The Bookablehood Risk Management Policy and practices
“The only secret to staying alive for a longer period is in our ability to manage our risks. Otherwise we die. It is everyone’s responsibility to think not with our hearts but with our minds”
-Stephen Okhutu, Founder. Bookablehood Ltd
Fundamental Stance
Using these ideas as a cornerstone in its thinking, the company conducts groupwide risk management activities covering its operations allover Africa, with the aim of taking preemptive actions to eliminate “sources of failure”—that is any factors that could impede the accomplishment of business goals.
At Bookablehood Ltd, risk management functions in parallel with the development
and execution of management strategies. The company believes that by combining
these two functions, it is better positioned to accomplish its business
objectives and to increase its corporate value. Furthermore, by disclosing
appropriate information concerning risks to the public, improving the
transparency of its management, and reducing risks through preemptive measures,
the company gives its customers and other stakeholders—as well as local
communities and the public as a whole—greater confidence in its organization.
Role of Risk Management in Business Management
Organizational System
At the very beginning, Bookablehood Ltd established the company Risk Management Committee, which promotes risk management throughout the whole Bookablehood Ltd. The Corporate Risk Management Executive Officer, who is nominated from among the company management, and he chairs the committee which is comprised of all top departmental and business heads.
The Risk Management Committee determines what serious risks the entire company faces, as corporate major risks, based on the results of risk assessments conducted by each Company, affiliates, the Bookablehood Ltd headquarters, and regional headquarters. This constitutes part of Bookablehood Ltd’s corporate compliance with legal mandates. The committee also monitors the progress of plans instituted by the Companies, affiliates, Bookablehood Ltd headquarters, and regional headquarters for countering serious risks. As needed, it provides instructions to functional divisions and various committees, as well as assistance for Companies, affiliates, Bookablehood Ltd headquarters, and regional headquarters, promoting continuous improvement. The activities of the G&G Risk Management Committee are reported regularly at Committee Meetings, and the auditors are in turn monitored and evaluated.
Bookablehood Ltd and Risk Management Promotion Framework
Basic Framework
Bookablehood Ltd has three levels of management cycles for risk management: the G&G Risk Management Committee, four Bookablehood Ltd Companies, and business divisions. Each year, an assessment of the impact of risks that could affect the business management of Companies and affiliated business divisions is undertaken using a single, global set of standards incorporating the potential impact on business operations, probability of risk occurring, and other factors. Steps are then taken to identify major Company risks and to ensure that appropriate counter-measures are implemented. Taking into consideration these major Company risks, the Risk Management Committee considers and identifies those major risks that require attention from a company-wide perspective. The Risk Management Committee also monitors progress made concerning counter-measures as a means to improve and strengthen company-wide risk management.
Increasing Risk Sensitivity
The Risk Management Committee systematically educates, and raises awareness among, Bookablehood Ltd company employees to ensure the thorough dissemination of knowledge of basic policies on risk management and for these to be put into practice. In addition to disseminating information to all employees through internal communications on its activities (selected corporate major risks and the progress of measures for handling those risks), the Risk Management Committee provides annual seminars on risk assessment for managers in charge of risk management promotion. The committee aims to increase the level of skills for the effective conducting of risk assessments by explaining Bookablehood Ltd’s basic policy on risk management, “The Risk Management Guidelines.”
In addition, to prevent risks from
becoming even more severe when they have manifested and responses have been
insufficient, the committee issues “Guidelines for Business Unit Directors
on Responding to Risk Occurrences” to the business unit directors and ensures
that these guidelines are put in place thoroughly. The committee improves the
ability to handle risks on the ground overseas by providing training on the
essentials of risk management, how to respond when risks have manifested, and
related matters for newly appointed presidents of continental affiliates and
for employees who are about to be posted in other African countries.
The committee has organized hotlines as a mechanism for employees to report
latent risks regarding matters such as compliance violations, various forms of
workplace harassment, and improprieties in procurement processes. Employees and
suppliers are able to report any perceived problem independently and at any
time. The company has also established a mechanism by which all employees can
independently report latent compliance-related risks in the workplace through
annually conducted compliance awareness surveys. Feedback concerning reported
risks is provided to each workplace, and these risks are dealt with.
Initiatives Relating to Business Continuity Management (BCM)
Bookablehood Ltd has
established as part of its management philosophy that it will contribute to the
advancement of world culture by working to improve the quality of life of
society through the products that it produces and sells. The company has been
keenly aware of the necessity of activities relating to business continuity—one
of the company’s duties to society. The company thus engages in business
continuity management (BCM), whose goal is to prevent a halt to the supply of
products or the provision of services when contingencies such as disasters have
occurred, or, in the rare event that service has halted, to restart operations
as quickly as possible.
Specifically, if disasters
or other incidents were to occur within our supply chain, they would impact the
production or sales of our company businesses. In the case of B2B, this impact
would also affect the production and sales of companies to which we deliver.
This is why Bookablehood Ltd believes it is critical to have BCM that includes
our supply chain.