Business Continuity Management for Blue Lights in Britain: Resilience in the United Arab Emirates - Literature review Example

NAME: STUDENT NUMBER: COURSE NAME COURSE NUMBER: INSTRUCTOR: INSTITUTION: TOPIC: BUSINESS CONTINUITY MANAGEMENT FOR BLUE LIGHTS IN THE UK AND HOW IT APPLIES TO UNITED ARAB EMIRATES RESILIENCE DATE: LITERATURE REVIEW There exists an extensive body of literature relating to Business Continuity Management and emergency management especially with regards to the context in the UK. However, this literature is virtually non- existent in other countries particularly those in the Middle East. One of the main missing elements therefore in the existing literature is a comprehensive analysis of the blue lights emergency services, particularly with regards to other countries such as the United Arab Emirates. The following discussion therefore seeks to fill this knowledge gap by first providing a general analysis of Business Continuity Management, blue lights emergency services and the history of emergency management in the UK and then comparing it to the situation in the United Arab Emirates through a comprehensive survey and comparative evaluation of existing literature on the subject. One of the most comprehensive studies dealing with Business Continuity Management is undoubtedly the study by Hiles and Barnes (2007). In the study, the authors give a general idea about Business Continuity Management, presenting its different aspects in a far- reaching manner. They first define Business Continuity Management as a method of making sure that there is continuity in the running and provision of services and operations in general. They further describe it as a continuous process that contains many different yet harmonizing elements. Closely intertwined with BCM is Business Continuity planning which is a process that involves contingency planning, business recovery, and disaster recovery and business resumption. Davis Logic, (2006) likewise provides understanding on BCM by revealing the various areas in which BCM is used. These include emergency management and response; crisis management; risk control; project management and quality control; accident prevention; risk management; disaster recovery; business impact analysis; safety and security; contingency planning; information security; risk financing and insurance; computer security; mitigation planning; business recovery; event management; business resumption planning; software management; command centers; exercising and training; and crisis communication among other areas. In a nutshell, Business Continuity Management is an all- encompassing process that makes sure that there is continuation in business even in the midst of problems. Continuity planning then ensures that all these processes are used together to produce a full continuity plan.  Closely linked to Business Continuity Management is emergency management. Various scholars have dedicated their time towards this topic, prominent among them being Waugh, (2000) and he provides a definition for this important field in his work. Waugh (2000, p. 3) defines emergency management as the managing of risk to ensure that communities can survive the technical and environmental perils and cope with the disasters they create. Emergency management is a comprehensive process that involves both the public and private sectors all of whom make up the national emergency response system and examples include the Red Cross on the private front and Federal Emergency Management Agency (in the US) on the public one (Waugh, 2000, p. 5). The study further goes on to analyze the various aspects of emergency management such as managing manmade and natural hazards and disasters, the various policy issues in emergency management as well as the various emergency management challenges that are experienced in the field. Haddow et.al. (2008) on their part focus on its early history, noting that emergency management has its roots all the way back to the year 1800. They however show in their work that emergency management really took hold in the 1950’s during the start of the Cold War and the rise of civil defence (Haddow et.al, 2008, p. 3). With the increased rise in insecurity on a global scale, the need for protection in the midst of crises was heightened hence the necessity of emergency management. To illustrate this, they provide various examples of recent disasters in which the necessity for emergency management has been further reiterated such as Hurricane Katrina in the US, the 9/ 11 terrorist attacks in New York and the Witt Revolution. More specifically to the UK, the history of emergency management in the UK is a subject tackled by Kapucu (2008) in his article. He explains that the initial emergency management policy was the Emergency Power Act of 1920 and from then on, very little changed in that regard. Kapucu (2008, p. 6) however notes that since World War II, the UK’s emergency management system has undergone several changes with the objective of lessening the human casualties at the time. In addition, the rising risk of a nuclear attack led to the formation of the Civil Defense Act of 1948 whose objective was to reduce casualties during the Cold War. After the end of the Cold War, the Civil Defense in Peacetime Act 1986 was formed which recognized the local and central government responsibility approach to emergency management. Thereafter, there were various reviews of existing emergency management policies between the years 1989 and 1991. In 2001, the Civil Contingencies Secretariat was then formed as part of the Cabinet Office which was tasked with national emergency management responsibilities from thereon. Rabjohn (2007) likewise analyzes the history of emergency management in the UK and rightly notes that emergency management in the UK has historically been similar to many other developed countries in the world with the emphasis being on emergency preparedness in relation to prevention, response, mitigation, recovery and planning in conjunction with the ambulance, fire and police services. Very little had changed over the decades in terms of legislation until 2004 with the formulation of the Civil Contingencies Act. In addition, Rabjohn points out that there is also the Resilience Programme which legislates to ensure that all British citizens can go about their day to day business without fear by making sure that all emergency services are able to prepare for, respond to and recover from all emergencies that may occur. Beveridge, (2008) provides further illumination on the subject, explaining that the necessity for proper emergency management legislation in the UK was prompted by the 2000 UK fuel protests; the severe flooding of the same year; and the 2001 foot and mouth crisis in the UK, the UK government was forced to improve its disaster management plans. They formulated the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 which, for instance, legislates in relation to the duties and responsibilities of all Category 1 responders concerning an emergency response. Consequently, emergency management training at the local level by the organizations that are ordinarily involved in disaster response has increased especially with the London terrorist attacks of 2005. A subject integral to emergency management is the role of the blue lights services. Calder (2008, p. 14) defines the blue lights services as comprising of the civil services of Fire, Police and Ambulance. This is whereby emergency service vehicles such as ambulances flash blue lights in terms of emergencies to show that they are on duty. According to Hallowes (2008), the blue lights services in the UK work together under the Tri-Service Interoperability Programme to ensure maximum emergency services are provided to the public. In general, the Road Transport Fleet Data Society (2006) explains that with regards to ambulance services, there are 35 NHS Ambulance services in addition to the British Red Cross, St John ambulance services and independent operators which all work very efficiently. The fire services are also efficient with a current number of 56 fire authorities in operation. Likewise, the police services are also filly functional with 52 police forces, two of them in London. All these blue light services are central in emergency management in the UK. Business continuity management is important in the running of all blue light services as it enhances continuity and operability and also ensures that crises can be handled effectively. In his comprehensive work, Hiles (2004) focuses on the business continuity management process in the command structure of UK’s Blue Light Services with regards to fire emergencies. He identifies three stages in the command structure- the bronze (operational level), the silver (tactical level) and the gold (strategic level). The bronze level if a fire emergency is at the start of the fire when the police assess and report the fire to the headquarters and the fire-fighters attack the fire. The silver level is when the situation worsens and the site emergency plan implements the emergency plan. The gold level is reserved for major fires and involves setting up a team outside the fire to conduct various activities such as setting up a casualty bureau, contacting the media and sending out warnings to the public among other duties. This command structure is essential in ensuring that fires are handled appropriately to prevent the loss of life and property. Apart from fire services, business continuity management is likewise useful for police services in the UK. In his article, McAlister (2009) details how BCM is important in the management of Merseyside Police, particularly the disruption management model where it has been used for close to two years. It helps police officers make good crisis command decisions by helping them think through the justification and rationale for each situation faced to ensure justice is served in the course of duty. This has really helped officers to resolve various disruptions to the force’s main services in the country. Ambulance services also make use of BCM and in fact, according to NHS Scotland Resilience Team at Scottish Government (2009), most NHS Boards are obliged to perform business continuity management according to the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. Evidently, BCM is necessary for the success of blue light services. Nevertheless, it is crucial to understand the various processes that enhance these blue light services. Business impact analysis (BIA) is one such process and refers to the process where all business functions and the effect that a disaster can have on them is analyzed (Contingency Planning and Management, 2006). The BIA quantifies the loss impact arising from a business interruption and a financial standpoint. The importance of a BIA for blue lights services as explained in the work of Moore and Lakha (2006) is that the BIA first predicts the events that may cause interruption and then carries out a risk assessment to ascertain the severity and chances of the disaster to occur. This is crucial for blue light services since it enables them to predict what emergency may occur, the chances of them occurring and thus helps them safeguard against the disaster by lessening the impact of the emergency. Mayers and Vermuelen (2005 ) add that stakeholders-shareholders- influence maps are similarly important since they identify the relative influence that all parties have over decision making. They help identify all the interested parties (inside or outside the system/ programme/ business) thus ensure that each stakeholder interest is taken into consideration by the system. For blue lights services to be effective, they have to serve the public who are the most important stakeholders in emergency services thus understanding their influence helps these service providers plan effectively before and during the emergency situation. That said, apart from the public, there are other stakeholders such as the private sector, government agencies and businesses who all have a stake in emergency services and thus need to be consulted in line with their influence. So far, most of the literature has focussed on the situation in the UK. Nevertheless, it should be noted that despite the dearth in information. There are several weaknesses in the emergency services situation which is severely underdeveloped. Just Landed (2009) points out these weaknesses quite eloquently. Ambulance services are on a smaller scale than in the UK, are controlled by the police and are mainly used for transporting road accident victims or by hospitals. Therefore, if one needs to go to the hospital quickly, they are better off using private means. Fire services are also small in scale and the police services are not as well equipped as in the UK. Blue lights services are therefore not as advanced as they should be, serving as a set back to the delivery of effective emergency services in the UAE. Nevertheless, emergency management does exist in the United Arab Emirates. Golden, (2008) provides some illumination on the subject in her article and points out that together with the Ministry of Interior, the state has a National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) which is responsible for emergency management and coordination of all crisis- related efforts on a national level. 2008 marked the first year that UAE held its now annual Crisis & Emergency Management Conference that is dedicated to tackling the various issues surrounding crisis and emergency management CEMC (2007). ABQ Zawya (2009) also sounds optimistic and in their press release announced that there are plans for a federal law for Crisis and Emergency Management in the country soon. This announcement gives hope to the country that more comprehensive emergency legislation shall be enacted to enhance not only emergency management in UAE but also resultantly business continuity management. Business continuity management on the other hand is relatively new in the UAE. According to an article by Talking Business Continuity (2009), however, things are looking up. The BSI Management Systems recently launched its business continuity management service in Abu Dhabi and on the very day a huge explosion was experienced in a Dubai warehouse complex pointing towards the necessity of BCM in the country. The BCM was then set up in Dubai and this shows that the UAE is increasingly shifting towards BCM to enhance business continuity. It is yet to be seen, however, if BCM will be launched in the emergency services in the country. Business continuity management should therefore be launched in all sectors of UAE society for greater resilience, particularly in the blue lights services. Possible solutions to this problem can be learned from the BCM situation in the UK. Hiles (2004) provides various solutions in the form of guidelines into what BCM entails. These include establishing a business continuity policy (both privately and publicly); setting up a planning steering committee; undertaking project planning; carrying out risk evaluation and control; business impact analysis; developing continuity strategies (such as bunkers, continuous processing and distributed processing); undertaking emergency response and operations; and generally carrying out public awareness campaigns so as to educate the public not only on the importance of BCM but about how BCM is carried out. These are all measures Hiles (2004) has dealt with in great depth in his comprehensive work and are measures that all emergency services in the UAE should implement so as to ensure that there is efficiency in their services. Finally, although the aforementioned studies have been of benefit to the study, there are gaps which the current study will attempt to fill. To name but a few examples, the previous studies did not focus much on the blue lights services and business continuity management situation in the U A E. Most literature focuses on western countries such as the UK. In addition, few scholars, Arab or otherwise, have touched on the weaknesses of the current Emergency management situation in the UAE with most pundits being blog writers. These areas have not been addressed sufficiently and as such, the knowledge gap must be filled urgently so as to enrich the study. REFERENCES ABQ Zawya. (2009). Al Rumaithi: Federal Law for Crisis and Emergency Management Soon. Retrieved 12th November, 2009 from http://www.zawya.com/printstory.cfm?storyid=ZAWYA20091022061630&l=061600091022 Calder, Alan. (2008). Business Continuity and Bs25999: a Combined Glossary. Cambridgeshire: IT Governance Publishing. Retrieved 12th November, 2009 from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=csBGuj6cWU8C&pg=PA14&dq=Business+Continuity+Management+AND+blue+lights+SERVICES&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false CEMC. (2007). About NCEMA. Retrieved 12th November, 2009 from http://www.cemc.ae/subindex.aspx?Id=104&Lid=1 Contingency Planning and Management. (2006). CPM Dictionary B. Retrieved 11th November, 2009 from http://www.contingencyplanning.com/content.aspx?aid=57601 Beveridge, Marc et. al. (2008). EPS Core Competences Framework Document. Emergency Planning Society. Retrieved 11th November, 2009 from http://www.the-eps.org Davis Logic. (2006). Business Continuity Management. All Hands Consulting. Retrieved 11th November, 2009 from http://www.davislogic.com/bcm.htm Golden, Lara Lynn. (2008). UAE to host first regional Crisis & Emergency Management Conference. AME Info. Retrieved 12th November, 2009 from http://www.ameinfo.com/143826.html Haddow, George D et.al. (2008). Introduction to Emergency Management. Oxford: Elsevier Inc. Hallowes, Michael. (2008). Interoperability – A Tri Service Programme to make it Efficient and effective now, and meet future user requirements. The Bapco Journal. Retrieved 12th November, 2009 from http://www.bapcojournal.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/1173/Interoperability__96_A_Tri_Service_Programme_to_make_it_efficient_and_effective_now,_and_meet_future_user_requirements.html Herbane, Brahim et.al. (2004). Business Continuity Management: time for a strategic role? Oxford: Elsevier Publishers Hiles, Andrew. (2004). Business continuity: best practices: world-class business Continuity management. Connecticut: Rothstein Associates Inc. Hiles, Andrew and Peter Barnes. (2007). The Definitive Handbook of Business Continuity Management. West Sussex: John Wiley and Sons Ltd. Just Landed. (2009). Emergencies- What to do in case of an emergency. Retrieved 12th November, 2009 from http://www.justlanded.com/english/Dubai/Dubai-Guide/Health/Emergencies Kapucu, Naim. (2008). Emergency and Crisis Management in the United Kingdom: Disasters Experienced, Lessons Learned, and Recommendations for the Future. Retrieved 12th November, 2009 from http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/Comparative%20EM%20Book%20-%20Chapter%20-%20Emergency%20and%20Crisis%20Mgmt%20in%20the%20UK-Disasters,%20Lessons%20and%20Recomm.doc Mayers, James and Vermuelen, Sonja. (2005). Stakeholder Influence Mapping. International Institute for Environment and Development. Retrieved 12th November, 2009 from http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:RwKMZAPESbMJ:www.policy-powertools.org/Tools/Understanding/docs/stakeholder_influence_mapping_tool_english.pdf+definition+of+stakeholders-shareholders-+influence+map&hl=en&gl=ke&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi6KxH6okw3bUDh_0BohAVCed4NRRQHVeADLgyxgxxL5tpWngUVCg_Tvqs6BQGy_xOWMQ1XBaLpzxFxM3NEcSjY3ZP6Pzjdyg5liUvBBwsY9J2movsl53x6_4OGj8NMEfG5PyWz&sig=AFQjCNH8GAf11rkhsjCPy44Vz5yO6jPAPg McAlister, James. (2009). The ‘disruption management model’ for business Continuity. Continuity Central. Retrieved 12th November, 2009 from http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature0667.html Moore, Tony and Lakha, Raj. (2006). Tolley's handbook of disaster and emergency Management. Oxford: Elsevier Ltd. Retrieved 12th November, 2009 from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=_eTkSS6jVxoC&pg=PT1&dq=emergency+management+in+the+uk&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=BLUE%20LIGHT&f=false NHS Scotland Resilience Team at Scottish Government. (2009). NHS Resilience and Business Continuity Management Guidance Road Fuel Supply Disruption Interim Strategic Guidance for NHS Boards in Scotland. Retrieved 11th November, 2009 from http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/emergencyplanning/Documents/FuelBCMGuidanceNHSScotland-May%202009.pdf Rabjohn, Arthur. (2007). Emergency Management in England. Retrieved 12th November, 2009 from http://www.iaem.com/regions/iaemeuropa/documents/EMEngland.pdf Talking Business Continuity. (2009). BSI Management Systems puts BCM in the Spotlight. Retrieved 12th November, 2009 from http://www.talkingbusinesscontinuity.com/bcm-news-and-events/news/bsi-management-systems-puts-bcm-in-the-spotlight.aspx   The Road Transport Fleet Data Society. (2006). Emergency Services. Retrieved 12th November, 2009 from http://www.fleetdata.co.uk/emergency.html#ambulance Waugh, William L. (2000). Living with hazards, dealing with disasters: an Introduction to emergency. New York: M. E Sharpe Inc. Retrieved 12th November, 2009 from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=cQQ0NfftGRYC&pg=PA3&dq=emergency+management.&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=&f=false Read More