The latest “business continuity plan” on a worldwide scale from the BCI (Business Continuity Institute) has recently been defined in the organisation’s new Strategy Document. It maps out actions for the BCI for 2012 through 2015, centred on spreading BCM around the globe and growing the institute. The goals are three-fold: a consistency of the “BCI experience” and with that BCI members’ competence and certification; greater BCI influence worldwide in all BCM sectors; and increased BCM thought leadership from the BCI. So what does the BCI have in mind for becoming more of a thought leader?
The way the BCI expresses its approach to thought leadership is apparently based on the deliverables it plans to create. Starting with a statement on “continuing our role as a key influence on all things BCM”, publications are the name of the game: good practice guidelines; technical and sector-specific documents; and its regular broadsheet, “Business Continuity Awareness Week”. True, the institute also cites partnerships with academic bodies to develop more BCI certifications, extension of its membership programme and the inception of new BCI groups of members, but without mention of where the BCI might be proactive in giving business continuity plans a new impetus.
After all, “thought leader” is a term referring to someone or something (as in an organisation) that is recognised for having innovative ideas. Has the BCI been a thought leader in business continuity plans in the past? Should it be in the future? These are simply open questions. One point however is worth making. The BCI, like any other institution grouping members together under the banner of BCM, can be a thought leader if it wants to be, but it’s not obligatory either. As long as someone is producing good BC innovation, the BCI already has a valuable role to play in bringing that innovation to the attention of organisations that can benefit from it.