Business Continuity Management (BCM) is a form of business operations risk management. Until recently, those involved in continuity and crisis management have always been able to rely on their most important resource – people, who have proven to be tougher than anything else. But the COVID-19 pandemic placed people in the focus and context of BCM.

 

Risks are the same as before, but the way we think about them has changed. The BCM method ensures that everything necessary is done to enable the company to withstand situations that interfere with its normal activities. Continuity management provides the framework for a company's resilience and makes it capable to respond in order to protect its interest, reputation, brand and value-creating activities.

 

The method includes threat identification, risk assessment, impact analysis, crisis management plan, and recovery. Business continuity management systems are integrated in the ISO22301:2012 standard, which is expected to become requisite in larger tenders after the pandemic.

 

The benefits of implementing BCM are the attainment of stable operations and resilience, increased productivity and profitability, continuous operations, predictable response to disruptions, lower recovery costs, protection of assets, achieving competitive advantage in times of crisis, improved market position, and enhanced company image.

 

Successful BCM requires effective change management. In addition to the techniques and tools of continuity, the course examines the manifestations of pathological corporate culture and the psychological defense mechanisms that make organizations vulnerable to crises. Company culture is analyzed with a view of defining the desired organizational profile. Various ways to use control and compensation systems to strengthen the BCM project are suggested.