Business continuity management for building resilience in crises period: an empirical survey on Italian listed companies

Continuity of business activity following a crisis plays an important role in business survival. In this context, the business continuity management facilitates the ability of a business to develop plans and strategies to mitigate the risks posed by hazardous events: long-term sources of competitive advantage are vulnerable if organizations are ill prepared to deal with major operational interruptions. This study reports results of a survey regard the business continuity management practices of Italian listed companies for the year 2020 (existence of a business continuity plan, type of risks considered, responsibility for development and control of business continuity plan). Results showed a significant percentage of firms without a business continuity plan. Regarding risks, most of the business continuity plans tend to consider predictable scenarios usually connected to supply chain disruption, loss of utility outage, unavailability of critical ICT systems for business continuity. The extreme scenario of the pandemic is a risk not yet adequately considered. The Covid-19 experience shows that a reconsideration of risks and the consequent integration of business continuity plans is necessary to build resiliency and mitigate the effects of abrupt and unexpected business interruptions