Confronting the Edge of Chaos – H1N1 Pandemic Influenza and Your Business

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Geary W. Sikich, Principal, Logical Management Systems, Corp., website: www.logicalmanagement.com contact: g.sikich@att.net or gsikich@logicalmanagement.com telephone: 219 922-7718

 

Introduction

There are hundreds of strains of influenza virus but only six – H3N2 (seasonal influenza), H1N1, H5N1, H7N3, H7N7, and H9N2 – are known to have caused human infections, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).  At the time of this writing H1N1 known as Swine Flu has spread through much of the world.  Its low mortality rate has made it a relatively mild pandemic.  Yet to be determined is what will happen when the next wave arrives in the northern hemisphere.  The World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have been revising much of their guidance and we are seeing almost daily some revelation from the WHO, CDC and the popular media.

 

What can you do to protect you and your business?

While the cause [influenza] will remain the same, the problems that we will face in subsequent waves of a pandemic will not be the same problems that we faced in the first wave.  The biggest single threat to your business during a pandemic will be staying with a previously successful operating model too long and not being able to adapt to the fluidity of situation.

 

Eight Key Areas that should be taken into consideration

Impacts can be immediate and expensive.  It is therefore prudent that your pandemic planning efforts consider the dynamic nature of the world’s markets as part of your overall strategy.  This makes good business sense.  It can be readily applied to situations other than a pandemic.  With this broader perspective in mind your pandemic preparations can be leveraged into greater management awareness and perhaps, more of a competitive edge for your enterprise.  Eight areas that should be taken into consideration for planning purposes are:

• Management – Consider what decisions you might have to make and how you will handle the event.
•  Planning – Identify short-term and long-term considerations.
•  Operations – Identify how your organization will function if the workplace is affected.
•  Logistics – Identify and acquire essential and supporting logistics for survival.
•  Infrastructure – Identify internal and external infrastructures that will support your organization and develop a back-up for external infrastructures that may not be available (get that generator!).
•  Administration – Keep a current set of critical documents available in a secure location, to include a copy on electronic medium. Keep a log of the entire event for future potential litigation.
•  Finance – Keep some cash on hand and plan for short term dislocation and long term dislocation.
•  External Liaison – Communicate with others in your community and local government regarding current plans and considerations.

 

Six Key Questions that you should be asking

A pandemic is different from other disasters because multiple locations could be affected simultaneously.  Six key questions that businesses need to answer as they plan for surviving a pandemic are:

• STRATEGY: What are we committed to?
• CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS: How will we fulfill these commitments?
• STRUCTURE: Do we have an organization that serves our needs?
• RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: How will we manage our resources?
• CORE COMPETENCIES: What skills do we expect from our organization?
• PRAGMATIC LEADERSHIP: How will we optimize authority, decision-making, workflow, information sharing?

Answering the above questions is complicated by potential loss of personnel that could occur for several reasons – sickness, caring for sick individuals, school closures, fear of contamination at the workplace, etc. 

 

Conclusion

We need to practice “Critical Thinking” and to learn to incorporate randomness assessments into our planning process.  In this way we will rethink probabilities and their impacts and create a strategic framework for contingency planning that recognizes issues of complexity as crucial to the planning effort.

 

Author Bibliography

Geary W. Sikich is the author of "It Can't Happen Here: All Hazards Crisis Management Planning," "Emergency Management Planning Handbook" available in English and Spanish-language versions and, "Integrated Business Continuity: Maintaining Resilience in Uncertain Times," www.Amazon.com and over 175 published articles.  His latest book “Protecting Your Business in a Pandemic: Plans, Tools, and Advice for Maintaining Business Continuity,” is due out in 2008.  Mr. Sikich is the founder and a principal with Logical Management Systems, Corp. (www.logicalmanagement.com). He consults with companies worldwide on continuity and crisis management issues.  He has a Bachelor of Science degree in criminology from Indiana State University and Master of Education in counseling and guidance from the University of Texas, El Paso.

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