Implementing business continuity management in a distributed organisation: a case study


Written by Phil on October 28, 2010 in Business Continuity.

This article analyzes the findings of a Business Continuity Management audit of the Medical Research Council’s 26 UK sites, carried out over the course of 2008.

Of particular interest is the observed variation in maturity of BCM programs at the different sites even though each site had had access to the same training, support and consultancy resources over the preceding three years. This variation allows the identification of some underlying drivers of effectiveness in BCM which, it is argued, are of general applicability. Neither author is aware of any similar analysis having been published elsewhere.

Understanding what organizational factors predispose towards effectiveness in establishing a business continuity management system is of great benefit in the design and implementation of BCM programs. This is particularly so in the common situation of trying to roll out a corporate program across a number of different business units or sites.

This case study examines the effectiveness of embedding BCM in the individual sites within a large distributed organization – the UK’s Medical Research Council (MRC). Since 2005, the MRC has been engaged in a major project to embed BCM in all of its Units. The project was centrally managed and funded with the aim of providing every Unit with equal access to training and various other forms of support. Despite this, a recent audit has found that, three years into the program, the level of BCM maturity varies greatly between sites.

Based on the findings of the audit, this article explores some factors that may predispose an organization towards effectiveness in implementing BCM. Whilst the nature of the MRC’s work is highly specialized, the organizational factors examined are likely to have widespread applicability in many other organizations.

See Implementing business continuity management in a distributed organization: a case study, by Patrick Roberts and Mike Stephens for The Business Continuity Journal

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