This is an issue that is handled in a dispersed manner and is not clear enough among the people who govern it.By: Diofanor Rodríguez, CPP
A key question about security addressing is whether it is intuitive or methodical. The truth is that this question does not have a single answer, because when solving it, many decisions are based on intuition, which means that we do not focus on an analysis of any kind, because surely the panorama is very clear. But there are also people who take their time to look for more information and find a study that supports their decision.
Generally, although it sounds contradictory, intuitives can take the advantage when they are in little moving terrain, where experience is very valuable, since they have probably worked in the same scenarios where the playing conditions have been the same.
But in the issue of security, in which the dynamics obey the day to day of the exercise of the administration, probably being methodical will generate a better performance when making decisions in scenarios with more than one variable.
However, the security manager undoubtedly possesses these two conditions. The truth is not about being a little bit of each thing, without knowing which of them should be first in situations that seek success in security management.
The hypothesis is that in matters of criteria, not in those of expertise, the closeness through an analysis model goes before the use of intuition, because if presented in reverse, that is, if intuition is first allowed to appear and then the method, it will happen that only chance, good luck and sentences will lead to an adequate administrative management of security.
As there is nothing moving in the universe that does not generate risks, risk management is a fairly strong tool when it comes to managing security, as it helps to incorporate the volatility of random variables and their effects when making decisions as far as management is concerned.
In the case of security companies, this tool has been used successfully for some time. For this reason, it is of the utmost importance that security managers indicate a decision model that includes risk management within the strategic and operational process of the company.
For many people the risk is seen as something aberrant, but the truth is given in the definition of risk that is nothing more than the occurrence of an unwanted event, or to put it another way, is the difference between what happened and what is expected. These definitions have generated many negative controversies. However, the concept of risk is a much broader and more complex issue, with great importance in the development of any company in the world.
Security risk and management
Given the existence of risk and the impact it generates on companies, it is reasonable to ask about the behavior of the security administrator in the face of this scenario.
On the one hand, we could say that since the risk justifies the existence of security managers, we must simply assume it with its consequences (negative or positive). On the other hand, we could argue the need to take positions that allow us to manage those risks, to be able to think of profitable companies protected by the knowledge and management of the risks affecting the business, either directly or indirectly.
So what we look for when we manage security methodically is to find a procedure that lets me know what are the risks that need to be taken and what are the risks that we need to transfer.
Of course, be part of the basis that the organization will assume those risks that do not generate losses and transfer those that can.
Knowledge with understanding of the business is important, in order to include the conceptualization of risk in the business plan of organizations and therefore simulation models are important, as they allow to have a measurement of risks compared to traditional methods.
What is sought with security management is that we constantly investigate how risks are minimized in corporations. Many times we are convinced that the analysis of the past will help us manage risk, but this is wrong because retrospection serves to know not to predict.
To give an example, things like the Second World War and the attacks of September 11 are unprecedented, history often deceives many, with the aggravating factor, in my opinion, that the world today does not resemble the world past.
The direction of security services is currently of great importance in our societies, because security has led to business in abundance with greater efficiency in certain areas of the world at much lower costs.
As Thomas Friedman expresses in his book the Earth is Flat "this is the time of software, when making a comparison with the time of the discovery of America", with the expression he meant that it is the time of knowledge and those who provide security services, since this has allowed them to be offered at a lower cost with the same level of quality, looking for the choice of world-class companies.
In the environment of security services, the techniques used in sales are applied directly since there is practically an analogy between the two, but it must be recognized that there are some specific differences which, if recognized, will allow an innovative and creative management. That is, the same management tools used in sales are applicable to security services equally.
The security manager must be faced with an environment in which customers are present in the delivery system; which differs with sales operations because the product is stored and the services are not. The efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of security services must also be taken into account, in order to achieve differentiation in a market as competitive as this one.
It could be said that the security service package is composed of services that provide protection as follows:
1.Possibility of Support: which is the human resource that must be on site before offering the service.
2.Supporting goods: is the material consumed or acquired by the buyer of the service.
3.Information: knowledge of the business or information provided by the client to plan an efficient and personalized security service.
4.Manifest Services: The benefits observable by the senses and that give the certainty of what is offered by the supplier.
5.Implicit Services – Psychological benefits that the consumer perceives through the senses.
All these features are appreciated by the customer and create the basis of their perception of the security service.
It is important that the security manager offers a total customer experience, and that it is consistent with the package that the customer requests.
In this way being present in the business of the future will be defined by an excellent direction of security and a very good understanding of the business through the trade.
References:
- Articles from Harvard Business magazines
- Article fundamentals of service management author Bari Domínguez/de gerencia.com
