Business continuity as a function of corporate security: SARS-CoV 2 pandemic case study

Abstract

Business continuity occupies an important place both in the academic sphere and in the practical application that is carried out in order to ensure continuation of the legal entity. Multiple complex factors and threats that shape not only national but also global security, significantly affect the functioning of corporations, which makes the traditional approach to corporate security relatively outdated. The aim of this article is to present the most important discussions related to this phenomenon within the academic literature, as well as to identify issues that are important for successful theoretical development and application of this concept in business practice. The authors consider the concept of business continuity as one of the most important concepts in the function of corporate security, having in mind the challenges and threats faced by companies, especially those that orient their business towards exports to foreign markets. The pandemic caused by the SARS - CoV 2 virus, which culminated in 2020, largely showed the weaknesses of "classic" business continuity planning, bearing in mind that many companies in Serbia and around the world have completely suspended their production processes. Therefore, in this paper, on the example of a pandemic, the current weaknesses will be partially identified, as well as recommendations that would ensure the continuity of the work process and thus achieve the functionality of corporations.