When preparedness becomes a competitive issue

The pandemic highlighted just how quickly society’s dependencies can become apparent. When supply chains were disrupted, organisations had to adapt and new partnerships emerged, there was often no shared understanding of what preparedness actually entails – or what capabilities are required to keep operations running when circumstances change.

Sweden’s first contingency standard for the threat of war and war

Since then, the security landscape has changed further. For businesses, public authorities and other organisations, issues relating to resilience, supply chain security and business continuity have evolved from being niche concerns to becoming an integral part of their core operations.

Against this backdrop, Sweden’s first national contingency standard for the threat of war and wartime is now being developed. The aim is to provide organisations with a common framework for assessing and developing their ability to continue operating even under extremely difficult conditions. RISE has been involved in the work to develop the standard.

“Ultimately, it’s about being able to continue delivering what you’re supposed to deliver, even if the worst were to happen. A standard can help with that,” says Emma Mattisson, who have been involved in the development of the standard.

Sweden already has standards and working methods covering everything from information security to crisis management. However, when the Swedish Standards Institute set up a working group to develop a new contingency planning standard, it became clear that something was missing. The working group comprises representatives from the defence sector, government agencies, the business community and research institutes, amongst others.

“There are many standards that relate to preparedness in various ways. However, the specific aspects of the threat of war and war itself are not covered by the standards currently in place. We saw a clear gap there,” says Emma Mattisson.

The aim is therefore to establish a common language and a shared understanding of what is required for an organisation to continue fulfilling its mission, even under extremely difficult conditions.

Four core competencies

A key part of the standard is four core competencies: 

• leadership skills,
• delivery capacity,
• protective capacity and
• ability to repair. 

They relate to the organisation’s ability to manage its operations, maintain service delivery, protect people and resources, and restore operations following disruptions.

“It’s not just about having a plan in a folder. The capabilities actually need to be in place. You need to know what’s critical, what resources are required, and how operations should function if certain parts were to fail,” says Emma Mattisson.

Although the standard is voluntary, there are several reasons why businesses and organisations should start preparing now. One key reason is that resilience is likely to become a more significant factor in procurement and partnerships in the future. Already, stakeholders from sectors such as defence, government agencies and the public sector are involved in the development of the standard.

Several organisations participating in the working group say they envisage using this type of requirement in their procurement processes.

For businesses, this may mean that issues previously regarded as internal contingency matters become part of their business relationships. The ability to maintain operations, manage disruptions and continue to deliver may therefore become a factor taken into account when evaluating suppliers.

Better organisation makes it easier to deal with unexpected events

At the same time, there are other benefits to be gained by tackling these issues head-on.

"The more organised your processes, supply chains and management structures are, the better equipped you are to deal with unexpected events."

The aim is to establish a clear picture of the organisation’s key functions, understand their interdependencies, and identify which resources are critical to maintaining service delivery in the event of disruptions.