Embedding Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery within Risk Management

Natural disasters between 1980 and 2010 have affected 16,051,010 people and economic damage reached $926,451,000 per year (PreventionWeb2011). The purpose of this study was to uncover the relationship between the concepts of business continuity and disaster recovery. Utilizing documentary analysis of a comprehensive review of the risk management literature, the study uncovers the chronological evolution of the two concepts dating from 1970 to 2012. Supplementing the review, in-depth interviews were conducted with four risk managers in large organizations located in Melbourne Victoria Australia. Category theme analyses of the interviews generated findings complementing the review and inform the development of a new consolidated ‘Holistic Risk Management’ model. The innovative model establishes the way in which the two concepts are subsets of, and embedded within, the risk management literature. The findings also show their relationship to emergency management and crisis management.