Toward enduring business resilience

THROUGH natural disasters, global economic shifts and political dynamics, the Philippines seems to have its fair share of crises. How business organizations respond has been the subject of much research, with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic generating the most buzz to date. Many businesses were caught ill-prepared and correspondingly, beginning 2021, Google trended record-high searches for "sustainability" and "resilience."

Both terms have been subject to various well-intentioned but sometimes misplaced interpretations. Sustainability, which refers to "meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own," is usually associated with the environment. Resilience can be manifested in many forms, meanwhile, whether individually or communally, and it is often cited in the aftermath of personal challenges or disasters as a way of "bouncing back." However, business resilience encompasses the strategic initiatives that organizations must take to avert threats or disruptions to "operations, people, assets, brand or reputation" with the end goal of ensuring business continuity.