To understand how the organization works and how stable it is, one should consider its assessment using the concept of business continuity (BC). It includes evaluating how the business is resistant to various tensions and challenges, which are inevitable in all stages of business operation. The continuity plan shows how employees should act in an emergency, ensuring that their actions will be apparent, coherent, and effective.
It is an assessment of a small grocery shop based in one of the regions of Chicago. To complete it, one should use the Kildow template for a business continuity plan: it provides a responsibilities distribution among business team members. In that way, all of them have clearly defined sets of actions they should do in case of emergency in order to solve problems caused by it (Moore & Crocetti, 2020). A special questionnaire is another essential tool, as it allows one to evaluate their business by asking oneself specific questions: for example, about supply chains critical for it or location advantages (Castellan Team, 2019). To understand which questions are important for a grocery shop, one should analyze how it works. In that way, crucial functions which should be regarded for the shop continuity plan, are its supply chain, security, and ways of selling goods.
Measuring and maintaining the supposed stability of the business is the main aim of business continuity. The shop has no clear business continuity and business mitigation plan, necessary in case of disaster, which may be considered its weakness (Moore & Crocetti, 2020). Possible disasters are long-term supply disruptions or unforeseen circumstances such as robbery attacks. Another weakness is a lack of IT resources and no constant delivery service, which means that the shop cannot use the advantages of the spread of the Internet. Another critical flaw in continuity is the absence of all documents’ copies and other important data; it would be better to create them both on paper and in digital format (Castellan Team, 2019). Strong sides are beneficial agreements with suppliers, which results in constant and profitable supply chains, the most critical element of the shop; there are also contacts of additional suppliers in case of any issues. The shop’s location is another advantage: it has many regular customers from the local inhabitants, who used to buy goods there.
To conclude, the importance of business continuity is that it helps maintain the business in working conditions. To define those conditions and develop a mitigation plan, one should ask questions about the company to oneself, according to a specific questionnaire. For Chicago’s grocery shop, it means, at first, constant monitoring of supply chains and being sure that the supply will not be disrupted. A business leader should teach the team to act according to the continuity plan, such as the Kildow template. While the shop has a well-established database of reliable suppliers and locates in an area with many regular customers, it has no clear continuity plan or developed online services. It makes the business more vulnerable to unseen troubles and various disasters which may disrupt its work.
References
Castellan Team. (2019). Questions to ask when drafting a business continuity plan. Castellan.
Moore, J., & Crocetti, P. (2020). What is BCDR? Business continuity and disaster recovery guide. TechTarget.