Review of Literature 2013

8/13/2019 Review of Literature 2013

1/17

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Interest continues to grow in the fields of emergency management and business continuity

(together referred to as contingency planning). The evolution of business continuity management

from Disaster Recovery (DR) to Business Continuity Planning (BCP) to BC has led to many

different definitions being !roffered over time.

BCM

"erbane (#$%$) states that& BC has become established as a formalised structure and

e'!ression of an organiations crisis management values and !ractices with standards develo!ed

in the early #$$$s. BC focuses on assuring continuous business !rocesses and !lays a

!rominent !art in the organiations ability to recover after disru!tion. BC is also an on*going

!rocess and !lanning for it includes reviewing DR& business recovery& business resum!tion and

contingency !lanning. The com!rehensive and on*going nature of BC should therefore be

included as !art of any BC definition.

Research conducted by +lliott& ,wart and "erbane (#$%$) suggests ado!ting a crisis

management a!!roach to BC. They suggest e'!anding the !rocess of BC to include the

social elements that are often !art of a disru!tive event and maintain that organiations often

!lay a role in causing failures themselves. They also note the im!ortant role that an

organiations managers !lay in BC& the fact that interru!tions im!act on the many

sta-eholders in an organiation and that if managed !ro!erly incidents do not necessarily


2/17

inevitably lead to a crisis. This means that the wider su!!ly chain and all an organiations

sta-eholders both internal and e'ternal need to be covered in a BC definition.

The Information Technology Infrastructure ibrary (ITI)& IT ,ervice anagement framewor-

offers an alternate ris- management view of BC saying that it is the business !rocess

res!onsible for managing ris-s to the business and that it !rotects the interests of -ey

sta-eholders& organiational re!utation& brand and value creating activities.

The ITI definition also notes that BC hel!s reduce ris-s to an acce!table level. It is

interesting to note the business focus of the ITI definition as ITI is mainly a technology

focused !rocess. The ITI definition further shifts the focus of BC away from technology and

on to the business and its sta-eholders. The Basel committee on ban-ing su!ervision& ta-ing a

financial and business focus& define BC as/

01 whole*of*business a!!roach that includes !olicies& standards& and !rocedures for

ensuring that s!ecified o!erations can be maintained or recovered in a timely fashion in

the event of a disru!tion.2 (Basel Committee on Ban-ing ,u!ervision& #$$3& !.%)

The BCI note that BC and ris- management sit side by side and that the main ob4ective of

BC is to allow organiations manage their business under adverse conditions by im!lementing

resilience strategies& recovery ob4ectives& BC and crisis management !lans in collaboration

with& or as a -ey com!onent of& an integrated ris- management initiative.

5ltimately the most com!rehensive definition of BC which aligns with the current BCI

definition and includes the multi!le elements covered by the earlier definitions !osed by


3/17

academics& is that !ut forward by the standard British ,tandards Institute (B,I) which states that

BC is/

01 holistic management !rocess that identifies !otential threats to an organiation and the

im!acts to business o!erations that those threats& if realied& might cause& and which

!rovides a framewor- for building organiational resilience with the ca!ability for an

effective res!onse that safeguards the interests of its -ey sta-eholders& re!utation& brand&

and value*creating activities.2 (B,I #$$3& !.%)

This definition notably recognises that BC is a !art of building based a!!roach to disru!tive

events and it enca!sulates the main elements of earlier definitions such as resuming business

after a disru!tive event& the survival of the mission critical elements of the business& the ability to

!re!are for disru!tive events& the continuous nature of BC& testing6rehearsing BC& the

internal6e'ternal nature of events and the com!etitive advantages gained as a whole.

BC as noted by "erbane (#$%$) which began as an 1nglo*centric& information technology

focused activity has become a !rocess that has now become an e'!ectation rather than lu'ury.

The Literary Framework

The framewor- around which the literature is reviewed is drawn from the BC lifecycle. 1 -ey

aim of the literature review is to identify and discuss what has been !ro!osed as constituting

good !ractice in terms of BC. This is then used as the benchmar- against which the research

can measure the e'ecution of BC in large organiations.


4/17

BCM Programme Management

Programme management is central to the BC !rocess and includes/

+nsuring !artici!ation of to! management7

1ssigning res!onsibilities (8overnance)7

Im!lementing business continuity in the organiation7

The on*going management of business continuity.

Participation of Top Management

9hen reviewing the body of literature it is evident that the !artici!ation of senior management is

crucial to the success of BC. ,eow (#$$:) !oints out that not getting to! management buy in

and commitment to starting and sustaining a BC !rogramme in an organiation can be an

obstacle to the !rogrammes success. 9ithout it the BC !rogramme will almost certainly fail.

It is the res!onsibility of the board of directors to review the business continuity !rogramme

annually according to ;och (#$$


5/17


6/17

BC res!onsibility needs to ensure BC is !ositioned correctly which means !ositioning and

selling senior management on a cor!orate contingency !lanning !olicy and strategy& and

documenting this !olicy and strategy in writing before any other activities are underta-en in the

!rogramme !rocess.

Involvement in BC !rogrammes on an on*going basis should therefore be a normal !art of

senior managements role as it would with o!erational ris- management for instance. ;nowledge

of senior management !riorities and issues will enable the BC !ractitioner to get the re?uired

bac-ing for the BC !rogramme in order for it to be established on a firm footing.

The ne't im!ortant ste! in the BC !rogramme after gaining management a!!roval and bac-ing

is to ma-e sure that the !rogramme res!onsibilities are correctly assigned to the relevant grou!s

and individuals.

Assigning Responsibilities (Governance)

9hen assigning res!onsibilities for the BC !rogramme the literature clearly states that those

res!onsible need to have the re?uired levels of authority and seniority in order to ma-e the

!rogramme successful& res!onsibility should not be given to a member of the IT team as the

danger will be that BC will be loo-ed on as an IT initiative by the rest of the organiation. 1ll

levels of the organiation should be involved in the im!lementation of BC.

It is im!erative that an organiation should a!!oint someone with the a!!ro!riate seniority&

authority and s-ills to be accountable for its im!lementation and should a!!oint a team or grou!

to im!lement and maintain the BC !rogramme. It is noteworthy that the em!hasis is on an

individual with the a!!ro!riate seniority and authority and that a team rather than one individual


7/17

is res!onsible for im!lementing and maintaining the !lan. 1ronson (%:::) also recognises that

one of the most crucial ste!s when assigning res!onsibilities for a BC !rogramme is that the

correct !erson with the re?uired levels of authority is chosen to head u! the !rogramme.

To enable the BC !rogrammes success it is crucial that res!onsibilities are not s!lit across to

many grou!s or de!artments but are focused in the a!!ro!riate areas. @rganiations still tend to

s!lit BC res!onsibilities between o!erations& security& IT& management& and other de!artments&

thereby increasing the ris- that something will fall through the crac-s according to 1d-ins&

Thornton and Bla-e (#$$:). +lliott& ,wart and "erbane (#$%$) warn that the BC !ro4ect

management role should not be given to an IT s!ecialist either as this then ma-es BC an IT

issue and not a business wide issue and advise that the board a!!oint a business continuity

steering grou! to su!!ort the BC !ro4ect manager in order to drive the !rocess at local or

de!artmental level. The steering grou! should include senior and influential staff from different

business units or de!artments and acts as a conduit between o!erative level em!loyees and any

central BC team. The involvement of em!loyees in the BC should be achieved through

selected re!resentatives from across the organiation by function or location to hel! im!lement

the BC !rogramme and advocates that BC roles& accountabilities& res!onsibilities and

authorities should be integrated into 4ob descri!tions and s-ill sets. To reinforce these

res!onsibilities they must be included in the a!!raisal and reward system of the organiation.

@nce the correct res!onsibility for BC has been identified the im!lementation of the

!rogramme is the ne't logical ste!.

Implementing Business Continuity in the rgani!ation


8/17


9/17

systems and !lans are u!dated whenever there is a significant change in the organiations

environment& !ersonnel& !rocesses or technology. BC !lans also need to be u!dated when an

e'ercise or incident highlights deficiencies.

1ccording to Braeau (#$$=)& everyone within an organiation must embrace BC for it to be

effective. 1s noted by +lliott& ,wart and "erbane (#$%$)& effective BC is a !art of sound

management !ractice and not a bolt on !rocess.

In order to ensure that BC is -e!t u! to date it is crucial that it is embedded into the

organiations culture beginning at the to! of the organiation and wor-ing its way down through

it using continual communication so that it will become !art of the way that an organiation is

managed. 1t each stage of the BC !rocess& o!!ortunities e'ist to introduce and enhance an

organiations BC culture to ensure this ha!!ens.

#n$erstan$ing rgani!ational Culture

9hen embedding BC into the organiations culture it is hel!ful to have an understanding from

general management literature of what is meant by organiational culture. ;ello (#$$:) states

that most definitions of culture em!hasie that culture re!resents a high*level& sum*total of

attitudes& beliefs& norms& and behaviours. In these terms& culture s!ecifies 0how things wor-

around here.2 ;ello (#$$:) identifies that there has always been a bit of a 0chic-en*and egg2

!roblem with culture and its measurement which comes first& the behaviours and attitudes& or the

culture>

It is im!ortant to ac-nowledge as outlined by ;ello (#$$:)& that there are often both e'!licit

(what the organiation says it is about) and im!licit (inferences& often unwritten that the


10/17

em!loyees draw from their e'!erience in the organiation) cultures evident and in o!eration in

organiations. itroff& Pauchant& inny and Pearson (%:=:) as cited by +lliott& ,wart and

"erbane (#$%$) suggest that an organiations culture is the set of unwritten rules that govern

acce!table behaviour within and outside the organiation.

Culture an$ BCM

9hen viewing culture from a BC !ers!ective& Rossing (#$$A) states that culture is !resent in

all stages of the !rocess. 9hen auditing6reviewing an organiations BC !rocess the culture

that develo!s over time should be ta-en into account. 1 strong BC culture will more than

li-ely reflect that the BC !rogramme has strong senior management su!!ort and therefore

visible investments in maintaining high levels of resilience. 9ith a wea- BC culture these

elements will most li-ely be missing. 1lesi (#$$=) stresses that when creating a culture of

resiliency7 accountability needs to be co*located with authority and BC com!onents should be

integrated into day*to*day o!erations. It is im!ortant to ma-e every em!loyee !art of a !lan& and

ma-e the !lan accessible to them. The organiation must be !re!ared to im!rovise. ,heffi (#$$A)

states that when creating a culture of resiliency within an organiation where em!loyees are able

to res!ond ?uic-ly to incidents using familiar tools& which creates a model that lends itself to the

re?uired fle'ibility& the right cor!orate culture& 0a shared !assion to be successful2 is a crucial

ingredient in creating resilient enter!rises.

+mbedding BC into the organiational culture therefore re?uires an awareness of the wider

e'isting organiational culture and must be underta-en carefully in order for it to become

internalied by em!loyees for the future. "aving all of the above BC !rogramme elements in


11/17

!lace should lead to the organiations BC !rogramme being com!rehensive and functional

from its ince!tion and throughout the lifetime of the organiation.

BCM an$ Change Management

It is vital that BC !lans are constantly maintained& 8allagher (#$$) warns that if BC !lans are

not -e!t u! to date following organiational changes they will become irrelevant. +lliott& ,wart

and "erbane (#$$#) ma-e reference to the fact that more attention has often been directed to the

!lanning dimension of the BC !rocess than that of im!lementation& both in !ractice and in

various !ublications. ;4aergaard (#$$:) outlines that when it comes to organiational change and

maintaining BCPs& organiations face a dilemma when they engage in strategy ma-ing& because

they must reconcile the constant tension between continuity and change. 1s organiations face

constant change as a result of todays business environment& the BC management strategy

needs to be fle'ible enough to be able to -ee! !ace with this challenge.

The literature notes that it is im!ortant that in any BC !rocess !lans are -e!t u!dated as the

organiation evolves over time through a change management (C) !rocess. The BC

!rogramme therefore needs to be !art of the organiational C !rogramme in order for it to be

-e!t current. 1rmit (#$$A) refers to this noting that !lans reflect the business re?uirements at that

time. Re?uirements and recovery times are not constant and must be maintained via a BC& C

!rocess. Commenting on the C of the BC !rogramme& +lliott& ,wart and "erbane (#$%$) state

that generic change management strategies should be used to ensure effective BC

im!lementation.


12/17


13/17


14/17

Fig"re 2 Com!rehen%i'e Emergeny Management Framework

Re$erene%

1d-ins& 8. .& Bla-e& ;.& F Thornton& T. E. (#$$:). 1 content analysis investigating relationshi!s

between communication and business continuity !lanning. The Journal of Business

Communication& ().


15/17

1lesi& P. (#$$=). Building enter!rise*wide resilience by integrating business continuity ca!ability

into day*to*day business culture and technology.Journal Of Business Continuity &

mergency !lanning& "()& #%


16/17

8allagher& . (#$$).Business continuity management% how to protect your company from

'anger. ondon/ Prentice "all6inancial Times.

8inn& R. D. (%::#). Continuity planning% pre*enting, sur*i*ing, an' reco*ering from 'isaster.

@'ford& +ngland/ +lsevier 1dvanced Technology.

"arrald& Eohn R. (%::=).A Strategic Framework for Corporate Crisis Management+ The

International +mergency anagement Conference %::= (TI+, :=) Proceedings.

9ashington& DC.

"erbane& B. (#$%$) The evolution of business continuity management/ 1 historical review of

!ractices and drivers. Business "istory& # (3) !!. :A=*%$$#

"iles& 1. (#$$A). The 'efiniti*e han'(ook of (usiness continuity management(#nd ed.).

"obo-en& G.E./ 9iley.

owe&J. "77/. J!ro8ect #nitiation an' Management+9 #n The :efiniti*e an'(ook of Business

Continuity Management& edited by 1. "iles. #nd ed. 9est ,usse'

;ello, E+ #$$:). "ow to assess your culture+ Industrial ,afety F "ygiene Gews,+ ;12-, ";)"2+


17/17

Organi=ation & n*ironment.

yers& ;. G. (#$$3).Business continuity strategies% protecting against unplanne' 'isasters(rd

ed.). "obo-en& G.E./ 9iley.

Rossing& T. D. (#$$A). Springer han'(ook of acoustics. Gew Hor-& G.H./ ,!ringer.

,eow& ;. (#$$:). 8aining senior e'ecutive commitment to business continuity/ otivators and

reinforcers.Journal Of Business Continuity & mergency !lanning& 1()& #$%*#$=.

,haw& 8regory. . (#$$

Documents

Review of Literature 2013