What an interesting week. I couldn’t help thinking about the risk profile of businesses and the management of necessary resources.
With the Maui gas line fracture and the business interruption that it caused I was intrigued that so many large businesses had no back-up for business continuity. The gas supply was obviously a key part of productivity and sustainability, what are they thinking when the supply of a finite resource can cripple their business. Risk management is a huge part of business management aligned with business continuity planning. It would be like having 50 guests for dinner and part way through cooking the meal on the barbeque the gas bottle runs out. I don’t know about you but I like to know I have a spare in reserve or can get hold of some at very short notice.
As a country we have recently seen a range of issues that have impacted on the continuity of business. If nothing else let’s learn from these examples and make a plan to mitigate the impact of this type of scenario by; not cutting corners, ensuring copies of vital data are stored off site and easily retrieved, a back-up supply of vital resources and staff knowledge is recorded.
We consider this region to be the safest in New Zealand and people joke that we will not have a tsunami – but what if a dam up the river is broached. Christchurch had the same earthquake rating as Hamilton – are you and your business prepared for a range of possible business interruptions? How many times have you heard the story of a person not renewing their health insurance or their car insurance only to find they need that back-up sooner rather than later.
The other side of the Maui discussion is the relevance of monopolies. If we are going to increase our productivity as a region and a country we need to know we have options for competition that ensure we are getting the best service for the market rate. Competition keeps the market honest and is part of the productivity equation; doing more with less.
I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Tony van Deursen who died on the weekend as a result of a water ski accident. Tony was an extremely talented man. His skill in filming events or the essence of an event plus his editing prowess enabled him to create magic on film. Tony will be sadly missed by me and the Chamber team as the head creator of the audio visual impact of the Westpac Waikato Business Excellence awards. RIP Tony. Our condolences to Sandra and the rest of Tony’s family.
