Category Archives: Disaster Preparedness

Want to scan your crypto wallet for risks? Check: AML crypto BTC, USDT, ETH. Checking cryptocurrency wallets for dirty money.

62% of Impacted Companies Lacked Hurricane Prep in 2017

Posted on by

A majority of senior executives of large U.S. companies with operations in Texas, Florida or Puerto Rico admit to being unprepared for last year’s hurricanes that devastated their communities, according to a survey by FM Global. While 64% of respondents said the hurricanes had an adverse impact on their operations, a full 62% said they were not fully prepared.

“These candid admissions drive home a fundamental truth about catastrophe,” Louis Gritzo, vice president and manager of research at FM Global said in a statement.

buy albenza online blockdrugstores.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/albenza.html no prescription pharmacy

“People routinely fail to understand or acknowledge the magnitude of risk until they’ve experienced a fateful event.”

One reason for a lack of natural-hazard preparation is imprecise terminology, he said. Being located in a “100-year flood” zone, for example, “does not mean you have 99 years to plan—but that there is a 1% chance of such a flood every year.” Another reason for insufficient preparation is over-reliance on insurance, which cannot restore the market share, brand equity and shareholder value lost to competitors.

buy strattera online blockdrugstores.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/strattera.html no prescription pharmacy

The study found that as a result of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria:

  • 57% of all respondents said they will put in place or enhance their business continuity or disaster recovery plans.
  • 40% plan to invest more in risk management, property loss prevention, and/or reassess their supply chain risk management strategy.
  • 25% will reassess their insurance coverages or their insurers.

FM Global commissioned market research firm ORC International to survey 101 senior financial executives at Fortune 1000-size organizations by phone in October through November 2017.

Brand perception: 2017 Hurricane Lessons Learned

Posted on by

The 2017 hurricane season has proven to be particularly trying for many businesses, as they worked around maintaining operations during Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate. As a result, many organizations found themselves questioning how to properly adjust policies and practices to mitigate risk and also protect their brand image.

Companies with outbound contact operations have been most susceptible to brand exposure, as they have had to tread carefully to remain efficient while not coming across as uncompassionate to those whose lives have been upended by hurricanes.

So how can companies, especially those with outbound components, reduce the risk to their brand reputation while remaining efficient during disasters? We advise companies to take a compassionate approach to brand and business management.

Look at your risk management strategies
Is your organization proactive or reactive when it comes to brand risk? If recent stories are any indication, it appears that many organizations are still working within a reactive environment, which can cripple brand reputation.

This is especially true for businesses with outbound contact strategies, as a slight miscommunication can cause major brand risks. For example, if your organization is making sales calls when consumers are enduring a hurricane and focused on surviving the disaster, you’re likely to face an unwelcome response. The same rules can be applied following a disastrous event as well. Imagine reaching out to a consumer to inform them that their mortgage payment is late when their house is no longer habitable. In each of these examples, a desire to maintain a “business as usual” approach can cause your consumer to take to the social airways to voice their concerns about your brand. Instead, corporations should focus on proactive outreach during disasters. Key to this process is developing a risk strategy built around both natural and manmade events.

Develop your disaster strategy
To mitigate brand risk, work to develop a strategy that takes a compassionate approach to business operations and your interactions with consumers affected by the disaster. This strategy should look at both outreach efforts as well as internal employee education to ensure that all relevant parties know their role in the strategy. Not only does this help protect your brand integrity and minimize your exposure to risk, but also helps improve customer relations.

I have seen contact centers email or text consumers ahead of a forecasted disaster to ensure that they are properly prepared for the event. I have also seen corporations alter their post-disaster outreach strategies to give consumers proper time to heal and rebuild.

When developing this approach, it is important to remember that not all disasters are foreseen, so it is imperative to have distinct approaches to deal with both forecasted (hurricanes) and sporadic disasters (mass shootings, tornadoes), which provide limited-to-no lead time.

The media: your friend or your enemy
With any disaster comes a flood of media attention. Because missteps can cause a brand nightmare, I advise companies with outbound operations to have a story, but not become part of the story. Businesses should build a compassionate brand story that highlights their dedication to corporate social responsibility during disasters.

Coca-Cola, for example, used their brand platform to reinforce their dedication to consumer needs. During Harvey, Coke encouraged local aid workers to break into their Beaumont, Texas plant to pillage for drinking water and other supplies to support the community, which had been ravished by the storm. Not only did Coke take a proactive approach in supporting the community, it also showed that the town’s well-being was far more important than lost revenues.

Compare the positive impact of Coca-Cola’s example to the media scrutiny that Joel Osteen faced during Harvey. Word of his church being temporarily closed to those made homeless quickly surfaced across numerous media channels, placing him and his church on the defensive. Although his church did open soon after this news broke, his compassionate approach remained overshadowed by his negative press.

Time to think beyond revenues
Protecting your brand during disastrous times means thinking beyond revenues and, instead, approaching your prospects/customers as human beings, with an understanding of what they may be going through.

I encourage you to look at your current operating policies and ask if you are taking the steps to become a compassionate brand? If not, it may be time to look at changes that can be made to bring compassion to your operations.

buy periactin online https://www.rhythmedix.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/periactin.html no prescription pharmacy

Preparing C-Level Employees to Address Risk

Posted on by

As risks associated with technology and cybersecurity have increased in the last decade, it is more imperative than ever that corporations undertake the proper protocols to protect themselves.

When it comes to implementing risk management processes, many assume C-level executives head up these efforts, involving key departments throughout their organizations. According to a recent study conducted by NC State’s Poole College of Management, however, 80% of organizations surveyed from all over the world have no formal risk training for executives.
A quick look at recent headlines shows how quickly a cybersecurity incident can damage a corporate brand. Many companies that have recently experienced data breaches also have been exposed by the media because of ineffective or nonexistent integrated risk management strategies. This can be for a variety of reasons, from executives trying to hide the breach to the belief that they can resolve the issue before it grows into something larger or, possibly the worst of the options, they are not aware that the breach is even occurring.

So how do we make risk a priority for executives?

buy stromectol online azimsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/stromectol.html no prescription pharmacy

In my opinion, it comes down to properly re-framing the mindset of executives around risk through effective education and training.

Educate executives on risk types
When it comes to business, the term “risk” generally produces negative connotations, causing many to avoid addressing the phrase—and the issues—altogether. From workplace injuries, data breaches and even social media nightmares, risks tend to mean trouble for executive teams. The reality, however, is that not all risk is bad. Thus, executive teams must be able to distinguish good risk from bad risk.

buy vilitra online www.tvaxbiomedical.com/scripts/css/vilitra.html no prescription pharmacy

What constitutes good risk? Simply put; proactive risk choices that benefit the company. These can include exploring emerging markets and growth opportunities, expanding operations into new product areas and even partnering with new vendors. While these risks can produce negative results, given that they are actively pursued by leadership teams shows that they are intended to better the company and its employees.

Executive teams need to understand the differences in positive and negative risks and their larger impact to their organizations. Specifically, understanding multiple risk types exist can change the approaches your management team takes to recognize and address risks, which will echo throughout your organization.

Train executives on how to address negative risks
Executives must realize negative risks are unavoidable. Because negative incidents will happen, executive teams must learn how to bring proactive approaches to managing these speedbumps in daily operations. Thus, formal training programs should be implanted to educate executives on proper risk management.

Training programs should include internal and external communications strategies, both with positive and negative risks, remediation strategies for negative risks and provide tips on how leadership teams can be risk thought leaders throughout the organization.

Remember, an executive team that places value on proper risk management planning and training will produce a similar culture, enterprise wide.

This will allow organizations to more proactively manage risks before they snowball into larger issues, ensuring long-term success.

Consider creating risk committees
Since all C-level executives are crunched for time, risk management often falls to the back burner. In many situations, I’ve found it beneficial for the C-suite to create corporate risk committees. Designed to reduce the burden on corporate executives by providing an advisory board to report on risks, corporations can benefit from dedicated professionals examining risks throughout the organization in areas including IT and operations.

These committees serve as an extension of the C-suite and can create better transparency, while providing informed insights to help leadership teams make better, more educated decisions.

Remember the importance of a top-down approach
No matter what approach you take to educate your executive team and get them more involved in risk management, corporations must remember enterprise risk management requires working from the top down. As risk professionals, we must do our best to gain leadership buy-in and conduct enterprise-wide training to stay ahead of risk. If NC State’s study has taught us anything, it’s that we still have a lot to learn.

buy phenergan online www.tvaxbiomedical.com/scripts/css/phenergan.html no prescription pharmacy

Calif. Mudslides Leave 15 Dead

Posted on by

Heavy rains in southern California have caused mudslides in some areas, killing at least 15 people and trapping hundreds. The deluge of mud now covering homes, businesses and freeways are the result of heavy rains washing away ground laid bare by the Thomas Fire—the state’s largest wildfire to-date—which burned more than 280,000 acres in December.
Many of those who had returned home after the wildfires have been evacuated for mudslides. The New York Times wrote:

As the mud rushed into lower-lying neighborhoods in Montecito, a wealthy hillside community where many celebrities have homes, the power went out and gas lines were severed, said Thomas Tighe, a resident. Officials said Tuesday night that it could be several days before gas service would be restored. They also said power failures were affecting more than 6,000 homes and businesses in the area, adding that many parts of Montecito were without drinkable water.

buy arimidex online pelmeds.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/arimidex.html no prescription pharmacy

Driving rain started at about 3:00 a.m. on Jan. 9. By Tuesday, more than 5.5 inches of rain had fallen in parts of Ventura County, the National Weather Service said.  A mandatory evacuation order for about 7,000 residents was issued by Santa Barbara County officials, but many would not leave.

As a result, people were trapped in homes and cars and on rooftops by fast-moving rivers of thick mud carrying trees and debris.

buy albenza online pelmeds.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/albenza.html no prescription pharmacy

CNN reported that dozens of people have been rescued in Santa Barbara County, including a 14-year-old girl trapped beneath a house, and that parts of US 101 in Santa Barbara and Montecito have been closed.

Mudslides are not uncommon in the area, especially following wildfires, and they can be deadly. In January 2005, a landslide struck La Conchita in Ventura County, killing 10 people.