Effective Risk Governance Strategy for Covid-19. Business & Marketing

Effective Risk Governance Strategy for Covid-19
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Effective Risk Governance Strategy for Covid-19
Introduction
The world is currently facing a global pandemic that continues to cast uncertainties across the social, political, and economic dimensions in communities across the globe. Governments, international organizations, multinational corporations, and non-profit organizations worldwide are struggling to find solutions to address the effects of the novel coronavirus across the outlined social dimensions. The respiratory disease, COVID-19, is causing havoc in the social structure as it demands isolation of individuals through social distancing and further limits the movement of people in the effort to contain its spread across the world. The disruption of the perceived normal social life of unrestricted interaction and integration of people breeds panic and anxiety in society as members lack the support of the physical social networks through which they dealt with different aspects of life. Containment measures such as the stay at and work from home initiatives have equally led to adverse economic effects with massive layoffs of employees and the complete shutdown of business activities across different sectors of the economy. The uncertainty over the origin and manifestation of the novel Coronavirus and the most effective approach to take towards mitigating its catastrophic effects on the global community also accounts for heightened political polarization between and among nations. The highlighted effects of COVID-19 on the global society necessitate or rather impresses on the importance of effective risk management in the public sector. The development of an effective risk management strategy for the public health crises requires the consideration of underlying factors that characterize the risk factor and its potential impact on society or the public. The identification of the type of risk involved, for instance, plays a significant role in the development of the appropriate approach towards mitigating its effect on the parties involved. The development and implementation of an effective risk management approach lead to the achievement of the desired outcome. It is upon the consideration of such factors or elements characterizing risk management that this paper proposes the use of the precautionary principle framework as the appropriate and effective strategy for the management of COVID-19 by the public sectors of governments around the world. A comprehensive evaluation of risk management through the lens of the precautionary principle approach in dealing with COVID-19 creates an effective platform for the establishment of whether it is an effective strategy.
Identification of the Risk
It is essential to reiterate the importance of identifying the type of risk as an integral factor in the development and implementation of an effective risk management strategy. First and foremost, risk refers to the uncertainty of the results of an event or an action (Natesh, 2017). A risk is the combined manifestation of probability or likelihood and the impact, consequences, or even repercussions in the form of opportunities or threats as the positive and negative functions of the event, respectively (Quigley, 2020). The daily government operations or projects and programs with the public sector are characteristic of such potentials as they are susceptible to achieving the desired outcome of public good to societies or exposing the same to undesired outcomes (Natesh, 2017). On the other hand, risk management refers to the measures, processes, and steps involved in the mitigation of the risk factors towards achieving the desired outcomes (Natesh, 2017). Risk management processes include or rather involve the identification, assessment and classification, anticipation, monitoring of risks as well as reviewing the progress of the entire process towards addressing the risks (Tworek, 2016). The achievement of the desired outcomes in risk management is dependent on access to reliable data and information concerning the risk coupled with effective control over the processes involved. An effective decision-making process based on an equally reliable risk analysis and evaluation technique also makes one of the integral elements of an effective risk management approach. The fact that COVID-19 is an emergent risk with no source of reliable data and information for the analysis and evaluation of the probability of its spread in society and subsequent effects across the different social dimensions is characteristic of the type of risks referred to as uncertain risks (Quigley, 2020).
Uncertain risks do not have clear data and information for establishing reliable parameters for measuring the extent of the damage upon their occurrence. The lack of such crucial information and data concerning COVID-19 limits the pre-assessment and appraisal of the pandemic towards the development of an effective approach for the mitigation of the same (Quigley, 2020). The lack of reliable data on the consequences of the pandemic in the future thus limits the government or the public sector to the adoption of strategic measures towards enhancing the tolerability and acceptability of the pandemic as the basis for the development of an effective risk management strategy (Quigley, 2020). The precautionary principle approach in risk management thrives on the implementation of measures towards the promotion of the public’s tolerance and acceptance of the pandemic (Quigley, 2020). However, the measure's adoption should not be misconstrued for exposing the public to the potential harm of the pandemic but rather the observation of effective containment measures across the different social dimensions. The ability of the precautionary principle approach to enhance the public’s tolerance towards the pandemic thus makes it an effective risk management strategy for COVID-19.
The precautionary principle approach limits or rather reduces the chances of making mistakes in the assessment of the effects of the deadly respiratory disease in the future across the social, political, and economic dimensions. Like in terrorist attacks, climate disa...