May 2020
Survey of Corporate Attitudes towards Business Continuity Plan (BCP) (2020)
Companies that have formulated a BCP stood at 16.6%, a low level but rising
— Companies which assume ‘infectious diseases’ as a risk to business continuity have increased rapidly —
Introduction
Companies are required to minimize the impacts on business assets, continue business, and recover early while facing natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons and heavy rains, and risks of infectious diseases including COVID-19. Therefore, it is important not only for business continuity but also from the perspective of maintaining and improving corporate value, to assume the impacts of various risks on corporate activities and prepare in advance response measures after these occur.
Teikoku Databank has conducted a survey on corporate attitudes towards Business Continuity Plan (BCP). This survey was conducted in conjunction with the May 2020 TDB Trends Research.
*Survey period: May 18 – May 31, 2020, Companies Surveyed: 23,675, Valid Responses: 11,979 (Response Rate: 50.6%). The survey for Business Continuity Plan (BCP) has been conducted every year since June 2016 and this is the 5th survey.
*Details of this survey can be found on the dedicated Economic Trend Survey HP (http://www.tdb-di.com).
Primary points of survey results(summary)
- 1 With respect to company status in terms of formulating a BCP, companies that 'have formulated' a BCP stood at 16.6% (y-o-y increase of 1.6 points). Even those that ‘are currently formulating’ (9.7%) and 'are considering formulating' (26.6%) have increased, respectively, and showed the highest percentage since the survey began. Awareness of formulating a BCP is increasing. On the other hand, a large gap has emerged by company size, with large companies at 30.8% and SMEs at 13.6%.
- 2 Among companies that are active in formulating a BCP, risks in which business continuity is assumed to be difficult were ‘Natural disasters’ such as earthquakes, storms and flood damages, and eruptions, with the highest percentage (70.9%), followed by ‘Infectious diseases’ (69.2%), an upsurge y-o-y of 44.3 points, and ‘Bankruptcy of client companies’ (39.0%). For matters that have been implemented/considered in preparation for business interruption risks, ‘Establishment of means to confirm employees’ safety’ (67.3%) ranked top, while the results showed that 40% of companies are promoting ‘Plans for diverse workstyles’ (40.4%), such as working at home.
- 3 With respect to the effect of formulating a BCP, ‘Employees’ risk awareness has improved’ was ranked top, at 57.4% for companies that have formulated a BCP, followed by ‘Operational priority has become clear’ (37.7%), and ‘Standardized and manualized operations have advanced’ (35.5%). There were also opinions that formulating a BCP led to positive factors for subsidy from the national government and gaining credibility from shareholders.
- 4 Reasons for not formulating a BCP were ‘Do not have the skills and know-how necessary to formulate’, with the highest percentage (41.9%). The same reasons as last year ranked highly, such as ‘Cannot secure human resources to formulate such a plan’ (28.7%), and ‘Ends in document creation, and difficult to make a practical-to-use plan’ (28.6%). In particular, many SMEs say they feel the need for a BCP but find it difficult to formulate.