Business Continuity Management– Building Block of Dynamic Resilience

Today’s organizations face almost constant exigencies and disruptive events such as natural or manmade disasters, technological innovations, public relations crises, and cyber-attacks, which have led many of them to reconsider their approaches to their business continuity management processes and practices. Organizations may lack resilience and lose critical functions or interrupt operations if they encounter a disruption. Adverse events causing loss of functionalities may also affect stakeholders and society. Therefore, business continuity management is essential for enhancing dynamic resilience. This case study research uses qualitative methods to collect and analyze the data. The data were collected by conducting 28 interviews of Finnish continuity management practitioners and experts. Then a cross-case analysis of the data was conducted. The results of the study show that business continuity principles are recognized and utilized in the organizations’ security management work to a varying extent. Emphasis is put on dynamic continuity planning, including continuous risk assessment and exercises and open communication. By following these principles flexibly and by adapting to the changing environment, the organizations may be able to build and enhance dynamic resilience.