Issue Archive: November/December 2006

IT and operational risk management are becoming critically important functions in every company. This is a result of increasing vulnerability and threat activity as well as the legal, regulatory, and business exposures tied to those threats. Organizations have struggled for decades to get a firm handle on risk, so that they could shift from a model of "experience and react" to one of "anticipate and adjust". Technology is at the core of both the problem and the solution.

Everyone is talking about a pandemic these days. If "avian influenza" or "bird flu" mutates into a form that can be transmitted from human to human, we may see the worst pandemic since the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic that sickened between 20 and 40 percent of the worldwide population and killed more than 500,000 people in the U.S. alone.

Our last issue included a feature on the new BCP catch-phrase: workforce continuity. The article asked whether the term is useful - or just more clutter in an already croweded lexicon - and if "workplace continuity" tactics woudl really work. In addition to interviewing industry experts, we asked you, our readers, to share your opinions about workforce continuity. Here's what you had to say.

The corporate ethics scandals of the past decade have demonstrated that misconduct can disrupt or destroy companies. The increased regulatory scrutiny and potential punitive sanctions for misconduct have raised the stakes for senior management, corporate executives, and boards of directors. It is time to come to terms with the stark reality that corporate integrity and the ethical resiliency of your company must be considered an aspect of strategic continuity planning.

Final Thoughts

Professional Development