​​When considering or planning country entry, conventional political risk assessment – yielding research reports focused on macro-level trends and national politics – helps to decide if entry is feasible and instils a sense of the overall terrain.

 

But once an operation or subsidiary has settled in, “about the country” reports start to lose value. The organisation adapts to its environment, and its ongoing presence and behaviour shape socio-political attitudes towards it. The health of this evolving, two-way relationship can become far more consequential than national developments.

​

Harmattan’s operational reviews respond to this shift by deriving actionable insights drawn directly from the organisation’s experience on the ground. Rather than relying on a lengthy research process, these reviews prioritise in-depth dialogue within the country team and its stakeholder network.

 

The aim is to understand how the organisation’s fit with its socio-political environment is changing — and to identify issues and vulnerabilities as areas for improvement to support a more resilient and sustainable presence.

​

A review is scalable depending on the need and context. In some cases, a few discussions with relevant functions, followed by a workshop with management and trusted local partners, could suffice for actionable insight. In other instances, that might kickstart a process which then involves interviews within the organisation and among the operation’s most immediate stakeholders. Finally, a “360” would extend beyond the operation’s periphery to seek outside perspectives on its socio-political position and significance.

 

In all cases, the line of enquiry is not driven by a preordained checklist, but rather by emerging indications of the more relevant issues.

​

This streamlined, dialogue-driven approach – relying on discrete conversations – yields nuanced but critical findings which would have been missed in conventional assessment.

 

Past cases have unearthed deep concerns about host community friction, internal silos impeding risk management, mixed messaging and uncoordinated stakeholder engagement, tensions between expat and local staff, pressure to cut corners in security for the sake of efficiency, and concerns about security provider and partner integrity. Left unaddressed, these kinds of issues steadily corrode trust, security and performance.

​

We understand the sensitivities involved in garnering human insight in complex environments. Harmattan is accustomed to working on the ground in contexts where subtlety, judgement and discretion are vital. 

​​

 

​