This article was first published here on 27 April 2020. Below is the translation in English.

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on May 4, 2020 – May 10, 2020.

KUALA LUMPUR: About 70% of Malaysian companies do have a business continuity plan or a crisis management plan to deal with or mitigate the effects of a global pandemic such as COVID-19, according to a poll by the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia (ICDM).

However, the poll highlighted that only 62% of these companies had started implementing their plans, while 21% admitted that their organisations did not have any contingency plan but are in the midst of developing one in response to the Movement Control Order (MCO).

KUALA LUMPUR: About 70% of Malaysian companies do have a business continuity plan or a crisis management plan to deal with or mitigate the effects of a global pandemic such as COVID-19, according to a poll by the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia (ICDM).

However, the poll highlighted that only 62% of these companies had started implementing their plans, while 21% admitted that their organisations did not have any contingency plan but are in the midst of developing one in response to the Movement Control Order (MCO).

KUALA LUMPUR: About 70% of Malaysian companies do have a business continuity plan or a crisis management plan to deal with or mitigate the effects of a global pandemic such as COVID-19, according to a poll by the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia (ICDM).

However, the poll highlighted that only 62% of these companies had started implementing their plans, while 21% admitted that their organisations did not have any contingency plan but are in the midst of developing one in response to the Movement Control Order (MCO).

KUALA LUMPUR: Kira-kira 70 peratus syarikat di Malaysia mempunyai pelan kesinambungan perniagaan atau pelan pengurusan krisis untuk menangani atau mengurangkan kesan pandemik global seperti COVID-19, menurut satu tinjauan dilakukan oleh Institut Pengarah Korporat Malaysia (ICDM).

Remember the subprime mortgage crisis in the US, which occurred from 2007 to 2010? That was when reckless money lending practices triggered a global systemic financial failure, leading to a recession and nearly nine million jobs lost.

Then there was the Enron scandal at the turn of the millennium, which caused 4,000 job losses and the demise of one of the largest accounting firms in the US, Arthur Andersen (for turning a blind eye to Enron’s improprieties). Some 82,000 of the firm’s employees lost their jobs.

Ahead of International Women’s Day, research shows that firms are learning that more diversity equals better profits.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is ahead of most of its Asian peers in introducing an anti-corruption law that will hold directors personally liable for graft practices within commercial organisations, says the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia (ICDM).

ICDM president and chief executive officer (CEO) Michele Kythe Lim said the new provision in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, coming into force in June this year, will serve as a “wake-up call” for board members and increase their sense of responsibility.

THE ‘Perfect Storm’ – a trio comprising the US-China trade war, plummeting oil prices, and Covid-19, is truly testing the resilience of global economies.

The current Covid-19 pandemic has almost frozen major economies around the world.

The Malaysian economy was also not spared.