NCJ Number
88990
Date Published
1983
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Once security managers have established themselves as business managers first and security experts second, they will have established sufficient credibility to sell security to management.
Abstract
The establishment of both security and business credibility should be simultaneous. Business credibility is established as the security manager shows that the security operation saves more money than it costs. Two major areas where financial accountability for security can be established are in the investigative and the preventive operations. For investigative operations, this involves tallying the losses and the recoveries and comparing them to the investigative costs. The value of prevention of future losses curtailed by successful investigations should also be determined. A convenient method to show the true loss impact is to construct a financial-loss impact summary for each investigation. Financial accountability for preventive operations can be determined by ascertaining the potential for loss, estimating the financial loss impact of the potential losses in a manner similar to that used with investigative operations, developing countermeasures, and comparing the total cost of the countermeasures to the total impact of the more likely losses. Business credibility is established through security expertise manifest in effective investigations and the development of loss prevention procedures that accomplish their objectives. Given security and business credibility, the security manager can sell security to top management through displays of competency, good judgment, adaptation to company style, communication skills, and an orientation toward return-on-investment.