Risk Response, Disruption, and The Big Question

According to the National Center for Meteorology, this was the country's heaviest rainfall recorded in 75 years. The numbers are mind-boggling. In just 12 hours, the UAE was drenched with a year’s worth of rain, a deluge that transformed the typically arid landscape into a waterlogged disaster zone. The UAE has committed more than half a billion dollars thus far to deal with the damages.

Without a doubt, the entire country and its citizens were in an unfortunate situation, facing unspeakable challenges and long-term disruptions. However, one key factor that stands out from this disaster is the CEO of Emirates Airline, who issued a letter of apology to customers after the record flooding at Dubai’s airport.

With hundreds of flights grounded and thousands of customers stranded, the CEO of Emirates Airline shared 9 keywords to remind us about the important role risk readiness plays for our organizations.

He said, “We Know Our Response Has Been Far from Perfect…”

Yes, risk response, though at times imperfect, is an essential component of effective risk management and its framework.

What is Risk Response?

Risk Response entails deciding the best option(s) among several alternatives and then preparing and executing the selected response strategy. The action taken to manage the risk could involve one or more of the following, though the terminology may vary by organization or industry:

• Acceptance: No action is taken to respond to the risk based on its insignificance, or the risk is knowingly assumed to seize an opportunity.
• Avoidance: Action is taken to stop the operational process or part of the operational process causing the risk.
• Reduction: Action is taken to reduce the likelihood or impact of the risk.
• Sharing: Action is taken to transfer or share risks across the entity or with external parties, such as insuring against losses.

The Dubai incident is considered a rare event for that region, though extreme weather events are most likely to present a material crisis on a global scale.  

This leaves us with a few things to think about:

Is it time to normalize disruption? If so, should we embrace disruption as a positive encounter toward resiliency?

If there is one thing we know for sure, disruption will happen. The question is, are we ready? And does our response have to be perfect to be successful at managing it?

Sources: 

CNBC.com, “Emirates CEO issues apology after Dubai flood chaos; says airline has 30,000 suitcases to return” April 22, 2024

OMB Circular A-123, July 2016

Global Risk Report 2024

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