Ready or Not…. For once, governments and public health official appear to be more prepared than businesses do. They have spent billions preparing for a potential influenza pandemic by buying medicines, running disaster drills, and developing strategies for tighter border controls. On the other hand, a survey of global companies by London-based newsletter Continuity Central found that 72 percent have not even begun to get ready for a potential bird flu pandemic. Businesses in the U.S. seem to be particularly unprepared. In a survey by Deloitte & Touche of 100 U.S. executives, two-thirds said their companies had not yet prepared adequately for avian flu, and most have not one specifically in charge of such a plan. What these businesses might not realize is how they potentially will be affected. For instance, how will they continue to do their business if their workforce is ill or quarantined; if transportation, communication, utility services of other necessary public infrastructure functions are not available or are only available in limited areas; or if financial services are curtailed? How will they earn revenues if the general public is sick or not able to venture out? It’s a scenario with monumental implications for both the short term and the long term. One company that has panned for any potential avian flu outbreak is Deutsche Bank. The steps it has taken include making sure employees in infected zones don’t carry the disease to co-workers, moving others out of harm’s way, communicating medical bulletins to far-flung offices, and preparing for the inevitable economic shocks as mass illness slows trade and undermines both public services and private commerce. Kenny Seow, Deutsche Banks business continuity manager in Singapore, says, “The moment that there is a human-to-human infection, we would execute a set of measures. “ Businesses in Southeast Asia seem to be better prepared for a possible flu disaster. For one thing, many of these companies had to deal with the SARS (sudden acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak in 2003 – a frightening situation that brought commerce in Hong Kong, Singapore and Beijing to a near standstill. A survey of 80 corporate executives at a seminar held by American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong found that nearly every company had someone in charge of avian flu policy and 60 percent had cleared stated plans that could be put in placed immediately. One of the most prepared companies is global bank, HSBC, which has made preparations for employees to work from home and it also preparing to divide work among multiple sites. At Turner International Asia Pacific, a Time Warner unit in Hong Kong, they’re working on a mechanized cart that could automatically load tape after tape into a satellite transmission system so it could keep stations like Cartoon network on the air – a boon if children were homebound for months. And even FedEx says that it has developed contingency plans down to every district or market in Asia Pacific. What now? What about those businesses that have not begun to prepare for a possible outbreak? As the Deloitte report on avian flu concluded, “In a world where global supply chain and real-time inventories determine almost everything we do, down to the food available for purchasing in our grocery stores, the importance of advanced planning cannot be overstated. “ The team needs to complete each of the 5 questions below 1. What role do goals play in a company’s planning for any potential bird flu outbreak? List some goals that might be important. 2. What types of plans might companies need for this situation? (For instance, short term, long term or both?) Explain why these plans would be important. 3. How does this scenario reflect planning in a dynamic environment? What would managers need to do to make their planning effective in such an environment? 4. What could other businesses learn from Deutsche Bank’s and HSBC’s experiences? 5. Pick a company (any size, any kind, or any location) and describe how an influenza pandemic might affect it. Now, develop plans for this company to deal with such an outbreak. Think creatively when developing the company’s plans. Think of both short-term and long-term.