Stories by Joan Goodchild

For companies trying to grow their global operations, supply chain demands and risks make it an uphill battle. The majority of organisations are fumbling along the way, according to a new report from research firm Aberdeen Group.
Boston-based Aberdeen surveyed 138 companies about their supply chain risk management practices and priorities and found that over the past year 58 percent of companies suffered financial losses as a result of supply chain disruptions. And, despite their concern about the security and smooth operation of their supply chains, many companies are still at the early stages of thinking about supply chain risk management.

As vice president of learning and development for US-based AlliedBarton Security Services, Rich Cordivari is responsible for the training community in the company. That means he oversees 150 trainers who work locally all over the country to deliver education to AlliedBarton employees. Cordivari, who has been with the company since 2003, discusses his strategy for boosting retention rates with programs that speak to the company's diverse geographic accounts, as well as the different generations now working for AlliedBarton.

The generation gap. It's a term that has been used for decades to describe the differences between people in various age groups. Corporations are constantly considering what makes different generations tick when it comes to recruiting and retaining employees. But security experts say companies also need to examine age-based perspectives and habits when it comes to risk assessment and policies.
Cultural analysts generally divide today's workplace personnel into three generations: Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y, also known as Millennials. The stereotypes typically go like this:

A recent survey released by security software firm Symantec found 66 per cent of Millennial employees, those born after 1980, admit to using Web 2.0 technologies, such as Facebook and YouTube, while at work. The same poll found younger workers also regularly store corporate data on personal devices, such as PCs and USB drives.

Whether you were born in the swinging sixties or are part of the slacker generation, some security experts say generational social influences can give you bad habits and make you an office liability.