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Prior to the introduction of Six Sigma philosophy, there was a debate as to whether Six Sigma is a goal worth pursuing. Many experts in the area of quality believed that wastage was a way of life. Trying to eliminate wastage would cause more wastage. They believed that it was possible to eliminate waste but […]
Information System for Business Effectiveness
Introduction In this digital age with fierce competition, it is essential that managers within organization are completely aware and receptive to evolving changes. One the quickest evolving change is within information systems. This change in information systems is contributed to advances in computing and information technology. Applying a concept that information system is strictly under […]
Organizations Need of the Day – Business Process Improvements
Today the need of the hour is for the Organizations to be competitive and embracing new methods, processes, to keep changing continually to ensure future growth and survival. It is only those Organizations that have been responsive to the need for continuous change and those that have been able to keep reviewing themselves with reference […]
Europe’s Controversial Common Agricultural Policy
European nations have been following a controversial policy called the common agricultural policy. Under this policy, European governments have been giving subsidies to their own farmers. These subsidies artificially lower the price of some crops leading to market distortions. This is the reason why Europe’s common agricultural policy has come under severe criticism many times. […]
Perspective on International Trade – Meaning and Important Concepts
International trades between countries and across continents have existed for centuries including previous civilizations. Traditionally international trade consisted of traded goods like textile, food items, spices, precious metals, precious stones, and objects of art and various items across the borders. Everybody has heard of the silk route as well as amber road and other famous […]
Managing Business operations in current times is a big challenge. Apart from having to keep looking at the bottom lines and market shares, the managements have another major are to be concerned about which is to continually keep assessing the risk to the business from all quarters and build Disaster Recovery plan in place.
It is true that businesses face a lot of threats from several quarters including external threats from terrorists, natural calamities, unforeseen circumstances besides internal systems failures threatening shut down of operations etc.
In the highly competitive world today, every organization has realized the value and the need to have disaster recovery and business continuity plan in place to avoid disruption to the services and customers.
No business today can afford to have disruptions to its operations and deliveries. Realizing the uncertainties and the need to cover the risks, customers today have begun to demand that the Supplier Organizations and vendors demonstrate their capability to execute a viable Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity plans in place. On the whole we can say that every stake holder in the business has an interest to see that the business continuity is maintained at all times.
Take the case of critical IT systems and network installations in Banks and Credit Card companies. Banking, hospitals, telecommunications and such critical operations cannot afford a failure on the part of their IT Systems both in terms of systems failure or hardware failure. They select vendors and partner with only those who are able to demonstrate the capability and provide workable solution for business continuity and disaster recovery.
Providing such plan has become a part of the total solution proposal and the cost of such plan may not come cheap. However both the supplier and the customer organizations cannot afford to go without a plan in place.
Retaining brand leadership and market share is a huge challenge for companies. In the face of intense competition, the brands have got to keep up their performance on quality, delivery and all fronts to ensure they maintain their growth rates.
When faced with several options and choices, the Customer recall of a brand and loyalty to the brand may be very weak. In such cases, the companies cannot afford to have any disruption to supplies or absence from the market.
During the last year, floods in Thailand & Philippines caused immense damage to the plants especially the automotive and electronic industries. As a result the production and supplies to the markets were disrupted for quite a few months causing immense damage to the market share as well as to the financial health of the company.
Global companies usually have multiple locations in different regions of the world. Such multiple locations help them cover the risk of plant shut down to a large extent for they can easily set up alternative production lines and get started faster than the other companies who do not have alternatives on hand.
Managements today are answerable to a host of stake holders in their business. They are answerable to the board and shareholders who expect the company to perform under all circumstances.
Besides, the regulatory authorities as well as the financial institutions who extend credit and fund the Company expect their returns and performance from the Company irrespective of any disruption. Security and Safety is a major concern that is required to be addressed by Companies from the point of view of human resource angle as well as from insurance perspective.
With all of the above requirements, it has become imperative for Companies in current times to adapt a disaster management and business continuity plan irrespective of the size of the Company. As business practices, products and technology are evolving, so are the risks and the need to cover the risks and ensure business continuity.
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Business Continuity Management Planning around the World
February 12, 2025
