ABSTRACT
Since the first edition of this book was published the importance of BC has become clearer. The expectation that organisations should consider BC routinely comes from many sources: suppliers, government, communities and publics increasingly expect it; customers may demand it; insurers require it; and governments encourage it. Within the so-called Audit Society (Power, 1997), many stakeholders almost demand that organisations are able to demonstrate compliance with standards and benchmarks, else risk losing custom. The importance of being seen to do the right thing cannot be underestimated, as evidenced by the growing popularity of benchmarking (Green, 2006). Where the last chapter was concerned with establishing and reinvigorating the process of continuity management, the focus of this chapter is upon planning for BC. This requires analysing an organisation’s capabilities and resources as well as the business environment in which it operates. It also calls for BC practitioners and managers to think creatively about potential interruption scenarios and their possible impacts upon activities and stakeholders.
