ISO 31000: an update

For those new to ISO 31000  – Risk management – Principles and Guidelines published by the International Standards Organization – my profoundly negative view of it can be found in earlier postings .

ISO 31000 has spawned, at the moment of writing, 2.9 million Google hits. I cannot say that none of them addresses the concerns raised in my earlier postings only that I have not seen them addressed. ISO seems to be simply a flag unto which people project whatever is currently bothering them about risk management without making meaningful connection with ISO 31000 itself. Since it costs CHF 116 it is possible that many have never read it.

This post however addresses a different problem. In an attempt to monitor what was going on in the ISO 31000 world I joined a linked in website called G31000 . It is run by Alex Dali, possibly ISO 31000s most enthusiastic promoter. He is the owner of an entity called G31000 that describes itself as The Global Platform for ISO 31000.  He has a website- and  claims  that his company –  The Global Institute for Risk Management Standards has 10,001+ employees. So, I thought, a useful portal into the world of ISO 31000. Google maps helpfully provides a view of its headquarters at 6 Residence la Sabotte, Marly-le-Roi, Paris, France.

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 It is not clear whether these are the homes of some of the 10,001+ employees, nor exactly where in this complex the office of the owner is to be found.

Monsieur Dalis Linkedin site  purports to be a forum for exchanging ideas about ISO 31000.

I say purports. I have been a contributor to this forum in the past, but not recently – but I have kept a watching brief. A recent post by a regular contributor, Ian Dalling captured my interest: Allen [Allen Gluck  vice-president of G31000], this news is very welcome. The incident [the temporary shutting down of the G31000 Linkedin website] has shaken people’s confidence – it would be good if you or Alex could elaborate further on what caused the incident and positively state that there was no truth in any of the accusations?

And a follow-on post from Dalling: given the web gossip may I ask the current status of Madeline Le Blanc within this LinkedIn Group?

Why Madeleine LeBlanc might feature in web gossip damaging to G31000 is explained here . Her profile claims that she currently works for JLP Events. I phoned the only JLP Events that I could find on Google and they denied knowing anyone of this name. We know that she has been trading under a false photograph. Does she exist? This is not a trivial question. Madeleine.LeBlanc@G31000.org was the email address used in various exercises in the past soliciting significant amounts of money, e.g. http://www.slideshare.net/dali1010/toronto-conference-booking-form-4-16.

At this point I joined the discussion with a post of my own: And at the same time might we have some information about Formascope. I can find lots about this Formascope – http://www.societe.com/societe/formascope-443194733.html – but almost none about this Formascope – http://www.verif.com/comptes-annuels/DALI-ALEXIS-490167905/ – except that it hasn’t filed any accounts of which this website is aware [A notre connaissance, cette société n’a pas déposé ses comptes annuels].”

This appears to have been a sensitive inquiry. Formascope is a company listed on M. Dalis profile so, I thought, a legitimate subject of inquiry in  the light of the “web gossip” about which Dalling was seeking reassurance. My post appeared briefly before being removed without explanation. And shortly thereafter the Comment Box was removed, ending the discussion without either of Ian Dallings questions receiving an answer.

The message then became clearer:

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There is nothing that pricks my curiosity more than being dropped into the Orwellian Memory Hole. So I took a closer look at the G31000 website – starting with Formascope.    It features in his profile under the heading Managing Partner where it is described as a Training company specialized in global risk management. If you click on Managing Partner you get taken to a list of 100 people who all have managing partner in their job titles. Their connection with G31000, if any, is not made clear.

If you click on Formascope here you get an even more intriguing response. You are taken to a page that introduces you to five people without names two of whom do not even have faces. Certainly they have impressive job titles. Three are Chefs dentreprise, one is Directeur and the other Président, a position I thought reserved for M. Dali himself . This impressive list of leaders sits uncomfortably alongside the only information I could glean from a Google search: http://www.verif.com/societe/DALI-ALEXIS-490167905/ – namely that Formascope, a company with 10,001+ employees, has not filed any accounts.

If you click your way through the rest of Alexs Profile you are rewarded with other interesting information. Click on President and you get another list of 100 people, all called President. If you click on Global Institute for Risk Management Standards – The Global Platform for ISO 31000 – you get further confirmation of the fact that he is president of a company with 10,001+ employees!

Clicking on Managing Director Atlascope brings up another 100 people all called Managing Director but no information about Atlascope.

Click on . Well perhaps you get the idea.

Perhaps there are simple answers to Ian Dalling’s questions that M. Dali has not yet had time to provide, and explanations for the questions raised by my amateur Internet sleuthing. If so I will be happy to publish them.

Although I have been highly critical of ISO 31000, it makes one point in its introduction with which I am in full agreement: the effective management of risk, it says, will improve stakeholder confidence and trust. My brief perusal of the G31000 website and experience of  (and blocking from) one of its associated discussion forums has inspired neither.

Another, more energetic and wide-ranging, inquiry into the activities of G31000 is being conducted by Christopher Paris of Oxebridge. See:

http://www.oxebridge.com/emma/?p=2870 , http://www.oxebridge.com/emma/?p=2668 , http://www.oxebridge.com/emma/?p=2628, and

http://www.oxebridge.com/emma/?p=3086

PS

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