(MSPAlliance) – Wednesday, April 26, 2006 – New research indicates that a global pandemic affecting one-quarter of human life is increasingly likely, and businesses may be caught unprepared. The Asian Development Bank has said that a global pandemic is “only a matter of time,” while the London Chamber of Commerce reports that one of five businesses could not survive a 12-week avian flu outbreak. The U.S. National Intelligence’s Council’s 2020 Project, Mapping the Global Future, describes a global pandemic as the single most important threat to the global economy.
It is unknown whether avian flu will mutate and spread to humans, but, in the event of an avian flu outbreak, companies would almost certainly face severe restrictions on international travel, perpetual disruptions to supply chains and a general slowdown in business. Of course, avian flu is only one of several unpredictable and possibly catastrophic events, so businesses can only prepare for what might happen.
Companies need to implement business continuity plans that assess specific risks, place concrete values on disruptions to internal processes, sort these risks in relation to investment, assume a 25 percent reduction in the available workforce and develop strategies that make the most of existing resources and locations. More progressive businesses make sure that a business continuity plan is part of general operations.
Companies must make employees aware of a pandemic threat and inform shareholders about business continuity preparations. Technology infrastructures should be designed for maximum portability of work from one location to another, while companies should also implement “skeleton” teams of key staff that still come to work during a pandemic. Creating pervasive awareness of the global pandemic threat remains one of the best approaches businesses can take.