Essay Graduate 1,967 words

Corporate Security: Challenges, Procurement, and Community

~10 min read 5 sections Business · Risk Management

Abstract

This paper critically examines three interconnected dimensions of corporate security management. First, it evaluates the assertion by Briggs and Edwards (2006) that corporate security departments face the same challenges as any other business function, requiring alignment with evolving business environments. Second, it outlines the key ingredients of an effective procurement strategy in the context of contracting manned guarding services. Third, it critically discusses the "security triangle" concept—acceptance, protection, and deterrence—drawn from NGO practice, and its implications for corporate security's relationship with the wider community. The paper concludes with a brief reflective commentary linking these trends to personal professional concerns and career aspirations.

Key Takeaways

Corporate Security as a Business Function: Security departments must align with broader business strategy
Procurement Strategy for Manned Guarding Services: Key elements of cost-effective manned guarding procurement
The Security Triangle: Lessons from NGOs: Acceptance, protection, deterrence model applied to corporations
Corporate Security and the Wider Community: Building stable communities as corporate security strategy
Reflective Commentary on Professional Concerns: Personal career aspirations linked to security management trends

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What makes this paper effective

The paper anchors each section to a specific theoretical claim from Briggs and Edwards (2006), giving the discussion a consistent conceptual thread throughout.
It moves logically from macro-level organizational challenges to concrete procurement considerations and then outward to community relations, demonstrating an ability to operate at multiple levels of analysis.
The reflective commentary personalizes abstract concepts, showing the student can connect academic theory to lived professional experience.

Key academic technique demonstrated

The paper demonstrates sustained critical engagement with a primary source. Rather than simply summarizing Briggs and Edwards, the student uses their assertions as launching points, interrogating each claim against supporting and contextualizing secondary literature. This technique—thesis-driven critical discussion organized around a quoted proposition—is a hallmark of graduate-level security studies writing.

Structure breakdown

The paper is organized as a multi-part response to a structured assignment. Part one addresses corporate security as a business function, drawing on organizational behavior and risk management literature. Part two outlines procurement strategy essentials for guarding services. Part three applies the NGO security triangle to corporate contexts, extending the discussion to community relations. A short personal reflection closes the essay, bridging theory and practice. Each section is self-contained yet collectively builds a coherent argument about evolving corporate security roles.

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Essay 1,967 words

Corporate Security as a Business Function

The world has become a global village through globalization, and business undertakings have grown increasingly intricate. This has altered and transformed the structure of the corporate realm in significant ways (Tipton and Krause, 2003). Several factors account for this shift. The saturation of traditional markets is causing organizations to move in riskier directions. For instance, the advancement of business strategies such as offshore operations enables the management of organizations from afar (McGee, 2006). In addition, the rise of accountability through corporate social responsibility and corporate governance has compelled companies to ensure that their proclamations and actions are consistent, regardless of their operational locations. There is now a clear interrelation between the manner in which a business operates and its risk portfolio, and certain kinds of organizational behavior can undermine the license to operate. For this reason, security has grown to become a significant element in the corporate realm. Companies are seeking new strategies for risk management, and the security management division has extended its scope to include information assurance, reputation management, corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, and regulation (Briggs and Edwards, 2006).

Corporate security departments must first understand that security overall is achieved through the everyday actions of personnel across the entire company. It is not something that can be wholly undertaken by the corporate security department alone on behalf of the organization. Consequently, the effectiveness of corporate security as a business function depends on its capacity to persuade and influence others to operate differently. This places particular emphasis on communication and requires the corporate security department to appreciate the perspective of non-security professionals as much as that of specialists. Second, corporate security departments must be aware of the limitations of command-and-control methods as tools for managing change (Purser, 2004). Organizational behavior is transformed by influencing, persuading, and explaining why a new manner of operation serves the interests of every individual. This requires departments to function through key social networks, placing greater emphasis on people management and social skills than on security expertise alone. The authority of the corporate security function today is directly proportional to the quality of its relationships, not the depth of its technical knowledge (Whitman and Mattord, 2010).

Corporate security departments must also fully understand the broader role they play for the corporation as a whole. In particular, they must recognize that they help the corporation to take on risks rather than eliminate them entirely, and that they put contingencies in place to minimize harm when incidents occur. Risk-taking is a vital characteristic of successful companies. With this in mind, corporate security departments should not act as conformists whose activities detract from, rather than contribute to, the goals and objectives of the company (Raggad, 2010). Furthermore, corporate security departments must engage with and contribute to the core business concerns of the corporation, thereby expanding their security portfolio in meaningful ways. Today, these departments carry accountabilities across diverse areas such as business continuity, brand management, and corporate governance. These responsibilities have prompted many to question whether the term "security" adequately describes what they do. According to Briggs and Edwards (2006), the word resilience offers a more precise and comprehensive reflection of the range of responsibilities held by corporate security departments.

It is also imperative for a corporate security department to make a clear distinction between the operational and strategic elements of security management. Establishing this distinction enables the corporate security department to take a central role with respect to strategy while allowing other business units to carry out operational work. This gives all units a clear framework to guide their approach to security, provides direction for non-security specialists, makes communication across the company more straightforward, allows the department to present itself more effectively to the board, and supports credibility alongside other functions. Moreover, in order to be genuine leaders, corporate security departments must abandon outdated assumptions about where their authority and legitimacy derive from. Their standing should not rest on what makes them distinctive—namely, their technical content knowledge—but rather on business insight, people skills, management capacity, and communication proficiency (Brooks, 2013). In short, corporate security departments must compete and operate on the same terms as every other function within the corporation. This is leading many organizations to focus more on these skills relative to specialized security knowledge, with a number of professionals now working in security without formal expertise in the field (Cavanagh, 2005).

Procurement Strategy for Manned Guarding Services

Procurement is defined as the acquisition of supplies, materials, and services that an organization needs in order to function effectively. A procurement strategy refers to the planned, cost-effective approach to acquiring a corporation's required supplies, taking into account numerous factors such as the procurement timeline, available capital and budget, anticipated risks, and emerging opportunities (Procurement Academy, 2015). The procurement strategy defines a plan that maximizes the value of external expenditure, procurement processes, and other value contributions in a way that supports the organization's overall agenda.

One of the key ingredients of an effective procurement strategy is the development of clearly defined project goals and objectives. In the context of contracting manned guarding services, the primary objective is to secure those services at a cost-effective rate, taking into account available resources, the organizational budget, and the predetermined procurement timeline. It is essential that the procurement strategy for manned guarding services aligns with the established goals and objectives of the company (Albano et al., 2006). Another critical element is relationship analysis. The supplier must be identified and assessed to determine whether they have the capacity to contribute to the organization's business strategy. In the contracting of manned guarding services specifically, it is important for the corporation to establish a genuine partnership with the supplier. A healthy supplier relationship will benefit the procurement process well into the future (Procurement Academy, 2015).

3 Sections Hidden · 850 words

The Security Triangle: Lessons from NGOs280 words

Corporate security departments can learn a great deal from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the manner in which they manage their security. When an organization is effectively incorporated into the communities and societies…

Corporate Security and the Wider Community300 words

Corporate security departments can also draw lessons from NGOs in how they create secure and sustainable operating environments. This can be achieved through capacity building and by helping to…

Reflective Commentary on Professional Concerns270 words

Reflecting on the trends discussed above, there is a clear relationship to my day-to-day professional concerns. Just as corporate security departments must maintain productive relationships with those…

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References

Albano, G. L., Calzolari, G., Dini, F., Iossa, E., & Spagnolo, G. (2006). Procurement contracting strategies. Available at SSRN 908220.

Briggs, R. and Edwards, C. (2006). The Business of Resilience: Corporate Security for the 21st Century. London: Demos.

Brooks, D. J. (2013). Corporate security: Using knowledge construction to define a practising body of knowledge. Asian Journal of Criminology, 8(2), 89–101.

Cavanagh, T. E. (2005). Corporate Security Measures and Practices: An Overview of Security Management since 9/11. New York: The Conference Board.

Fruttero, A., & Gauri, V. (2005). The strategic choices of NGOs: Location decisions in rural Bangladesh. Journal of Development Studies, 41(5), 759–787.

McGee, A. (2006). Corporate security's professional project: An examination of the modern condition of corporate security management, and the potential for further professionalisation of the occupation. Unpublished MSc dissertation. UK.

Procurement Academy. (2015). Procurement strategy development. Retrieved 17 December 2015 from:

Purser, S. (2004). A Practical Guide to Managing Information Security. Artech House.

Raggad, B. G. (2010). Information Security Management: Concepts and Practice. Florida: Taylor and Francis.

Tipton, H. F., & Krause, M. (2003). Information Security Management Handbook, Volume 2. London: CRC Press.

Wakefield, A. (2003). Selling Security: The Private Policing of Public Space. MyiLibrary.

Walby, K., & Lippert, R. (2014). Corporate Security in the 21st Century: Theory and Practice in International Perspective. United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.

Werker, E., & Ahmed, F. Z. (2008). What do nongovernmental organizations do? The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22(2), 73–92.

Whiting, T. E. (2010). Enterprise Security Risk Management: How Great Risks Lead to Great Deeds: A Benchmarking Survey and White Paper. ASIS International.

Whitman, M., & Mattord, H. (2010). Management of Information Security. Australia: Cengage Learning.

Key Concepts in This Paper

Corporate Security Security Triangle Business Resilience Manned Guarding Procurement Strategy NGO Security Risk Management Community Relations Corporate Governance Information Assurance