Issue link: https://securitytechnologyexecutive.epubxp.com/i/118926
INDUSTRY OUTLOOK An Education in Risk New SEC and University of South Carolina risk management project will instruct up-and-coming security executives I n partnership with the University of South Carolina���s Darla Moore School of Business (USC DMSB) the Security Executive Council is developing compressive, holistic specialized security business curriculum. This newly formed alliance brings together and expands on the significant interests, resources and focus of both organizations concerning risk. The goal of the initiative is to unite each organization���s expertise in business and security risk research, management and education. The new project will operate under the banner of the Risk and Uncertainty Management Initiative within the Darla Moore School of Business. Initial efforts will focus on executive education, research, events for business and security executives and a corporate executive-in-residence program. These efforts will combine the academic work of the faculty at USC DMSB with input from experienced security practitioners and applied research from the Council. Output will be shared with the risk management community in the form of guidance documents, business and research publications, and knowledge exchange partnerships with businesses, government agencies, other universities and nonprofit organizations. For many years, the Darla Moore School of Business has added value to the business community through graduates of its nationally recognized programs in international business and in risk management and insurance. This new relationship will expand the university knowledge-base, audience and other resources. ���We are excited about this partnership with the Security Executive Council,��� DMSB Dean Hildy Teegen says. ���This provides an outstanding vehicle for connecting USC���s rigorous research and education programs to relevant issues facing the risk and security business community. It will also help focus our research and education on the emerging risk challenges facing business executives with the goal of solving critical problems and seizing exciting opportunities.��� ��� 38 SECURITY TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE ��� April 2013 New Blood and Heightened Awareness With the first group of baby-boomers having reached retirement age in 2011, we stand at the next defining chapter for our industry. While the workforce will contract, the risks to be mitigated will continue to escalate. With escalation comes awareness, which is evident by the fact that the business trade magazines are writing about it, there are full industry events around it, and laws have been passed. However, while there is much coverage of risk in business, it is usually from the views of specific business functions without a focus on how to make a unified, organizational vision of risk management happen. This heightened state of awareness and attention to boardlevel risk can certainly lead to positive things, assuming the right people are in place leading the effort. We as industry practitioners must take an active part in providing current and emerging business leaders with tested and validated security knowledge bestpractices presented in a business management context. We must also seek to partner with other entities and industries, including higher education, to develop highly specialized and comprehensive security/business curriculum. Six Best Practices of Today���s Security Leader Our research shows the most successful education is rooted in risk theory and business processes, focused on application and value contribution, to arm security managers and other risk mitigation managers with the business leadership acumen necessary to propel them and their organizations to the next level of strategic performance. These best practices fall into six core areas: 1. Align board-level risk and mitigation strategies: Managing brand reputation requires cross-functional risk mitigation oversight for people, assets and critical processes, including boardlevel risk and unified protection business-unit considerations for relevant assessment and mitigation strategies. 2. Communicate all-hazards risk, mitigation and performance metrics: Boards, management teams and stakeholders increasingly make critical decisions based on a host of divergent data, spreadsheets, graphs and analysis. Effective, actionable risk management requires discipline. Understanding data to identify risks and tell a compelling story of injury, loss, damage and cost avoidance is the objective. 3. Run security as a business: Practitioners must remember they are ���selling��� their services and programs. They need to know the marketplace, the customers, program capacity and value. Our research shows there is no single common type or even universal ���best��� security model ��� you have to do the business research to make the best decisions. 4. Inf luence community preparedness and resilience: Catastrophic, man-made and natural risks have made incident, crisis and continuity management increasingly important. Practitioners need to be aware of the latest global requirements for preparedness compliance, as well as the means to protect the brand with alliances. 5. Add incremental value with mission assurance and P&L; performance: Board-level risk mitigation is no longer just consequence protection. Business acumen quantitatively and qualitatively enables a path to value. Practitioners should be versed on connecting revenue influwww.SecurityInfoWatch.com