The 2013 Business Continuity Management Survey (March 2013 – Ben Musgrave and Patrick Woodman)
Executive Summary
Disruptive weather – severe weather conditions remain the leading cause of disruption to organisations across the UK, for the fourth consecutive year.
Impact of 2013 snow – managers in organisations affected by snow in early 2013 report an average (mean) financial cost to their business of as much as £52,770. The most common effects were staff being unable to come to work due to travel disruption or school/childcare closures, and the cancellation of business meetings. Only 23 per cent reported no disruption whatsoever from snow.
Preparedness for snow – 56 per cent of respondents report that their organisation has formalised its arrangements for managing the impact of severe weather as a result of the last three years’ heavy snow, yet 10 per cent of managers still admit that they were unprepared for this year’s snow.
Managers’ attitudes to business continuity management (BCM) – 89 per cent of managers agree that ensuring continuity of operations is one of their key responsibilities as a manager. Eighty-two per cent say they are familiar with the concept of BCM and 80 per cent say their senior management sees BCM as quite or very important. Despite these encouraging attitudes, a smaller (albeit growing) number actually have BCM arrangements in place.
Use of BCM – 63 per cent of respondents report that their organisation has BCM arrangements in place, a modest but encouraging increase since last year (61 per cent). There has been a notable rise in its adoption in the private sector, although the public sector continues to lead the way.
The business case for BCM – 87 per cent of managers whose organisations activated their BCM arrangements in the last 12 months agree that it effectively reduced disruption; 81 per cent agree that BCM costs are justified by the benefits to the organisation.
Benefits of BCM – of those who have BCM arrangements in place, 86 per cent believe it improves business resilience, 74 per cent say it helps protect their reputation, and 72 per cent believe it meets customer requirements. Eighty-five per cent say it helped their organisation to recover from disruption more quickly than would otherwise have been the case.
Drivers of BCM – among organisations with BCM in place, corporate governance remains the biggest driver, highlighted by 52 per cent. However, many organisations are only acting reactively, with direct experience of an emergency/crisis rated as the second biggest driver (42 per cent) ahead of customer demands (38 per cent). Many organisations could ask more of their suppliers when it comes to BCM.
Reasons for not having BCM – of those managers whose organisations do not have BCM, 45 per cent claim that their business is rarely affected by disruption. Forty-three per cent state that they will deal with disruption as and when it happens and 37 per cent state that BCM is not a priority.
Acknowledgements
This report has been prepared by Ben Musgrave and Patrick Woodman at CMI.
CMI wishes to acknowledge the support and advice provided by the BCI, BSI, and the Civil Contingencies Secretariat in the Cabinet Office. Lee Glendon at BCI, Tim McGarr and Sara Walton at BSI and Rebecca Bowers and Henrietta Isaac of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat all made valuable contributions throughout the research. CMI would also like to thank John Sharp FCMI, of Kiln House Associates, for his continued support and advice.
Finally, the authors and research partners would like to thank all the CMI members who took the time to respond to the survey. We hope the report will be useful to you in improving your own organisations’ BCM arrangements.
