus cannot be managed effectively as a stand-alone affair. The management of security is a challenge because the security strategy must be sufficiently dynamic to keep pace with the velocity of organizational and technical change. The law and policy, and enforcement machinery functions will have to be tuned to cope with new challenges.
Security is expensive; the absence of it may be more so. The organizations that successfully approach security as an investment may increase its overall value in the marketplace, and may even be able to capture this value as “goodwill” on their balance sheet. To sustain success, security at an enterprise level requires that the organizations move toward a security management process that is strategic, systematic, and sustainable. It is high time that organizations realize the mantra that only qualified security managers (not guards) can take care of security risks of their businesses. Therefore, make some room for them in your management system!
Writer is Program Coordinator of Master in Security Management in Kathmandu University School of Management and a former Additional IGP
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