Essay Sample on Risk Management of Companies during Covid-19

The outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) in China in late December 2019 has caused many challenges in the world (Cheung et al. 2020). Individuals, governments, and organizations have been tremendously affected by the disease. Many companies around the globe have further continued to face stress from government regulations and their employees. Due to the unpredictable nature of the continued cases of Covid-19, compliance professionals must build a more robust system in light of Covid-19. Ideally, companies can utilize the basic principles of risk management to shape a path through the Covid-19 pandemic. Through this, they can help reduce the lasting negative impacts of the disease (Cheung et al., 2020). Whether an organization boasts a well-established Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program or has not turned its corporate mind towards risk management, risk management is critical as it helps the organization solve various issues related to health and safety, employment, and insolvency.

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Establishment of an active Emergency Management System

While it is not possible to anticipate all the potential risks associated with the Covid-19, the establishment of the emergency management systems can assist the companies in being prepared organizationally to respond to emergencies related to the health and safety of the employees (Cheema-Fox et al., 2020). Ideally, this is a fundamental step towards avoiding the panic among the employees and individuals within the organizations. As part of the risk management that is related to health and safety, the EM will help the employees understand their abilities to contain an emergency, as well as the level of authority they possess in responding to the situation (Cheema-Fox et al., 2020). Considering how fast and dramatic the COVID situation developed, the majority of the company lacked adequate time to return to the situation. In this sense, therefore, in any case, the decision to acquire masks for the employees was not made quickly, then the companies might have ultimately found no masks available.

The majority of the government regulation towards the prevention of the virus spread includes the need to have a system to prevent and control the virus within their facilities with the designated people put in place for the implementation (Wang et al. 2020). Secondly, there is a need to have policies in place to encourage employees to operate from home. Other governments must further have similar regulations that are needed for more robust governance, especially during the time of emergency. In this sense, therefore, it is necessary for the organizations to comprehensively discuss how to establish a system that suits and fits into both their governance and the local context.

Insolvency

Despite the significant monetary and fiscal measures that have been adopted by many organizations to alleviate the impacts of COVID-19, insolvency constitutes one of the primary risks that companies are facing. Ideally, the bankruptcy has dramatically affected and impacted the business strategy and planning at this time of turbulence. While it is evident that the risks can help address or prevent opportunities, it is evident that companies need to proceed with caution, especially if Covid-19 continues to take an upward global spread.

It is, however, critical to note that regardless of the implementation of various policy measures, companies can experience severe short-term impacts on the cash flow, which could lead to concerns about the financial stability of any organization. In the situation where such challenges develop, the management of the companies should make decisive considerations by adopting the appropriate steps to mitigate the risks directed to the company and the entire workforce.

Businesses that have found themselves at the brink of collapsing due to insolvency can further review the contracts to consider whether a default or insolvency event initiated is in operation as well as their implications for their companies (Freeman, 2010). They should also reassess their balance sheets or the cash flow positions through the assistance of both the legal and financial advisors for the early detection of solvency concerns, thus offering a potential early intervention.

A fundamental approach that forms a critical part of risk management during the time of COVID-19 is the administration. It should be known that this is one of the conventional methods that are usually available for companies that have become insolvent and cannot be salvaged through the terms stipulated in the Compulsory Voluntary Arrangement (CVA). Subject to the provisions, the management of the company possesses exclusive abilities to place an organization into the administration (Freeman, 2010). Upon this process, it is evident that an insolvency expert must be chosen to facilitate the management of the activities of the company and to ensure that the company’s assets, as well as the business, are well controlled and made to repay the underlying debts. Undeniably, the administration is vital to the management, especially if the legal actions have been threatened or initiated by the creditors based on the fact that the business has failed to make their payments on the due date. Doing this will not only help the organization to avoid the institution of any legal process against it but continue except with the consent from the court (Freeman, 2010).

Employment Legislation

It is undeniable that Covid-19 has posed tremendous challenges to many organizations about employment opportunities. Companies across the world have lost millions of jobs because of the high cost of operation with low demands for the goods they produce. As such, many have resorted to reducing the number of their workforce purposely to balance the cost incurred and the revenue generated. To address the challenges related to employment, the company must develop an effective incident management system (Ding et al., 2020). Ideally, enabling pre-made incident reporting platforms for the employees to report events that would promote the trigger of the remote work policies is critical. This platform will allow the employees to raise the issues they have identified, especially when working remotely and making more inquiries to the management. Additionally, the appropriate measures that will enable the company’s employees to work from home to avoid the possible spread of the disease are vital.

References

Cheung, J. C. H., Ho, L. T., Cheng, J. V., Cham, E. Y. K., & Lam, K. N. (2020). Staff safety during emergency airway management for COVID-19 in Hong Kong. The Lan https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7128208/

Cheema-Fox, A., LaPerla, B. R., Serafeim, G., & Wang, H. S. (2020). Corporate Resilience and Response During COVID-19. Available at SSRN 3578167. https://www.top1000funds.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Corporate-Resilience-and-Response-during-COVID19_April-20.pdf

Freeman, R.E. 2010. Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge University Press.

Ding, W., Levine, R., Lin, C., & Xie, W. (2020). Corporate immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic (No. w27055). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/papers/w27055.pdf

Wang, C., Cheng, Z., Yue, X. G., & McAleer, M. (2020). Risk management of COVID-19 by universities in China. https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/13/2/36/pdf