By Franklyn Michael, Programme Specialist at CARICAD B usiness Continuity Planning (BCP) refers to all the activities planned and performed by an organisation to ensure that critical business functions can continue in the event of an emergency, crisis or disaster. The concept of Business Continuity Planning is often juxtaposed with the Business Continuity Plan. However, it is important to realise that Business Continuity Planning means more than simply producing a Business Continuity Plan. It means maintaining a mindset and a culture of preparedness such that an organisation can continue to deliver on its mandate even in the most extreme of crises; such as the COVID-19 Pandemic. The concept of BCP is used with reference to all the economic and social sectors viz: the public, private and voluntary. Additionally, the BCP concept is increasingly being folded into the much broader concept of Organisational Resilience. The website resorgs.org.nz explains the Resilience concept in this manner: Organisational resilience is the ability to survive a crisis and thrive in a world of uncertainty. Resilience is a strategic capability. It isn't just about getting through crises. A truly resilient organisation has two other important capabilities - the foresight and situation awareness to prevent potential crises emerging, and an ability to turn crises into a source of strategic opportunity. Resilience is one of the pillars of the CARICOM Strategic Plan and it is therefore important that all organisations strive ultimately for Resilience but because we are in the COVID-19 crisis, the focus of this article is Business Continuity Planning. We will use BCP for ease of reference. CARICAD FRAMEWORK FOR CRISES The CARICAD framework for managing in crises, is aligned with the BCP process. The framework emphasises actions before, during and after a crisis. The framework points to the need to perform during the crisis but also to transform afterwards. The CARICAD framework connects BCP and Resilience. The CARICAD framework is shown in this edition of the Newsletter in the Page 4 article Leading in a Crisis. We have not reproduced it here to avoid the notion of repetition. PRINCIPLES OF BUSINESSS CONTINUITY PLANNING BCP follows some well-established principles; the topic areas are shown below: Continues on next page 8
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