Response to Classmates Discussions

BUS 637 Week 6 Discussion 2

Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your fellow students’ or instructor posts in a substantive manner and provide information or concepts that they may not have considered. Each response should have a minimum of 100 words and be respectful of others’ opinions and beliefs that differ from your own. Support your position by using information from the week’s readings. You are encouraged to post your required replies earlier in the week to promote more meaningful and interactive discourse in this discussion forum. Continue to monitor the discussion forum until Day 7 and respond with robust dialogue to anyone who replies to your initial post.

Joseph Choice

Oct 27, 2020 12:40 PM

https://www.finra.org/compliance-tools/small-firm-business-continuity-plan-template

The small business continuity plan template that I found was created by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Continuity plans are critical for business in ensuring that steps are outlined in the event of a business disruption caused by a fire, flood, and any other act of God or man. In looking at the template, I found it very detailed and covered most areas that a business would need to have contingency plans for. Examples of this can be seen with its guidance on data backup and recovery for both hard files and soft electronic files, critical business systems, financial and operational assessments, communication plans for employees and customers, and alternate work location availability for employees, to name a few. I find these areas to be the baseline of what is needed for a contingency plan. The FINRA template has even more items that it recommends planning for, which I thought was beneficial for any small business. I also liked that this template also contained guidance on how to word the communication to stakeholders of each area's specific contingency plan to ensure that there are no missteps or omissions.

This business continuity plan should be evaluated and tested annually. My rationale for this is that budget, management, and operations plan generally do not change too often within the year to evaluate a continuity plan quarterly or semi-annually. If the business engages with multiple vendor partners, then it may need to have a semi-annual review. Glackin et al. (2020) recommend that these plans be reviewed once or twice a year. Annual evaluation allows management to capture any changes that have been agreed upon in forecasting and can modify those areas in the continuity plan to clarity. Some of my peers recommended a semi-annual review of continuity plans, which feel may be too much. When running a business, the key is to focus on your existing operation – sales, customer churn, cost of goods sold – that if you focus on business continuity plans multiple times throughout the year, you will lose sight of your primary focus is your business operations. If the business has the luxury of hiring a business continuity manager or project manager whose primary function is to address these plans, then I would be open to the suggestion of revisiting these plans more than once a year.

References:

Glackin, C., & Mariotti, S. (2020). Entrepreneurship: Starting and operating a small business (5th ed.). Pearson.

Andrew Magistri

Oct 27, 2020 1:15 PM

Hi everyone!

Due to my experience working in the financial industry, my preference on BCP templates is listed through FINRA's website.  The template can be found here:

https://www.finra.org/compliance-tools/small-firm-business-continuity-plan-template

FINRA's BCP plan consists of a variety of secure access points as well as diversification of asset protection through alternative physical location of associates.  Essentially, at its core, the BCP plan discusses the importance of checks and balances to protect business and consumer data.  Overall, the results of adequately following FINRA's BCP template will likely lead to a maximized volume of data protection allowing for an organization to confidently continue business practice in the event of a catestrophic emergency. 

The biggest challenge to adequately diversify is for a small business organization.  Lack of financial resources and manpower combined will likely lead to challenges in meeting BCP requirements.

Assuming the plan is able to be followed, best practice is a quarterly debrief of associates in assuring they understand their roles in the event of a BCP situation.  A trial run of events should take place annually to assure the associates may practice their respective BCP roles under a pressure tested system.

 

 

-Andrew

Glackin, C., & Mariotti, S. (2020). Entrepreneurship: Starting and operating a small business (5th ed.). Pearson