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This paper aims to theoretically and empirically demonstrate the role played by business continuity management (BCM) to address risks such as trade conflicts and natural disasters. This paper also answers whether compliance with international standards such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 22301 is adequate.

A case study of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is conducted to examine how a robust end-to-end BCM system has been established in two decades and in what way it has helped Huawei to efficiently maintain growth under pressure, such as being added to the “Entity List” and the pandemic.

Huawei case contributes to BCM theory in its approach to establishing the BCM system and its well-established BCM model. Huawei establishes and continually improves its BCM system by applying the Plan (establish), Do (implement and operate), Check (monitor and review) and Act (maintain and improve) cycle. Characterized as 4Ps: BCM policy, BCM process, incident management plan and business continuity plan, Huawei BCM system is shaped into a loop with end-to-end BCM process, covering all steps along its value chain – from suppliers and partners to Huawei itself and then on to its customers – with key initiatives for all domains such as R&D, procurement, manufacturing, logistics and global technical services. In practice, implementing international standards such as ISO 22301 enables Huawei to develop business continuity but not enough. Optimizing the BCM system is an ongoing effort, and BCM maturity is ever present: continually improving Huawei’s own BCM system and benchmarking against best practices available worldwide.

Apart from the case study, other methods such as counter-factual analysis can be used to further test whether Huawei’s BCM system is cost-effective. Another direction for future study is whether suggested BCM maturity levels should be supplemented into ISO 22301. In the digital age, how to use digitalization to ensure business continuity is a current issue not just for practitioners such as Huawei but also for researchers worldwide.

In practice, implementing international standards such as ISO 22301 enables Huawei to develop business continuity but not enough. Optimizing the BCM system is an ongoing effort, and BCM maturity is ever present: continually improving Huawei’s own BCM system and benchmarking against best practices available worldwide.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to focus on how an organization continually improves the suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of its BCM system, with special attention to standards compliance.

This research aims to examine the influences of preceding implementation phases on succeeding phases of business continuity management (BCM) comprising leadership, strategy, planning, application and maintenance.

Data were gathered from 216 automotive parts manufacturers in Thailand. Descriptive statistics were employed to measure the maturity level of BCM implementation components. Path analysis of structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses.

The study's findings found that the intensity of BCM elements decreased following the implementation phases. Leadership and strategy had the highest mean score, while maintenance had the lowest. Preceding phases had significant positive effects on succeeding phases. The direct impact of leadership on maintenance was much weaker than its indirect impact through strategy, planning and application.

This is one of the first examples of empirical research to investigate the sequential links between preceding and succeeding BCM implementation components. Strategic BCM elements and systematic implementation can improve and sustain BCM in the automotive parts industry in Thailand.

Organisations utilise Business Continuity Management (BCM) to support sustained performance of electronic systems on which their core activities are based. These organisations require a tool that can be used to assess the maturity of their existing BCM processes. Through the examination of the banking sector of the United Arab Emirates, the purpose of this paper is to address the need for a BCM maturity model.

A tailored BCM maturity model was developed using a two‐stage approach; the first stage was developing a model based on the analysis of five existing models; and the second stage was validation of the developed model against the formulated objectives through the use of focus groups with ten UAE banks, comprising of three BCM experts for each bank.

The research found that the provision of a standard maturity model for BCM as a situational analysis tool for the banking sector is functional and can be the basis of a tool to address the gap in organisations in general to assess the maturity level of their BCM processes.

The developed model is limited to validation within a specific sector and geographically, with generic model validation being outside the scope of this research.

The framework provides different areas to which maturity can be assigned, various levels across quality and scope and how an overall BCM maturity of an organisation can be determined.

The development of a maturity model which could be used as a BCM self analysis tool is a significant addition to the BCM knowledge base.

This research examines the influences of organizational contexts (i.e. firm size, international level, tier level, export level, product brand and IATF 16949 - an international quality management certification in the automotive industry) on business continuity management (BCM) (i.e. leadership, strategy, planning, application and maintenance).

Data were collected from 216 automotive parts manufacturers in Thailand. Regression analysis was used to test hypotheses.

The study found that firm size, international level, tier level, export level and product brand had significant positive impacts on overall BCM and every component, except for the insignificant effect of tier level on strategy. IATF 16949 had insignificant impacts on overall BCM and all components, except for maintenance.

This is one of the first research studies to investigate the influences of organizational characteristics on business continuity management.

Trade unions are the political arm of the working class, economically active masses, whilst industrial action is a demonstration of the will to reach their objectives. However, the crippling of systems through such contradicts business continuity. Yet, the opposite is true for a natural disaster that traumatises the union member and has a direct impact on their well-being. Inculcating a service continuity and resilience in government, with trade unions as majority stakeholders, may be a challenge. Moreover, it is further complicated by the African perspective, which will become prevalent in the author’s deliberations, as the trade union landscape is open to revolutionary Marxism, Socialism and Capitalistic precepts and concepts. Testing the problem and solutions with the period model produces evidence that purports a future praxis for business continuity management (BCM) that involves trade union representatives and their members. Ultimately, trade unions, cumbersome as they may seem, have much to offer as far as human resources, mass membership, knowledge and skill are concerned. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

An action learning approach linked to the period model to answer five research questions, namely: What is the actual modus operandi of trade unions with regard to business continuity and resilience?; What is the actual interest of union representatives in the understanding and implementation of BCM and resilience standards and concepts?; What would be required to utilise trade union platforms for the purposes of BC induction and awareness?; How will BCM certification for trade union stewards affect or impact on their industrial actions or campaigns?; How can the BCM fora develop a theory and possible praxis, to involve trade unions as part of the business continuity and resilience programme of an organisation?

The findings are as follows: the period model works as an agent of action learning. The likelihood of trade unions to participate in business continuity outside of labour action is commendable. Trade union representatives are keen on being certified as BCM practitioners. BCPs are inclined to fail with industrial action when involving trade union representatives. The BCM Policy and ISO 22301 standards bring about a good understanding of the roles of BC practitioners and union representatives in a crisis period.

Research was limited to the pilot site, i.e. The Government Pensions Administration Agency – South Africa.

The paper brings about a new dimension to a business continuity programme, where the trade unions are no longer an interested party but rather they become active members of a business continuity team.

The purpose of this paper is to further develop the Decision Making Grid (DMG) proposed by Ashraf Labib (e.g. Labib, 1998, 2004; Fernandez et al., 2003; Aslam-Zainudeen and Labib, 2011; Stephen and Labib, 2018; Seecharan et al., 2018) by proposing an innovative solution for determining proactive maintenance tactics based on mean time between failures (MTBF) and mean time to repair (MTTR) indicators.

First, the influence of MTTR and MTBF indicators on proactive maintenance tactics was computed. The tactics included risk-based maintenance (RBM), reliability-centered maintenance (RCM), total productive maintenance (TPM), design out maintenance (DOM), accessibility-centered maintenance (ACM) and business-centered maintenance (BCM). Then, the tactics were allocated to the cells of a DMG with MTTR and MTBF axes. The proposed approach was examined on 32 pieces of equipment of the Esfahan Steel Company and appropriate maintenance tactics were consequently determined.

The findings indicate that the DOM, BCM, RBM and ACM tactics with weights of 0.86, 0.94, 0.68 and 1.00 are located at the corners of the DMG, respectively. The two remaining tactics of TPM and RCM are located at the middle corners. Also, the results indicate that the share of tactics per spotted equipment in the grid as 62, 22 and 16 percent for RCM, DOM and BCM, respectively.

While reactive and preventive maintenance strategies include corrective, prospective, predetermined, proactive and predictive policies, the focus of this study was merely on the tactics of proactive maintenance policy. The advantage of the developed DMG over Labib’s DMG lies in its application for equipment with the unique condition of the bathtub curve.

While the basic DMG has been mostly used regardless of the type of maintenance policies, this study provides a DMG for a specific application regarding the proactive policy. In addition, the heuristic approach proposed for the development of DMG distinguishes this study from other studies.

The paper aims at defining a systemic framework for the implementation of business continuity management (BCM). The framework is based on the assertion that the implementation of BCM should be done through the systemic implementation of an “always-on” enterprise information system.

Systems approach is used in order to design a systemic framework for the implementation of continuous computing technologies within the concept of an always-on enterprise information system.

A conceptual framework has been proposed to develop a framework for a systemic implementation of several continuous computing technologies that enhance business continuity (BC) in the form of an “always-on” enterprise information system.

The paper identifies BC as a business pressure in internet era and suggests a systemic framework for implementation.

This study aims to explore how insurance organisations interpret organisational resilience; to identify potential objectives, elements and practices of organisational resilience within insurance organisations; and to investigate the impact of culture on resilience.

An empirical study in the insurance industry in Jordan was undertaken. The population consists of all 28 insurance companies registered at the Amman Stock Exchange. Data were collected via a survey questionnaire followed by three semi-structured interviews.

Results revealed that respondents understand the meaning of organisational resilience differently. Various factors constitute organisational resilience in Jordanian insurance organisations. Nevertheless, some key factors that have the potential to improve organisational resilience were missing. Culture influenced the level of organisational resilience considerably.

This study provides insights into the factors that enable organisations to withstand future risks, which, in turn, ensures long-term survival. It also reveals how culture affects the level of organisational resilience. This paper provides a basis for policymakers in Jordan to start actively considering existing resources and cultural trends to introduce new frameworks for improving resilience in the insurance sector.

This study is made in the context of an emerging economy; Jordan. It uses quantitative and qualitative research approaches. It is also one of the few studies to discuss resilience in relation to culture and within the insurance sector.

Does internal integration extend to business continuity and to managing supply chain disruptions (SCDs)? Despite the voluminous literature on supply chain integration, evidence on its effectiveness on risk management and disruption response is scant. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of business continuity management (BCM) and of supply chain involvement in BCM (SCiBCM) on reputational and operational damage containment in the face of SCDs.

This study draws on Simons’ Levers of Control framework to explain how the involvement of supply chain in BCM affects firm capabilities in containing damages caused by major SCDs. The authors develop and test hypotheses by analyzing large-scale questionnaire responses from 448 European companies.

Results of the data analysis suggest that BCM improves reputational damage containment, whereas SCiBCM improves operational damage containment. The findings also show that the significant effects of BCM and SCiBCM on reputational and operational damage containment, respectively, were amplified for the firms facing higher supply chain vulnerability. Post-hoc analysis further reveals the complementarity effect between BCM and SCiBCM for the companies exposed to high supply chain vulnerability.

Evidence on the effects of BCM and its internal integration on performance is limited. This study offers empirical evidence on the topic. Also, while supply chain integration can improve information sharing and coordination, some may not fully recognize its potential benefits in addressing SCDs. This study theoretically and empirically demonstrates the role played by internal integration, in the form of SCiBCM, in improving organizational damage containment efforts.

Commercial banks face several risks, including credit, liquidity, operational and disruptive risks. In addition to these risks that are challenging for banks to control and manage, crises and disasters can exert substantially more destructive shocks. These shocks can exacerbate internal risks and cause severe damage to the bank's performance, leading banks to bankruptcy and closure. This study aims to facilitate achieving resilient banking policies through a model-based assessment of business continuity management (BCM) policies.

By applying a system dynamics (SD) methodology, a systemic model that includes a causal structure of the banking business is presented. To build a simulation model, data are collected from a commercial bank in Iran. By presenting the simulation model of the bank's business, the consequences of some given crises on the bank's performance are tested, and the effectiveness of risk and crisis management policies is evaluated. Vensim Personal Learning Edition (PLE) software is used to construct the simulation model.

Results indicate that the current BCM policies do not show appropriate resilience in the face of various crises. Commercial banks cannot create sustainable value for the banks' shareholders despite the possibility of profitability, as the shareholders lack adequate resilience and soundness. These commercial banks do not have the appropriate resilience for the next pandemic after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Moreover, the robustness of the current banking business model is very fragile for the banking run crisis.

A forward-looking view of resilient banking can be obtained by combining liquidity coverage, stable funding, capital adequacy and insights from stress tests. Resilient banking requires a balanced combination of robustness, soundness and profitability.

The present study is a combination of bank business management, risk and resilience management and SD simulation. This approach can analyze and simulate the dynamics of bank resilience. Additionally, present of a decision support system (DSS) to analyze and simulate the outcomes of different crisis management policies and solutions is an innovative approach to developing effective and resilient banking policies.