Tag: reputational damage

South Africans have become accustomed to dealing with crime because we have no other choice. Various sources place South Africa near the pinnacle of lists of the highest crime rates in the world. If you are a South African, or someone living in South Africa, you most likely take a number of precautions at home, work and play to avoid falling victim to crime.

Increased shareholder value and better customer benefits could be generated with the adoption of seven set-piece plays, according to a new report on the digitalisation of South Africa’s banking and financial services.

Impacts vary, but in many cases, ransomware disrupts businesses for significant periods or even forces them to suspend operations or close. A growing population of highly capable cyber extortionists is developing a new means to counter defences and increase the level of disruption they can inflict constantly.

Investors need to consider cyber preparedness in their investment decisions. Today, 100% of companies rely on the internet to operate, compared to the one-in-four 10 years ago, according to a study from Accenture.

All industries are governed by the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act and need to maintain certain standards for Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ). Having the right systems in place to understand risks and how to protect people against them is essential, and training forms a core component of ensuring a safe working environment.

According to our new report, ‘How businesses can minimise the cost of a data breach’, enterprises in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) that decide to voluntarily inform their stakeholders and the public about a breach, on average, are likely to lose 38% less than their peers that saw the incident leaked to the media. The same tendency has also been found to be the case in SMBs.

A recent tweet made by a director of Cricket South Africa relating to a cancelled sponsorship highlights an issue for South African boards: the risk represented by social media. Social media has become a key communications channel, but poses particular risks for organisations and especially their directors.

Businesses must release new, exciting digital experiences and products at higher velocities than ever before to remain relevant and continue to increase their share of wallet in this brave new world which we refer to as the post-digital era. This unprecedented pace of innovation has several unintended consequences, which, if not purposefully addressed, can erode trust and alienate customers.

The scale of the national COVID-19 lockdown is unprecedented in living memory. The repercussions – personal, professional, national and international – will reverberate for years to come. As entrepreneurs, we need to be making the right decisions for right now to ensure that our businesses and our people’s livelihoods do not become another casualty of the virus. 

Renewed emphasis on digitalisation as a key strategy for sustainability is placing pressure on CIOs to ensure corporate systems are resilient. One certainty that has emerged from the COVID-19 crisis is that organisations embarking on digitalisation were better prepared to respond to the crisis.