The recent ebola virus scare, which has so far claimed the lives of several health care workers in West Africa, highlights the need for employers to implement strict measures to manage crisis and risk in business and in daily life. A recent article in the London Daily Mail highlighted how even major firms could lose millions by not having effective risk management framework & risk mitigation strategies in place. This is because the recent outbreak has highlighted how vital it is to identify, test and manage any potential threats. Moreover, companies should also be concerned about the long term costs of dealing with outbreaks such as ebola. Therefore, any business which wants to protect its staff and customers should ensure they have a good risk and crisis management strategy in place.
As already noted in the context of the recent ebola outbreak, some factories and other commercial organisations were forced to shut down for a period of time as a result of serious pandemic threats. Only those within the area could resume operations that had previously been interrupted due to public health issues. However, all those who could not return home were instructed to do so under safety escort and to isolate themselves from the rest of the general public. Those in the immediate area were warned to stay home and not to let others in the area know of their situation. Only those with immediate contact could try to contact those out of town and inform them of the crisis, and those out of town should keep an eye on the situation too.
A business continuity plan can be developed to help identify the scope of potential impact and losses along with the mitigation options available. It can then be used to help determine the financial impact upon the business and provide a framework through which stakeholders can work towards addressing the issues. An example of an impact assessment might consider the loss of a plant or a manufacturing line due to a disease breakout. The scope of such an assessment is quite broad in that it can take in a whole range of possible events that can lead to plant closures or a reduction in capacity.
As well as a business continuity plan for disasters, it is important to develop crisis management plans Melbourne and policies. This is particularly important for companies operating in regions where natural disasters tend to be more regular and therefore more frequent than elsewhere in the world. It may be necessary for companies to prepare separate plans for major hurricanes and earthquakes, whereas smaller companies may only need to take steps to mitigate against disasters that occur less frequently. There are also some areas where it may not be necessary for companies to prepare separate plans – for example, if a disaster does not affect the main production facility and warehouse, then it may not be necessary to establish separate disaster recovery plans.
Another key element of a business impact analysis (bia) is the evaluation of risk management strategies. It is often necessary for businesses to adopt comprehensive policies to mitigate against disasters of different types, but if they do not then their recovery time will be significantly shorter than companies with comprehensive disaster recovery plans in place. Companies should conduct full business continuity management plan (BCP) & impact analysis in Melbourne and look at a number of factors when determining whether or not they need to implement a policy to reduce or eliminate risk. Some of these factors include the risk of damage, loss of equipment, revenue lost due to interruption, disruption of supply chains, and the amount of business interruption caused by the disaster.
An important additional factor that companies should take into account when planning their CBA is the impact of their business reputation on their operations. The potential for loss due to a crisis will almost certainly result in lower revenues in the short term. In addition, if word about the potential for a crisis is known to employees, managers, suppliers, and other stakeholders, the risk of negative word-of-mouth publicity can seriously damage a company’s reputation in the long run. A crisis management plan should therefore consider communication strategies to mitigate the negative impact that a crisis may have on a business reputation. Furthermore, a quality CBA will take stock of all the possible losses a business may experience as a result of a crisis and manage those losses accordingly. Finally, a quality CBA should also perform a cost benefit analysis to ensure that a business is appropriately using the resources available to manage risk and maximize productivity, all of which are necessary for achieving maximum business impact analysis.
