I live in San Jose, which is in Santa Clara County where a number of coronavirus cases have been identified.
My wife’s church has canceled tomorrow’s services as a precaution.
A local bridge center (I am an avid player) has closed down until further notice. One of my bridge partners placed himself in self-quarantine after his wife returned from a cruise where individuals tested positive for the virus. Another bridge player remains in Colorado, hospitalized and recovering after his cruise.
What has this got to do with my perennial rant that traditional risk management, considering only the potential for harm, doesn’t help organizations succeed?
Consider the decisions that people and businesses now have to make. For example:
- Should an airline cancel all its flights, not only to places like China but also to Seattle? After all, these are ‘hotspots’ and if you are only managing the possibility of infecting your employees or being involved in the spread of the virus you can best minimize that risk by not flying where passengers might bring it on board.
- Should a hotel in Seattle close down for the duration, for similar reasons?
- Should an organization in New York, which today declared a state of emergency because 75 people there have tested positive, tell all of its employees to work at home?
- If you have…
