As we are aware, COVID-19 is the name given by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the coronavirus disease that emerged in late December 2019 due to the sharp spike in the number of pneumonia patients reported in Wuhan, China. What is even more concerning is that the disease has spread to over 220 countries in the world in a short period. As of 2^nd August 2021, COVID-19 has devastatingly claimed the lives of over 4.2 million people worldwide and infected nearly 200 million people, implying that the pandemic will continue to haunt humanity. What is more jarring is that this phenomenon has led the world to an ineludible pause and give an apocalyptic feel to all humans on this earth. COVID-19 has forced most countries in the world to impose the Movement Control Order (MCO) so that people are not exposed to this deadly virus, break the chain of infection and thus eliminate it as quickly as possible. 

The spread of COVID-19 has affected the world and impacted many countries' economy and left them in a dizzying state. Such a pandemic is not something that has ever been experienced before. The world has witnessed a few pandemics in the past that have claimed millions of human lives since hundreds of years ago, including the Black Death (Bubonic Plague), which caused 200 million deaths from 1347 to 1351, Smallpox (56 million deaths), Spanish flu (40 to 50 million deaths), Plague of Justinian (30 to 50 million deaths) and so on (Visual Capitalist, 2020). Unfortunately, the world does not seem to take advantage of the experiences faced, especially the business community, in terms of preparing for business continuity in this kind of challenging situation.  

As known, organizations, especially multinational companies, need to develop a business continuity plan, which also acts as a risk mitigation framework if an undesirable situation occurs in the future and how it should be handled. This plan ensures that the business is in a state of preparedness at all times to deal with any situation and ensure that existing problems have a pre-identified solution before they occur. The question now is, what has happened with the business continuity plan that has been refined and documented, especially by large multinational companies. This plan should act to ensure business continuity even in the face of constant and extreme crises. An alarming question today is why the MCO companies are shutting down their operations. This automatically stops them from generating any income, thus, affecting the livelihood of their employees who solely depend on these companies. If it persists, the economic recession will hit and worsen.

One of the drawbacks of the existing business continuity plan is its over-reliance on various traditional concepts, models, and theories that may already be irrelevant to the types of challenges faced today. COVID-19 has opened the minds of industry practitioners about the effectiveness of operational management concepts such as lean production, Six Sigma, root cause analysis, problem-solving, etc. The use of Industrial Revolution 4.0 technologies such as automation, the Internet of Things (IoT), analysis and big data, simulation, system integration, robotics, and cloud use can enhance the capabilities of existing technologies as a smart alternative in preparation for the future human resource crisis. At the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, if factories are ready to change their mode of operation to automation and reduce reliance on manpower, the business will run as usual. The country's economy will also not be adversely affected.

Surprisingly, the concepts introduced by the well-known business model gurus were initially only adopted by multinational companies to conduct business but are now used at the management level of a country. For example, DMAIC is one of the concepts based on using data to improve and stabilize the business through processes and design. DMAIC stands for Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, and Control. Countries facing the COVID-19 threat consciously or unconsciously have applied this concept in the fight against the pandemic. They may be in different phases of DMAIC depending on the efficiency of their public health services. The question that arises from this scenario is if a government can apply the concept pioneered by the company in addressing the global crisis such as COVID-19, why do not these companies adopt the same model in ensuring continued production by providing a solid justification for the government to allow the continuity of their business. This demonstrates the company's failure to focus thoroughly on ensuring the sustainability of its business.

Besides focusing on business sustainability from a financial perspective, companies should also have corporate social responsibility (CSR) to ensure the welfare of employees and the community. When the country is facing an extensive pandemic, we are beginning to wonder about the real purpose behind the creation of CSR and begin to doubt the real intent of the involvement of companies in CSR activities. It should not be solely for reporting purposes in its annual reports or to obtain recognition from existing or potential customers. 

Businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic are also seen as unprepared in the aspects of stakeholder management and supply chain management effectively. Supply chain management covers several parties starting from the customers, suppliers, and the company itself. Careful planning is required to ensure that customers get what they want without compromising quantity, quality, and time. For example, the price of gloves is said to soar by 120 percent as there is a rise in the cost of supply chain management, which is unacceptable. If companies can control the supply chain efficiently, then this problem can be adequately contained. Organizations should also make preliminary preparations and justify not closing the business for an extended period to the government. 

The company should always “expect the unexpected”. A variety of superior business models such as canvas business model, SWOT analysis, Balanced Scorecard and so on have long helped businesses run smoothly for both short and long term. However, to keep the business going for a long time, the company's inability to anticipate the unexpected is a weakness. Therefore, it should be taken into account by the company in the use of such models. For example, SWOT analysis, which emphasizes the need to analyze the company's internal and external aspects, is not something new. In the case of COVID-19, such a crisis should be expected by the companies and considered a threat and, at the same time, find an early solution to address such problems and ensure the sustainability of the business.

Research shows that 80% of SMEs in Malaysia will close operations within three years of commencement (Bernama, 2017). The most significant problem among SMEs in ensuring business continuity is their limited knowledge in technology, especially in terms of automation, e-commerce, IoT, artificial intelligence, robotics, etc. Most recently, the Industrial Revolution 4.0 was heavily emphasized in Malaysia, but this aspect's development is still vague. 

In conclusion, companies, regardless of multinational organizations, small and medium enterprises, government-linked companies, social enterprises and so forth, should always be prepared to face the current situation and focus on business continuity at any time. COVID-19 has provided the business world with a beneficial lesson and a blueprint to refer to when needed, thus repeating the same mistakes in terms of failure to ensure business continuity in the future is unacceptable

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