Effective Security Management

by Mark Rowe

Author: Charles Sennewald and Curtis Baillie

ISBN No: 97801-28027745

Review date: 28/03/2024

No of pages: 402

Publisher: Butterworth Heinemann

Publisher URL:
http://store.elsevier.com

Year of publication: 13/11/2015

Brief:

Effective Security Management, sixth edition, by Charles Sennewald and Curtis Baillie, published 2015 by Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 97801-28027745, hardback, £41.64, 402 pages. Visit store.elsevier.com.

price

£41.64 (online)

As Charles Sennewald notes in his preface, his book Effective Security Management dates from the 1970s. It’s stood the test of time well, writes Mark Rowe.

Plainly it has something going for it; such as, taking the management half as seriously as the security, something easily done but if overlooked can mean an unhappy department that doesn’t have the ear or true respect of the wider organisation. As he sets out at the very start, the characteristics of the successful manager – such as being a problem-solver, and have integrity and emotional stability – apply to any manager, including a security manager. And while ‘the manager must have leadership skills’, management is not the same as leadership. He goes on to the ways that security in general and the security director as a particular executive fit into an organisation, discussing such things as structure (who reports to whom, who’s responsible for what) that can be fatally downplayed in the understandable rush to catch the bad guys or to do the job.

He has as firm a grip on what you can call the nuts and bolts – such as making hires, writing budgets, and giving or arranging training, which includes keeping a security manual (’an absolute necessity, not only as an operational tool but also as a training guide’) – as on the intangible stuff, such as ethics, self-discipline (admitting your faults, not losing your temper), and motivation and morale, of yourself and in others. Some things have elements of both – as in communication; it’s not only what you say, but the way that you say it, or indeed what means of communication you choose. And Sennewald makes the welcome point that communication should be two ways: ideally, strive for ‘an open climate of communication’. And listen.

We’re well into the book, then, when Sennewald comes to the security half of security management; the assessing and managing of risk, and crisis management, and doing a formal security survey. Although an American author, it’s welcome to see that he gives credit to British Standards. Arguably the most intriguing chapter as it covers ‘statistics as a security management tool’, as metrics can tell you what the actual threats are, offers ways to analyse them, and make requests for budget and showing return on investment – all basic things. What can appear a dizzying list of topics are covered – convergence with IT security, public relations (which he defines as ‘selling security’, within the organisation such as to new employees, besides talking with police and your fellow security managers, and speaking in public and in the media).

All that said, Sennewald rounds off – and lets off steam?! – with some 30 or more ‘jackass management traits’, of managers who are bad, hard to like or borderline criminal. Early on, when defining security’s role in the organisation, Sennewald describes security in terms of a service; and he has done the US and wider security world a service with this work. You might want to turn to other books, on particular sectors or specialisms, such as transport, or fraud, or investigation, but Effective Security Management can help you achieve just that.

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