Successful Strategies for Delivering Large IT Projects on Time
Large IT Projects and Delays and Cost Overruns It is estimated that more than 80% of IT (Information Technology) projects often are behind schedule as well as having cost overruns. This is especially the case with large IT projects that involve multiple stakeholders and take a lot of time to complete. There are many reasons […]
What Businesses, Groups, and Professionals can do when Faced with Stagnation
What to do when Businesses and Professionals Stagnate Stagnation can happen to anyone. Whether they are businesses, nations, societies, groups, or individuals, the prospect of withering away due to lack of growth or career mobility or opportunities can make even the most resilient of the institutions to atrophy and stagnate. Indeed, the fact that there […]
Asset Management and Budgetary Control
One of the major financial functions is the management of fixed assets. Asset management module primarily maintains asset register, which provides information about asset related transactions. Asset Management thus helps in keeping track of fixed assets, handling fixed asset depreciation for fiscal reporting and revaluation of asset. Budgetary control (BC) module is another important finance […]
The Impact of COVID-19 on Start-ups
Startups had become an important part of the modern economic system. Most of the companies which have achieved billion-dollar valuations in the past few years have come out of the startup ecosystem. Companies like Uber, Twitter, Facebook, and Airbnb are testimony to this fact. The startup system has often been viewed as a risky place. […]
Employee Portal for Human Resource
Introduction Information systems have revolutionized the way businesses get conducted. It facilitates automation across departments. Information systems are getting actively used by human-resource team. Most of Human-Resource activities are done through online or web-based portals. This web based portal help employee or HR team member access data from anywhere in the world or from remote […]
Business continuity planning and management is an approach that companies adopt to protect themselves from unforeseen and high impact events. In recent years, Black Swan events or low probability high impact events that no one can foresee with accuracy have become common.
For instance, the collapse of the American Investment Bank, Lehmann Brothers in September 2008 was a major event that precipitated a near meltdown of the financial system. Similarly, the Fukushima Nuclear Plant disaster following the Japanese Tsunami of March 2011 was another such event that took everyone by surprise. Hence, the clear implications of these and other similar events is that companies and individuals must be prepared for such events that threaten their very existence.
The key aspect here is that such events used to happen in earlier decades as well. However, given the rapid integration of the global economy, the impact of such events has been magnified several times leading to systemic threats and systemic risks. In this context, it is important more than ever for companies and individuals to be on the lookout for such systemic threats to their existence.
We all know how the relentless 24/7 news cycle and the breaking news phenomenon have amplified the impact of events that happen half a world away but nonetheless cause damage to faraway places.
The point to be noted is that as globalization helped companies and individuals reach out to a global consumer base and global news audience, it has also increased the exposure of companies and individuals to happenings all over the world. This is more the reason why companies and individuals must be prepared to deal with global events that cause local impact and the intersection of a global event and the local impact that it brings has to be planned for and guarded against.
For instance, companies that are publicly listed have to ensure that their exposure to global risks is quantified and accounted for. Otherwise, happenings in one corner of the world would have an impact on their stock prices and the market capitalization of such companies.
Apart from this, companies have to be prepared for tail risks that are the leftover risks from such systemic threats.
For instance, Ranbaxy has been fined for adulteration of medicines in the United States. The cascading effect of such an event has been felt in India and across the world where hospitals and pharmacies are advising against buying their medicines.
Though the fact that its drugs might be adulterated in India as well, the key aspect here is that in a globalized world, happenings in one corner of the world affect global companies elsewhere as well.
Further, companies must be prepared to deal with manmade and natural disasters at the same time.
Astute business continuity planning and management can serve to minimize and mitigate the risk from such events.
For instance, many multinational companies have backup locations or off sites in secondary cities so that employees can be taken there and business restored in the shortest time possible.
There is the other aspect of companies having data centers and software backups in secondary locations so that in the event of a disaster, data can be restored, business up, and running.
Finally, it is the prerogative of companies to mitigate themselves against systemic risks. However, in recent months, even regulators are advising companies to have foolproof backup plans so that in case of systemic risks, they are well prepared and planned for. This is the case with many financial institutions that have been asked by the market regulators to keep the documents and artifacts safe and secure and to protect consumer data and records so that any systemic event does not render the data inaccessible.
In conclusion, in this 24/7 global age, all of us are vulnerable to systemic risks and hence, safe and secure planning for unanticipated events must be done so that the downsides of such risks are mitigated.
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Business Continuity Management Planning around the World
February 12, 2025
