Business Continuity Planning – Assessing the Risks of Unexpected Key Staff Absence
The recent eruption of an Icelandic volcano was the first of a cascading series of events. The eruption occurred at a time when, unseasonably the prevailing winds across the UK were from the North West (typically at this time of year, UK weather comes from the South West), carrying the ash cloud over Northern Europe. The authorities had little choice to close airspace until the picture became clearer. The, critically, it happened on the final weekend of the schools’ Easter holidays, leaving thousands of families stranded. Up to 100,000 Britons were caught up in the chaos. Many businesses were faced by unexpected staff absences and some of those staff may not be back yet. It’s always inconvenient when staff are absent, but what if they’re key workers? While we’re prepared (at least to some degree) to cope with major disruptions to our IT infrastructure, or even our physical premises, there’s an increasing awareness that people also affect business continuity.
When disaster strikes, the first priority is to stop events spiralling out of control and developing into a crisis. The most sophisticated organisations have standing crisis management teams and conduct regular exercises for those team, anticipating a wide range of situations, however improbable, and planning the business response to protect reputation and customer confidence. A little over a year ago, businesses were preparing for widespread disruption when Swine Flu reached pandemic proportions. Mercifully, that didn’t happen to anything like the level feared, but hopefully, that preparation will have helped with this new challenge. As we emerge from the recession, staffing levels have been pared to the bone; plus, we know that many families barely cope with childcare provisions, particularly during school holidays. So, it’s prudent to assume that loss of key workers is to be a recurring problem.
To prepare your business, you need to be able to answer the following questions:
Do you know who your key workers are? Do you know where they are at the moment? What critical activities are they handling in the short-term? What information do they need to keep those activities moving? Can they access it remotely if necessary? If a key worker becomes unavailable, who could deputise? Do those deputies know what the priority actions are? Can they reach the necessary information?
One important thing you could do, which is specific to the recent problem, is to provide assistance to key staff when they’re travelling, either on business or for pleasure. For example, one large, global software vendor partners with an organisation specialising in managing travel related risks. Whenever staff arrange a business trip through the corporate travel booking system, their itinerary and contact details were automatically passed to the partner organisation. Staff carry a card with telephone numbers for a 24 hour emergency contact centre and the partner could arrange direct assistance, including evacuation if needed.
Only once you understand the “who” and the “what” of staff-related risks to business continuity, you can turn your attention to the “where” and the “how” by preparing mitigation strategies.
The 4000 Year Old Egyptian Mystery That Teaches to This Day
One of the great entertainment values available to almost anyone with a cable television service is the History Channel. The volume and quality of wonderfully instructive and entertaining programming on offer is amazing. I have never watched a reality show, or a celebrity dancing display, but I rarely miss the exciting offerings of the History Channel.
Recently the channel has been immersed in the subject of Egyptian antiquities. The pharaohs, the pyramids, the Sphinx, sun temples, the Colossus of Rhoads and the Nile are beautifully described and narrated in an exciting, easy to understand presentation. After viewing programming on each topic, I ask myself a simple question: how did the Egyptians do it?
I am not alone in asking this question. There is no agreement among archaeologists and historians on how the ancient Egyptians accomplished the grand scale of building and creativity that is still on display to this day. The pyramids are particularly vexing as a construction puzzle.
The pharaoh’s built the pyramids both as tombs for their entry into the after-life, and as visible statements of their greatness. As one pharaoh completed a pyramid and died, his successor, if young enough, immediately began to build an even larger, more visible pyramid. The placement of these massive edifices on the Giza plateau, their alignment with the sun and other monuments and the sheer scale of building that commenced almost 5000 years ago is astounding.
The pyramids were the tallest structures in the world until the birth of the modern skyscraper. For almost four thousand years nothing approaching their grand scale was built anywhere in the world. Without power tools to quarry stone, the combustion engine to move materials across the desert, cranes to leverage heavy materials to great height and electronic communications to co-ordinate logistics, these ancient builders created stunning works that stun and excite to this day. How did they do it?
There are many theories but no definitive answers to this question. Using massive manpower, primitive tools and the design techniques that were amazingly efficient and accurate, they achieved near miraculous levels of perfection. That the pyramids stand and amaze us still is testament to the genius of the ancient Egyptians. Is there a lesson here for modern man?
Let’s just discuss United States infrastructure. We have the world’s largest network of roads, bridges, airports, rail lines, waterways and ports. Most of this system was built over the last 150 years. Politicians and bureaucrats tell us that our infrastructure is failing and requires massive investments (taxes) to repair and enhance the system.
These same government types are responsible for maintaining these physical assets. They assess user fees, taxes, permits, license fees and special assessments ostensibly to cover the cost of maintenance of this invaluable infrastructure. The simple performance of regular scheduled maintenance would greatly reduce the physical decline of this plant that is so essential to commerce and transport. And yet, maintenance is deferred, supposedly dedicated infrastructure tax monies co-mingled with general revenues and we hear the constant whine that government funding is “cut to the bone”.
Any infrastructure project in 21st century America will be held hostage by bureaucrats. Impact studies, environmental impact statements, committee reviews, permits, licensing, bonding, prevailing wage laws, lawsuits from concerned citizen groups and sheer bungling will ham string building progress. The Great Northern Railway was completed with private investment in 4
Business Innovation – Turning Problems Into Solutions
Problems, Problems, Problems – Wouldn’t life be grand if we never had any problems. Everything would work perfectly, everyone would always get along and be happy, everything would be wonderful for everyone everywhere, and things would only get better as we live happily ever after.
Unfortunately, in the real world there is no avoiding the grim realities of the dark side. Viewed from a business perspective – take the number of problems of each person, multiply by the number of employees, multiply the result by every single aspect of doing business, and the final result is what keeps every business owner chewing their fingernails down to the bone.
The most commonly accepted method of solving problems is simply to remove the cause. But this method is not always as simple as it would seem. Determining the true cause of a problem can be a very complicated affair, and even if you get this right – removing the cause can just as easily create a whole new set of problems.
Wouldn’t it be nice if a business could institute policies and procedures were problems would solve themselves and the business would reap tremendous benefits in the process?
How Problems Can Solve Themselves
It’s all about turning disadvantages into advantages, which is accomplished by finding innovative ways of viewing problems from a new point of view. A simple shift in perception is all it takes to reveal a whole new range of possibilities as seen from a new frame of reference.
The Value of Business Innovation
Innovation is a buzz word bandied about the business community for quite a while now. In fact, the concept of innovation has blossomed over the years to become an entire industry unto itself.
What is business innovation? The more traditional view would characterize business innovation in terms of creating new marketable inventions. Business innovation is also commonly associated with the research and development activities involved in designing new products and services, and finding innovative ways of bringing them to market.
As the marketplace becomes ever more saturated, innovation takes on a vital role in distinguishing your products from the competition and leveraging every resource available to glean the crucial competitive advantage. The modern view recognizes the strategic value in applying business innovation in EVERY phase of a company’s infrastructure encompassing the entire scope of company business.
Establishing a Culture of Business Innovation in the Workplace
Business innovation cannot thrive within a pyramid structure were it starts at the top and spreads through an organization with diminishing intensity, reaching to near zero at the base. A more effective strategy would be to invert the flow so that business innovation starts at the base and continuously accelerates as it picks up momentum on the way to the top.
Establishing a corporate culture of innovation throughout the workplace begins with fostering proper attitude of management. Innovation is all about recognizing value in the attribute of flexibility, and welcoming the challenge of adapting to circumstances in a constant state of change.
Abolishing the Status Quo
This type of freewheeling thinking can be difficult for those accustomed to the emotional comfort and security of simply maintaining the status quo. Innovation is generally applied incrementally in small “safe” baby steps, and only to streamline established procedures rather than risking potential fallout from instituting major change. Major change usually happens only out of necessity as the old proven procedures become ineffective and obsolete.
The Hallmark of Creative Genius
Given proper training, everyone has the potential of developing the type of refined mental flexibility that is the hallmark of creative genius. Unfortunately, this kind of specialized training is not included in the standard curriculum of formal education. Education cultivates a very rigid style of thinking. As a result, the natural childlike flexibility we are all born with deteriorates out of neglect. Adults endowed with creative genius are those that have nurtured their mental flexibility by their own volition in spite of the destructive aspects of education.
Companies would be well advised to seek out these rare individuals for key management positions, not only for their own creative input but more importantly for their ability to recognize the value of innovative ideas contributed by others. These are the people best equipped to lead the effort of developing effective strategies to deploy new ideas successfully.
Even though our creativity has been suppressed, it is not completely lost. A corporate culture endorsing perpetual innovation thrives on the realization that everyone has their eureka moments of inspiration from time to time.
Removing the Impediments to Innovation
Frontline workers see a company from their own unique perspective, and rightly so since they are intimately involved every working hour of every day. They often see problems management do not, and see how certain changes could benefit the company. Many are reluctant to come forward for fear of inciting negative repercussions. Frontline staff are sensitive to the risks provoking the ire of those with power over their position in the company, not to mention their entire career.
People in management positions often harbor the notion that they are the ones that do the “thinking”, and that frontline workers are paid to work – not to think, have ideas, or god forbid – to question the validity of existing policies or procedures. Managers often view this kind of input as a challenge to their competence and authority which could threaten their own position. Corporate cultures with a rigid hierarchy create a working environment were everyone develops their own private self-serving agenda which are often out of sync with the company’s best interests. A rigid hierarchy tends to stifle innovation leaving substantial opportunities lost by the wayside.
A critical factor in cultivating a culture of business innovation is removing intimidating fear factors endemic to the more common authoritarian culture so that staff can genuinely feel free to contribute ideas. Indeed contributing new ideas should be encouraged and staff should be rewarded for ideas that are adopted and prove beneficial to the company.
A company can realize tremendous benefits by deliberately allowing everyone in the organization the freedom to devote a small percentage of their work week exclusively to generating innovation. Furthermore they should be provided with quality tools and training to maximize their potential for success.
It Starts at the Top
Of course even the most revolutionary business innovations are completely worthless without principal management’s willingness to institute change. It is the vision and fortitude of high caliber management that determines a company’s overriding philosophy. There comes a time when this philosophy itself must be challenged for a company to evolve with a changing marketplace.
Success in deploying a culture of innovation depends entirely on cultivating the proper attitude of EVERYONE in the organization, there can be no exceptions. It is our rigid preconceived notions about how we think things should be that prevents innovation from working its magic.
Plant the Seeds and Reap a Bountiful Harvest
One of the precious few immutable facts of life is that everything changes. We prosper by realizing that every adversity contains the seed of new opportunity. The current economic crisis is just another example of change that challenges our ability to innovate, adapt, and exploit the fresh opportunities presented by change. As previously stated – It’s all about turning disadvantage to advantage, and all that’s required is a shift in perception to a new point of view.
In order to determine how to shift our perception we must be willing to continuously re-examine and re-evaluate the truth of our existing perceptions. Innovation is the means to move beyond our existing perceptions to explore new territories ripe with opportunity. A corporate culture of innovation is the means to utilize in full measure the most valuable resource of any organization – its people. There is nothing more powerful than open hearts and open minds working together in synergistic unity for a common purpose.
Every business that plants the seeds of innovation throughout the entire organization, provides all the nutrients needed to sustain new growth, and removes any obstacles that impede new growth, will surely thrive and reap a bountiful harvest.
The Future of Skateboarding
Where have we been, where are we now and where is skateboarding going ?
The Beginning
If we’re going to try to figure out the future, it’s probably a good idea to head back first and see how this thing started.
It all began in the fifties, when Californian surfers started attaching roller skate wheels to planks of wood and riding down their local streets. Skateboard manufacturers started springing up in the early sixties and a new lifestyle was born.
Urethane skateboard wheels were invented in 1972 and are still used today. The mid 70s saw the first skateboard parks begin to appear which naturally spawned new styles of riding, new tricks and new boards as skaters went vertical. Also in the mid 70s, a new competitive scene was born when a slalom and freestyle contest was held at the Ocean Festival in Del Mar, California .The famous Zephyr team turned the skateboarding world on its head with their new aggressive approach to freestyle skating. In 1978 the most famous skate trick of all, the “Ollie”, was invented by Alan Gelfand (the 70s were a big decade for skating).
The 80s were a comparatively slow decade for skateboarding although there was a boost that came with the popularity of the VCR when the first skateboard videos were introduced. The Bones Brigade Video Show was particularly popular and made Steve Caballero, Tony Hawk, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain, Rodney Mullen, Stacy Peralta, and Kevin Staab household names amongst the skating fraternity.
The first Extreme Games were held in Rhode Island in 1995 and the skateboarding competition received a lot of attention leading to increased interest in the sport and raised its profile in the broader community. Skateboarding was also part of the first Winter X games in ’97 and competitive skateboarding had truly become mainstream.
The biggest thing to hit skateboarding in the 2000s is the massive popularity of the video game console. Skateboarding games lend themselves well to the format and there have been smash hit video games every year in the 2000s. A new generation of skaters was born as kids traded their console controllers for the real thing.
The Future of Skateboarding
Competitive skateboarding will be established as a legitimate mainstream sport in much the same way as surfing and surf culture. Just a few decades ago, surfers were looked down upon as untrustworthy reprobates. These days parent don’t think twice about wandering into the surf stores that exist in every shopping mall and loading up on clothes with surf labels for their offspring, who mightn’t even know what a beach looks like. Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning, Rip Curl, Quiksilver and Billabong are all trusted global brands now. Like it or not, watch for skating to go the same way. We’ll see mindblowing tricks leveraging energy and athleticism that would seem unimaginable today. Skate heroes will go mainstream and expect to see a much more advanced global competitive scene. Once again it’s instructive to take a look at surfing’s path. The competitive surfing scene floundered for decades before getting its act together in the late 80s, when the brave step was taken to give ultimate control of the sport to a single governing body. A new man-on-man format was introduced and contests were taken to the best waves at the best time of the year. The overall good of the sport finally overcame parochialism and commercial interest and poor, uncompetitive contests were discarded. Now, surfing has hit the big time – it has sophisticated, multi-tiered competitive scene with massive media coverage. Can skating go the same way ? Yes, if it allows itself to.
When it comes to local ramps and skate parks, expect bigger walls, bigger bowls and more of them. As the current generation of skaters grows up and gets its turn to have a say in council spending and infrastructure, well it’s good news for skaters who like parks and ramps.
Technology will impact skateboards in the same way that it’s hitting so many other products. Stronger, lighter materials will appear and the rapid distribution of information means that board and truck design will advance even faster. The impact of the internet is both a challenge and an opportunity for the local skateboard shop. Ecommerce growth rates are huge and more people are keen to buy skateboards online. The web allows a distribution model that effectively puts the consumer closer to the skateboard warehouse. If you long for the old days of the 70s wooden plank, then this mightn’t do much for you but if you’re kid on a limited budget, it’s all good news. Expect better, more technically advanced products at lower prices.
If skateboarding follows the same lines as other markets, then we might see further consolidation amongst the big brands, similar to Billabong’s acquisition of Sector 9. Other big players in today’s skateboard market are brands like Birdhouse, Girl, Zero, Plan B, Element and Blind. There’s a fair chance we could see a large company buy up a stable of big skate brands to get the pricing benefit that comes with volume, which can obviously help with product pricing but doesn’t always result inoriginal product design and creativity (when was the last time Ford or GM came out with a cool product ?). In any market, if the big get bigger, then opportunities arise for small players to carve out their own niche for local markets and buyers who are less brand conscious.
Maple is still the premium construction material for decks but surely the day is approaching when maple will be superceded, at least for some styles of board. New styles of boards will continue to emerge – the humble skateboard of the early days has already evolved into longboards, cruisers, retro boards, pool boards, old school and mountain boards. As well as lighter, stronger trucks and better quality wheels, there’ll be new deck plan shapes and original artwork.
So there you have it, a quick look at the past and a peek into the future – and the future looks good!
Stem Cell Breast Augmentation (Autologous Fat Transfer)
This revolutionary new treatment involves harvesting fat from various areas of your body (e.g. abdomen, flanks, outer thighs) and then having it re-injected into your breasts to give them fuller volume and shape. It is a minimally invasive procedure performed under local anaesthetic and leaves you with NO scars. As it is your own tissue there is no chance of rejection or allergic reaction.
After harvesting the fat Dr Wolf will contour the areas with a VASER to sculpt the areas smoothly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is it?
Stem cell breast augmentation is a procedure based on regenerative medicine and involves the collection of stem cells from your own adipose (fat) tissue and the re-injection of those cells, together with purified adipose tissue into the breast. The stem cells maintain the viability of the fat that has been injected and create an infrastructure for it to survive. The fat tissue then integrates naturally with the surrounding breast tissue, resulting in permanently bigger, firmer breasts. It is possible to gain 1-2 cup sizes per treatment depending on how much fat is harvested. Using the patients own cells represents a highly safe treatment with no concerns of foreign body reaction, such as encapsulation, allergies or tissue rejection.
What are Stem Cells?
Stem cells are a particular type of cell that can differentiate into various other cells when placed in the correct environment. They also release growth factors which stimulate blood vessel production which maintains the viability of the surrounding tissue.
What other conditions can it be used for?
Stem cells have of recent attracted significant interest in several different medical specialities including heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, rheumatoid arthritis, degenerative bone disease, diabetes, Parkinson’s, MS, liver cirrhosis, skin grafts and scar revision.
Where is the fat taken from?
Stem cells are harvested from the patient’s own fat during our VASER Liposelection procedure. Stem cell breast augmentation therefore is to be used in combination with ultrasound assisted liposulpture. A modified liposelection procedure is performed under local anaesthetic and the tissue is then processed in a machine which concentrates the stem cells. Once this procedure is complete the concentrate is then combined with more fat tissue and re-injected into the breasts through tiny little puncture holes, thus leaving no scars. The most common areas where fat is harvested from are abdomen, outer thighs and flanks.
How are the cells administered into the breasts.
Equal amounts of cell concentrate and fat tissue are injected into both breasts to give them a fuller and firmer shape. The procedure is performed under local anaesthetic and administration is via a small cannula which leaves no scar. The fat tissue gives the breast a natural look and feel.
What are the risk factors?
As with any other minimally invasive procedure there is a small risk of infection, bleeding, bruising. As the fat is your own tissue the chances of allergic reaction, rejection and capsule formation are almost negligible compared to traditional breast augmentation techniques.
Mobile Broadband – The Backbone for Mobile VoIP
For a sales based business, the benefits of of VoIP go far beyond mere cost saving and fewer headaches. Though factors like that can be the primary driving force behind the adoption of VoIP, firms soon understand that they can leverage Internet based voice systems to more efficiently manage their sales force and better serve their customers. For this to happen, mobile VoIP is has to be a critical component of the infrastructure for the simple reason that sales people are almost always on the move.
Features such as single number integration for multiple devices are possible only when a mobile phone’s service provider plays nicely with VoIP based services. Of course, there are systems like Google voice that enable a “call back” functionality, but that’s only a stop gap solution. The real problem is that mobile broadband these days doesn’t allow VoIP to reach its full potential.
For one thing, many customers complain about not being able to get the advertised speeds on their mobile network. In the US especially where broadband infrastructure development has been shackled by corporations who try not to upgrade, this is a serious problem. And yet it’s only half the story. Sure speed is important, but by itself, VoIP only takes up a minuscule amount of Internet bandwidth. The real problem lies in the fact that many telcos don’t play nice with VoIP data.
In Germany for example, T-Mobile has made no bones of the fact that VoIP cannibalizes their regular voice network and have therefore banned VoIP traffic from travelling over their network. Similar attempts were made by Apple and AT&T with the Skype applications. However, after much public outcry and threats from governmental regulatory bodies, the situation has been improved significantly. People are able to now use the full power of VoIP from their uncrippled mobile broadband phones.
In addition, the many studies that shed light on insufficient bandwidth compared to what is advertised have forced the telcos to improve their services – and all this is good for VoIP traffic. Whatever is good for the Internet is good for voice data too and the way things are going now, it can only get better.
New 3G and 4G networks are coming into play and you can be sure that businesses are not going to hold back from making use of these technologies to the fullest. In the long run, VoIP is unstoppable and your businesses needs to adapt as well.