Crisis simulations

Crisis Simulations

Preparing for tomorrow’s threats and opportunities

Every organization has its own ‘perfect storm’ – that combination of incidents or circumstances with the potential to bring the business to its knees.

Amidst the chaos of crises, even seasoned business leaders may be a loss for the right response. However, how you lead, and the strategic actions that you take in response, can make the difference between survival and demise.

NAVIGATING THE NEFARIOUS THREAT LANDSCAPE

Executives, investors, regulators and other stakeholders are keenly aware of the increasingly mercurial threat landscape – everything from weather related events to global cyber attacks.

As the world becomes more complex and interconnected, organizations are under great pressure to build the insight, culture, and resilience they need to evolve their crisis response preparedness.

Many are turning to crisis simulations to evaluate different aspects of their response plans, strategies, and processes against the backdrop of today’s new threats, hazards, and challenges.

A HIGHLY EFFECTIVE – AND CRUCIALLY, PRACTICAL – TECHNIQUE

Simulations have long been conducted by the military and armed forces to test capabilities, surface vulnerabilities, and improve their leaders’ preparedness to take strategic actions during events that are not easily predicted.

STRATIUUM has a proven track record of delivering simulations and exercises across the crisis continuum at board, executive and operational levels.

Our advisers bring knowledge of the nefarious threat landscape, direct experience of crises situations, and extensive expertise in designing highly realistic simulated scenarios to create innovative learning environments that help organization’s mature their response readiness and crisis preparedness.

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Our portfolio of crisis simulations

Well orchestrated simulations are designed around realistic threat scenarios, where moves and counter moves are played out to stress and challenge participants’ response reflexes. The format and intensity of a simulation varies depending on it’s purpose and objectives.

WORKSHOP

Workshops focus discussion around specific threat scenarios to heighten situational awareness and support the development of crisis response strategies and plans. They can also be used to define crisis governance, develop a common language, and drive out false assumptions.

Evaluate potential threat scenarios
Enhance awareness of response plans and processes
Establish clear lines of responsibility and accountability
Devise a strategic plan of action
Examine resilience capabilities and assumptions

TABLETOP

Tabletop exercises simulate an environment that allows participants to practice functioning in the capacity they would were they responding to a real event. These simulations often focus on sharpening specific skills or testing specific response plans and processes.

Test response strategies and plans
Identify gaps and weaknesses in preparedness
Assess the effectiveness of communication and decision making protocols
Develop response reflexes and build “muscle memory”

WARGAME

War games immerse participants in the pressure of a real and evolving crisis situation, and often involve multiple layers of an organization. The simulation is played out real time, and is designed to stress an organization’s ability to react to a crisis event as it unfolds.

Strengthen response plans, people, and process
Bolster foresight and situational awareness
Build confidence and demonstrate resiliency
Challenge risk management strategies and capabilities
Enable the launch of a coordinated crisis response

OUR APPROACH

Simulations should stress and challenge the organization’s response plans, strategies, and people. However, an ill-thought out scenario can damage confidence and demoralize staff. Our approach is grounded in meticulous preparation to ensure that, while the simulated scenario is realistic of a crisis situation, participants are not taken beyond breaking point. Instead they emerge from the experience feeling they’ve truly learned something and are better equipped to navigate though a critical business event.

Aligning the scope and objectives of the simulation is the first step. From here we can determine the complexity and sophistication of the simulated scenario and agree the level of participation across the organization.

Following review of relevant plans, playbooks, and processes, we partner with “trusted agents” from various functional groups to design potential business crisis scenarios and identify the failure modes to test for.

Next we prepare the step-by-step facilitator script and create realistic injections of “news” and updated information to support the sequencing of the scenario, and simulate the experience of an unfolding crisis event.

The simulation is delivered and can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days depending on the complexity of the scenarios. Learnings are captured and actionable steps identified to improve and mature the organization’s response capabilities.

HOW RESILIENT IS YOUR ORGANIZATION?

Simulations yield critical insights into a company’s response capabilities, vulnerabilities, and preparedness. Armed with this information, you can align your crisis management plans with strategic business goals and objectives, creating a stronger, more resilient, and future ready organization.

Do you know, and understand, the true nature of your organization’s threat exposure? What early warning indicators or triggers should you be alert to to avert potential crisis situations before they emerge?

What strategies, plans, and processes do you have in place to minimize any adverse impact following a critical business event? Have they been tested and evaluated?

Do you have strong leadership to make strategic decisions and prioritize actions in the wake of a crisis? Is governance clearly defined? Could you communicate confidently, in real time, with limited information?

Do you have people outside your organisation you can rely on to support you in a crisis? Are arrangements to do this already in place?

Have you identified the right organizational talent to respond to an event? Can they be mobilized quickly to minimize the impact? Are they trained?

BUILDING ENTERPRISE-WIDE RESILIENCE

We believe resilience extends beyond a company’s ability to withstand and recover from crises events. A truly resilient organization has the foresight and situational awareness to avert potential threats before they emerge, and an ability to turn complex business challenges into sources of strategic opportunities.

To find out whether a Crisis Simulation is right for your organization, or to learn more about STRATIUUM’s Reputation Risk Management Solutions, please contact us.

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INSIGHTS | CYBER RESILIENCE

Are you afraid of the dark web?

The financial losses, regulatory scrutiny, and often irreparable reputational harm inherent in a successful cyber attack, can present a real threat to an organization’s business, and sometimes its very survival.

You need look no further than the seemingly endless string of media reports to recognize that cyber adversaries are relentless in developing new and nefarious ways to attack. While most boards and senior executives accept that the cyber threat is real, perhaps even inevitable, many struggle to orient traditional risk management practices towards enhancing the organization’s overall cyber resilience.

As Regulators retrospectively exact significant penalties from firms for past breaches, and we see an uptick in shareholder derivative actions filed against directors and officers for their alleged breach of fiduciary duties, cyber risk management, strategy, and resilience need to be more prominent topics in the boardroom.