This paper explores the outcomes of WISE 2023, a sector-wide exercise conducted within Hong Kong's financial sector, focused on business continuity management (BCM) and enhancing operational resilience in response to emerging crises. The exercise tested financial institutions' crisis response capabilities through scenariobased simulations, fostering improvements in BCM, crisis communication and regulatory compliance. Key insights from WISE 2023 highlight the critical importance of early engagement in the planning process, building a diverse and collaborative core team, and clearly defining objectives to evaluate success. The exercise also underscored the value of incorporating external expertise and technology to enhance realism and coordination. Role clarity and strong leadership were essential for effective execution, while embedding the exercise within a broader, continuous programme fostered long-term resilience. The findings emphasise that post-exercise reviews, continuous stakeholder engagement and iterative learning are vital to maintaining preparedness and operational resilience. This paper provides BCM practitioners and exercise professionals with valuable lessons for improving crisis response in the financial sector. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
{"title":"Accelerating transformation in resilience through sector-wide scenario exercising.","authors":"Ben White, Hannah Suiter","doi":"10.69554/EKTT6281","DOIUrl":"10.69554/EKTT6281","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This paper explores the outcomes of WISE 2023, a sector-wide exercise conducted within Hong Kong's financial sector, focused on business continuity management (BCM) and enhancing operational resilience in response to emerging crises. The exercise tested financial institutions' crisis response capabilities through scenariobased simulations, fostering improvements in BCM, crisis communication and regulatory compliance. Key insights from WISE 2023 highlight the critical importance of early engagement in the planning process, building a diverse and collaborative core team, and clearly defining objectives to evaluate success. The exercise also underscored the value of incorporating external expertise and technology to enhance realism and coordination. Role clarity and strong leadership were essential for effective execution, while embedding the exercise within a broader, continuous programme fostered long-term resilience. The findings emphasise that post-exercise reviews, continuous stakeholder engagement and iterative learning are vital to maintaining preparedness and operational resilience. This paper provides BCM practitioners and exercise professionals with valuable lessons for improving crisis response in the financial sector. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.</p>","PeriodicalId":39080,"journal":{"name":"Journal of business continuity & emergency planning","volume":"19 1","pages":"36-48"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144859704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Planning for large-scale special events is a critical aspect of public safety and community engagement. While such events offer significant cultural and economic benefits, they also present unique challenges for local jurisdictions, including increased emergency call volumes, potential civil disturbances and risks of multi-casualty incidents (MCIs). This paper explores the comprehensive planning process needed to ensure both successful and safe events, focusing on collaboration among emergency managers, public safety officials and event organisers. It highlights common misconceptions surrounding event permitting, such as the belief that planning is only necessary for high-risk events or that a one-size-fits-all approach suffices. Additionally, it addresses the impacts of large-scale events on local resources and communities, outlining the key steps in the planning process: team selection, threat and vulnerability assessments, safety meetings and post-event evaluations. By providing a structured framework, this paper equips stakeholders with the tools to enhance safety and ensure that events are well coordinated and aligned with public safety needs. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
{"title":"Planning for large-scale special events: The event planning process and the role of emergency managers.","authors":"Brevyn Mettler, Molly Uemura","doi":"10.69554/BOAK7410","DOIUrl":"10.69554/BOAK7410","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Planning for large-scale special events is a critical aspect of public safety and community engagement. While such events offer significant cultural and economic benefits, they also present unique challenges for local jurisdictions, including increased emergency call volumes, potential civil disturbances and risks of multi-casualty incidents (MCIs). This paper explores the comprehensive planning process needed to ensure both successful and safe events, focusing on collaboration among emergency managers, public safety officials and event organisers. It highlights common misconceptions surrounding event permitting, such as the belief that planning is only necessary for high-risk events or that a one-size-fits-all approach suffices. Additionally, it addresses the impacts of large-scale events on local resources and communities, outlining the key steps in the planning process: team selection, threat and vulnerability assessments, safety meetings and post-event evaluations. By providing a structured framework, this paper equips stakeholders with the tools to enhance safety and ensure that events are well coordinated and aligned with public safety needs. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.</p>","PeriodicalId":39080,"journal":{"name":"Journal of business continuity & emergency planning","volume":"19 1","pages":"27-35"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144859709","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
To identify the synergy potential between business continuity management (BCM) and incident response management (IRM), the two concepts must be considered in the business context of cyber resilience management. A professional information security management focuses on protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data and information during normal operations. Its main process is through proactive risk management to minimise possible failures and threats. BCM unfolds its protection of core business processes in the event of a cyber incident by swift detection, response and recovery. IRM is the technical process of cyber crisis management, whereby existing IRM processes are activated in the event of a cyber incident. Besides the key differences in terms of the protection goals or type of measures, several synergy potentials can be identified between BCM and IRM. Furthermore, both BCM and IRM place great importance on employee awareness in cyber risk and continuous improvement. These are key elements to sustainably strengthen cyber resilience in the continuity and stabilisation phase. Both a business-orientated BCM and an IT-focused IRM mitigate the consequences of a cyberattack. Utilising the synergies of BCM and IRM ensures optimum business continuity, minimal loss impact and rapid restoration of normal operations. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
{"title":"Synergy potential between business continuity management and incident response management and the resulting added value to strengthen the competitiveness of companies in the market.","authors":"Christoph Clavadetscher, Peter E Fischer","doi":"10.69554/CDTA8583","DOIUrl":"10.69554/CDTA8583","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To identify the synergy potential between business continuity management (BCM) and incident response management (IRM), the two concepts must be considered in the business context of cyber resilience management. A professional information security management focuses on protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data and information during normal operations. Its main process is through proactive risk management to minimise possible failures and threats. BCM unfolds its protection of core business processes in the event of a cyber incident by swift detection, response and recovery. IRM is the technical process of cyber crisis management, whereby existing IRM processes are activated in the event of a cyber incident. Besides the key differences in terms of the protection goals or type of measures, several synergy potentials can be identified between BCM and IRM. Furthermore, both BCM and IRM place great importance on employee awareness in cyber risk and continuous improvement. These are key elements to sustainably strengthen cyber resilience in the continuity and stabilisation phase. Both a business-orientated BCM and an IT-focused IRM mitigate the consequences of a cyberattack. Utilising the synergies of BCM and IRM ensures optimum business continuity, minimal loss impact and rapid restoration of normal operations. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.</p>","PeriodicalId":39080,"journal":{"name":"Journal of business continuity & emergency planning","volume":"19 1","pages":"77-96"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144859710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As the remote workforce evolves, security professionals must align the workplace violence strategy to secure assets, data and employees to manage company risk tolerances. The threat of workplace violence is not only confined to the traditional office space, it is also a relevant threat for employees working from their own homes. Employees working from home do not have access to the same physical security protections or practices in place in the pre-pandemic workplace. This paper examines considerations for identifying and preparing for threats of violence and establishing a proactive approach for securing the new workforce paradigm. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
{"title":"Adapting workplace violence strategies to manage company risk and the modern workforce paradigm.","authors":"Robert Achenbach, Debra Andersen","doi":"10.69554/NTRS4803","DOIUrl":"10.69554/NTRS4803","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As the remote workforce evolves, security professionals must align the workplace violence strategy to secure assets, data and employees to manage company risk tolerances. The threat of workplace violence is not only confined to the traditional office space, it is also a relevant threat for employees working from their own homes. Employees working from home do not have access to the same physical security protections or practices in place in the pre-pandemic workplace. This paper examines considerations for identifying and preparing for threats of violence and establishing a proactive approach for securing the new workforce paradigm. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.</p>","PeriodicalId":39080,"journal":{"name":"Journal of business continuity & emergency planning","volume":"18 4","pages":"327-339"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144037450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Effective leadership training is crucial for fostering organisational resilience and ensuring community safety in the dynamic fields of emergency management and business continuity. Traditional training methods often fail to develop the adaptability and quick thinking necessary for crises. This paper explores the innovative use of improvisational (improv) techniques as a potent training tool for developing critical leadership skills. Improv exercises enhance adaptability, quick decision making and clear communication, preparing leaders to handle crises confidently and swiftly. Furthermore, the paper highlights how improv fosters team building by encouraging collaboration, trust and mutual support among team members. By leveraging improv, organisations can better equip their leaders with the skills to manage realworld emergencies, maintain resilient operations and strengthen team cohesion. The paper also connects improv training to established leadership theories, underscoring its critical role in emergency and emergency management.
{"title":"Unscripted resilience: Improv as a training tool for business continuity and emergency management leaders.","authors":"Jaeson A Weber, Abrielle Grasty","doi":"10.69554/SHGH3314","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.69554/SHGH3314","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Effective leadership training is crucial for fostering organisational resilience and ensuring community safety in the dynamic fields of emergency management and business continuity. Traditional training methods often fail to develop the adaptability and quick thinking necessary for crises. This paper explores the innovative use of improvisational (improv) techniques as a potent training tool for developing critical leadership skills. Improv exercises enhance adaptability, quick decision making and clear communication, preparing leaders to handle crises confidently and swiftly. Furthermore, the paper highlights how improv fosters team building by encouraging collaboration, trust and mutual support among team members. By leveraging improv, organisations can better equip their leaders with the skills to manage realworld emergencies, maintain resilient operations and strengthen team cohesion. The paper also connects improv training to established leadership theories, underscoring its critical role in emergency and emergency management.</p>","PeriodicalId":39080,"journal":{"name":"Journal of business continuity & emergency planning","volume":"18 3","pages":"268-280"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144318283","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editorial.","authors":"Lyndon Bird","doi":"10.69554/GUUC5464","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.69554/GUUC5464","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39080,"journal":{"name":"Journal of business continuity & emergency planning","volume":"18 3","pages":"220-221"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144318278","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editorial.","authors":"Lyndon Bird","doi":"10.69554/XCOY6093","DOIUrl":"10.69554/XCOY6093","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39080,"journal":{"name":"Journal of business continuity & emergency planning","volume":"19 1","pages":"4-5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144859707","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
John J Burke, Nina Shaafi Kabiri, Kevin Thomas, Michael Karam
This paper explores the importance of adopting a broader perspective and applying lessons learned from response and recovery efforts to establish a more adaptive incident command system (ICS) approach to recovery and resilience. The National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) has been used since its introduction in 2004 to a consistent nationwide framework and approach to enable government at all levels (federal, state, tribal, local), the private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to work together to prepare for, prevent, respond to, recover from and mitigate the effects of incidents regardless of their cause, size, location or complexity.1 NIMS provides a consistent framework for responders to handle incidents of any size or significance including those that require large command structures to ensure appropriate objectives and resources are applied to the incident within a common framework.2 While NIMS and the National Defense Response Framework (NDRF) provide specific objectives for response, less attention has been given to establishing a recovery section within ICS to enable small, medium and large communities to facilitate recovery in a structured fashion. Much of the incident command system is used for response operations. This paper examines the history of ICS and the emergence of recovery and resiliency and their intersection to offer communities with a practical recovery platform and playbook. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
{"title":"The incident command system and recovery: Establishing the recovery section in the ICS to promote sustained recovery operations.","authors":"John J Burke, Nina Shaafi Kabiri, Kevin Thomas, Michael Karam","doi":"10.69554/VYSH1374","DOIUrl":"10.69554/VYSH1374","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This paper explores the importance of adopting a broader perspective and applying lessons learned from response and recovery efforts to establish a more adaptive incident command system (ICS) approach to recovery and resilience. The National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) has been used since its introduction in 2004 to a consistent nationwide framework and approach to enable government at all levels (federal, state, tribal, local), the private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to work together to prepare for, prevent, respond to, recover from and mitigate the effects of incidents regardless of their cause, size, location or complexity.1 NIMS provides a consistent framework for responders to handle incidents of any size or significance including those that require large command structures to ensure appropriate objectives and resources are applied to the incident within a common framework.2 While NIMS and the National Defense Response Framework (NDRF) provide specific objectives for response, less attention has been given to establishing a recovery section within ICS to enable small, medium and large communities to facilitate recovery in a structured fashion. Much of the incident command system is used for response operations. This paper examines the history of ICS and the emergence of recovery and resiliency and their intersection to offer communities with a practical recovery platform and playbook. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.</p>","PeriodicalId":39080,"journal":{"name":"Journal of business continuity & emergency planning","volume":"18 4","pages":"372-380"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144048731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emergency management is an inherently stressful field. Repeated exposure to the stress of emergency incidents increases the vulnerability of responders to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Research has suggested, however, that internal organisational communication can also play a significant role in that vulnerability. This paper examines these findings through a case study of internal communication in a fire department and its effect on the stress levels of its members. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.
{"title":"Stress on the line: The role of organisational communication in responder well-being.","authors":"Ronda Nowak","doi":"10.69554/KTYG3259","DOIUrl":"10.69554/KTYG3259","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Emergency management is an inherently stressful field. Repeated exposure to the stress of emergency incidents increases the vulnerability of responders to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Research has suggested, however, that internal organisational communication can also play a significant role in that vulnerability. This paper examines these findings through a case study of internal communication in a fire department and its effect on the stress levels of its members. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.</p>","PeriodicalId":39080,"journal":{"name":"Journal of business continuity & emergency planning","volume":"18 4","pages":"395-405"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144038921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emergencies intensify existing vulnerabilities and create new ones for people in their impact areas. In the case of transportation, for example, disasters have the capacity to isolate individuals from the services on which they rely not for only their health and wellbeing, but for their very lives. This paper discusses the Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation (RARET) - a coalition-based model created to address non-life-saving transportation coordination needs during emergencies. RARET focuses on the provision of lifesustaining transportation, serving vulnerable individuals who may require first-responder assistance if their unaddressed needs remain unmet. Using examples from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as seasonal and regional disasters, the paper highlights how leveraging a coalition built to break down the sector and geographical silos leads to better outcomes for the public and bolsters regional resiliency. The paper underlines how the novel nature of RARET delivers ongoing process improvements via a new emergency transportation provider network. Lastly, the paper suggests methods to adapt this model to other jurisdictions.
{"title":"RARET's coalition-based model: Addressing complex life-sustaining transportation during emergencies.","authors":"Dean Sydnor","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Emergencies intensify existing vulnerabilities and create new ones for people in their impact areas. In the case of transportation, for example, disasters have the capacity to isolate individuals from the services on which they rely not for only their health and wellbeing, but for their very lives. This paper discusses the Regional Alliance for Resilient and Equitable Transportation (RARET) - a coalition-based model created to address non-life-saving transportation coordination needs during emergencies. RARET focuses on the provision of lifesustaining transportation, serving vulnerable individuals who may require first-responder assistance if their unaddressed needs remain unmet. Using examples from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as seasonal and regional disasters, the paper highlights how leveraging a coalition built to break down the sector and geographical silos leads to better outcomes for the public and bolsters regional resiliency. The paper underlines how the novel nature of RARET delivers ongoing process improvements via a new emergency transportation provider network. Lastly, the paper suggests methods to adapt this model to other jurisdictions.</p>","PeriodicalId":39080,"journal":{"name":"Journal of business continuity & emergency planning","volume":"17 3","pages":"248-260"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139997734","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}