Overview of Organization
The company in question is a consultancy firm that is in the business of providing internet services to various business groups as well as households within its proximity. The company's mission is to provide effective communication for the ever-growing business demands of many startup companies. The inception of the digital age has transformed how business is conducted on various fronts in a dynamic business world. Hopkin (2013) suggests that unforeseen circumstances can result in a business operation being affected adversely. Such catastrophes not only impact the way business operates, but also affects the lives of the workers in the firm as well as the customers who expect business to go on as usual. Consequently, the organization is sufficiently prepared in the event.
Contingency plans A
Fire as a risk poses great danger in any workplace (Ollhoff, 2013). If there is a fire outbreak, it is possible that there would be damage to properties that may be in the tunes of millions of dollars. It can cause power surges that may affect an entire neighborhood and several households in the surrounding areas near to the field of disaster. While damage to property may be the most probable impact of many infernos, loss of lives could as well be because of the calamity.
The contingency plan in question serves its purpose well. It ensures continuity of the business operations despite the fact that an inferno can take place. The severity of a fire outbreak can have irreversible impacts on a workplace, as a measure the plan in question provides a viable solution for sourcing firms that provide temporary office facilities on a temporary contract either on a temporary basis or for lengthy periods as agreed on by a lease signed by the participating parties. The plan covers the risk involved by opting for a temporary office setting to ensure business runs as normal.
The method excels, first in ensuring that the firm operations continue as first as possible and are resumed in the shortest time possible. By opting to choose a temporary setting rather than deciding to renovate the business premises, the company can continue smoothly with its operations from a remote area despite the fire outbreak. In addition, it ensures that more clients can continue to rely on the services of such a company. Such reputation can make a big difference as to whether a company becomes reputable due to its ability to deal with challenging circumstances.
The plan is inadequate in that it does not cater for the welfare of the causalities that might be injured during the event. Moving to a temporary structure is one thing, but the lives that may be damaged may not be replaced promptly in the wake of such disaster. The plan needs to address the issues of casualties, which may be injured in the outbreak. Getting a new facility to operate from can be difficult if there is insufficient labor to handle the workload needed to set up the new facility running.
The plan does not address the causalities that may be affected by the fire outbreak since such disasters are not planned, there are always bound to be casualties. These may be workers, clients who visited the company for inquiries or even staff from other companies who came to deliver supplies. In addition, there may be issues with the properties damaged because of the inferno; the loss may not be easy to recuperate. In addition, the items damaged may be of significant value, and being lost in such an event may result to the company performing badly even they are set up remotely to continue with operations from another facility.
As a measure, the company should educate its employees on how to respond to situations such as the outbreak of fire. It would be effective in reducing the causalities or injuries that may be sustained by ignorant employees. Moreover, the company should invest in having good backup systems that can be able to store all of their valuable information to reduce the impact that the inferno may have on the facility.
Contingency plan B
Weather can be a source of joy or pain in equal measures. Inclement weather such as heavy snowfall may significantly affect the mobility of workers (Andretta, Wojcik & United States, 2003). When the situations are so bad, roads are impassable and thus, results to in-attendance to work. The results would be that no business would go on as usual. The implication for a firm that offers services is that nothing would go on as planned. The impact would affect the revenues generated. As a result, the factor in question would affect the business relations with its customer base.
The risk this plan identifies mainly deals with the aspect of workers not being able to reach their places of works and ensure continuity of the job. The program in question provides that workers can continue with the standard functionality of their jobs even in the comfort of their homes. In retrospect, the plan ensures that all workers can deliver their duties diligently and ensure that not an hour of productiveness is lost due to heavy snow or any other challenge associated with the inclement weather.
Only one risk is in question because of the heavy snowfall, absenteeism from work. The plan ensures that workers are not only able to work well from the comfort of their homes, but are also able to communicate effectively with their colleges as well as customers who may be in need of the services that the company has to offer. The plan ensures that the risk is covered by providing the necessary items needed to deal with the challenging situation.
The plan excels in that it enables for the provision of staff with what they need to be able to do their work. For instance, since the company deals with information and technology, it is possible to avail laptops and remote access to the firm's computer network. Provision of such enables the workers to do their jobs well and as a result ensures that the plan excels well without any setbacks.
The plan is inadequate in that it does not address a fundamental issue that is of great significance. While workers may be able to attend to their regular duties from the comfort of their homes, they may end up not having that drive that is always associated with office setups, where there is supervision, by either an authoritative figure or activities are monitored through cameras. The reluctance of workers is one thing that the plan does not address and may affect their productivity during the period where they have to work from home.
Since it is not possible to predict when the snowfall may be heaviest, it is also not possible to get the suppliers needed to get the job done from homes. Heavy snow can cause roads to be impassable preventing the workers from reaching the workstations to pick the items they need. Heavy snow may also result in a worker being unwell. The plan does not factor in that the cold weather may affect some of the workers who may have some health related issues relating to cold weather.
As a means to minimize the risks involved, the company needs to have each of its worker's medical records, so that in the event of bad weather, those with health complication are not subjected to situations that may aggravate their already bad sanitary conditions. In addition, the company needs to be on the lookout for weather forecast results from various meteorological departments to plan for severe weather situations such as heavy snow.
Conclusion
Contingency plan B seems more sensible for the company to adopt than Plan A, with fire. It is possible to have firefighters salvage the situation before things get from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. In addition, fire can cause damage to the company's servers and hardware, which might not be able to salvage. Bad weather is easily manageable compared to the fire that destroys everything in its path.
References
Andretta, T., Wojcik, W. A., & United States. (2003). Prediction of heavy snow events in the Snake River Plain using pattern recognition and regression techniques. Salt Lake City, Utah: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service.
Hopkin, P. (2013). Risk Management. Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page Ltd
Ollhoff, J. (2013). Firefighters. Minneapolis, MN: ABDO Pub. Co.
