Information Technology as Driving Force for Innovation
Introduction Last two decades have seen great stride in information technology. The development in information technology has changed the way business is getting conducted. One of the striking points about information technology is innovation. Information technology has been a driving force for product, service and process innovation. Innovation in Last Decades It has brought forward […]
Finance Intelligence and Its Components
Introduction In the modern global and competitive business world, it is very important to the companies to enjoy financial success. This financial success can be achieved through financial discipline, goal setting and periodic reviews. Companies which have enjoyed financial success are likely to see that trust among employees have increased; profit has improved, and employee […]
Role of Derivatives in Causing the Global Financial Crisis
The previous articles in the module have discussed how the global financial crisis has been caused due to a combination of factors starting with the collapse of the housing market in the US and then due to the integration of the global economy rapidly spread to other parts of the world. An aspect that was […]
Marketing Channel Systems – Meaning and Important Concepts
Introduction The last two decades have changed the way business is getting conducted. Some businesses are still using traditional channel systems but advent of the Internet has revolutionized distribution channels. Companies are changing business models to leverage Internet advantage. With open proliferation of information, customer expectations are reaching new heights. Companies need to figure out […]
Why Forecasting has Become Very Difficult for Individuals, Firms, and Nations
Why are we being blindsided by Black Swans ? Whether you are an individual or a decision maker in a big corporation, or a policymaker in charge of planning for nations, it is a fact that forecasting has become very difficult in the present times. Indeed, the fact that big businesses and nations alike are […]
When we talk about Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity plan for any business or organization, we need to necessarily plan for Crisis management too. Though the objectives of all these plans might vary, they are all interlinked, interdependent and mutually inclusive.
In large scale business organizations as well as high technology organizations with large operations, managements invest resources and management time in building all these plans.
The effectiveness of these plans lie both in detailed planning as well as ensuring drills and mock sessions from time to time so as to keep all the teams engaged and aware of what is to be done in case of a disaster or a crisis.
Crisis management is also a part of Disaster management. When any disaster either man made or natural strikes the business operations paralyzing the normal operations, threatening the business, involving destruction of property, resources, lives etc, the Organization is faced with a crisis.
It is one matter that the Disaster recovery teams will start action as per their plan and work towards getting the business back to its normalcy, but there is a need for a crisis team involving the management to be activated at such situations.
The crisis team comprising of senior management and functional heads quickly gather together to form a team to oversee, co-ordinate and facilitate the disaster recovery and other plans.
Crisis management involves managing and facilitating decision making, authorizing and providing financial resources, facilitating co-ordination and support from external agencies, facilitating and overseeing medical and other facilities for the staff and employees if need be coupled with reviewing security and taking adequate measures for enhancing the security around the site.
More importantly the crises team involving senior management will need to deal with media, govt agencies, insurance as well as with families and relatives of employees as well as the public and manage communications on behalf of the Company.
Managing media and providing the right information is of vital importance to the Company’s reputation during any crisis for, the information provided can adversely affect the Company’s share prices as well as the markets.
It is the crises team that holds the executive authority to take decisions of all nature including financial decisions to ensure that the crisis is managed and recovery is underway without glitches.
In terms of executive authority and powers to ensure smooth and fast recovery, as well as in terms of managing the media and information, the Crisis team holds the highest responsibility in the Organizations during any disaster or crisis. The selection and inclusion of the members to the Crisis management committee is very important and should involve senior board members as well as functional heads and senior managers from all functions.
In practical world, businesses do anticipate business risks and build continuity plans to arrest the damage. However disasters like terrorist attacks or major fire, flooding etc can impact the business operations so heavily that the disaster recovery plans may not be adequate in the event and would warrant planning and action on a different scale involving external agencies and help. Crisis team in such situations becomes the major fulcrum around which the entire disaster management recovery and management can take place.
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