Contingency Planning: The Planning Process

Contingency Planning: The Planning Process

Amanda Rabius

PHL/320

September 24, 2017 Contingency Planning: The Planning Process

Is it practical to not have a backup plan for your business? It could mean taking a boring nine-to-five job after failing a new venture. Recovering from a disaster and planning be the continuation of your business is not something that is only done one time either. It is continuous. A backup plan is only as good as your ability to recover from the downfall. Some people may use the phrase “Plan B” in our personal lives, but it is important to have a back-up plan when it comes to business. In corporate America, this is known as a business contingency plan (BCP). The planning process for this should take an “all hazards”

I asked Ms. Lyons: What parts of planning are most likely to require a back-up plan and explain why? Her belief is organizations may need to prioritize different areas more than others due to what field the business is in and also consider what processes or units might be used more. Think of total company equipment failure versus needing coverage for an employee that took a sick day. The SWOT analysis is a technique that could be used identify key steps to developing a contingency plan. Analysis recognizes strengths and weaknesses and examines potential opportunities and threats. A company can manage and eliminate threats better that they might otherwise be unaware of. Particularly it helps to unfold opportunities able to use to their advantage. The strategy can provide helpfull data coincides with resources and abilities of the environment in which the business operates. The situation in the SWOT consists of an internal environment which covers weaknesses and strengths. Whereas, the external analysis examines opportunities and threats. So, there is a four-step process you can use to prepare a contingency plan for your business Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats. Strengths would be characteristics of the business or a team that give it an advantage over others in the industry. This can include attributes, internal to an organization. Beneficial aspects of the organization or the capabilities of an organization, process capabilities, financial resources, products and services, customer goodwill and brand loyalty. A weakness is an element that places the organization at a disadvantage compared to others. Detract the organization from its ability to attain the core goal and influence its growth. Weaknesses are the factors which do not meet the standards we feel they should meet.