Business Impact Analysis and Continuity Planning questions for the CSP
CSP Domain 4: Emergency Management (4.2 Disaster response and recovery (business continuity, contingency plans)). 4 free questions below. Every answer quotes and links the source document it comes from.
Sources covered
- Ready.gov (FEMA), Business Impact Analysis and Business Continuity Planning Business Impact Analysis and Business Continuity Planning
Guidance documents are quoted from the published edition linked above; they are recommendations, not regulations.
Question 1
A food packaging plant has finished its business impact analysis (BIA) after a flood scare. The team is now deciding which functions to bring back first. The labeling line has modest financial impact and no contractual penalties. The main production line has the greatest operational and financial impact because it supplies a major customer. Limited recovery crews are available. Which restoration order should the BIA report set?
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Answer: D. Restore the main production line first, then the labeling line
Ready.gov's BIA guidance says the report should prioritize the order for restoring business functions, with the processes of greatest operational and financial impact restored first. Restoring the labeling line first ignores impact. Splitting crews equally is not prioritizing. Leaving the order to supervisors defeats the purpose of setting priorities in the report.
On the job
A plant engineer at a hospital laundry finishes the business impact analysis after a boiler failure scare. Steam-heated washers drive the greatest operational and financial impact, while the folding area has limited effect. The report prioritizes the order for restoring business functions, so the washers are restored first and the folding area follows, with scarce repair crews assigned accordingly.
Study aid, not site-specific safety advice. The official rule controls.
Answer D comes from
Ready.gov (FEMA), Business Impact Analysis and Business Continuity Planning(opens ready.gov in a new tab)“The BIA report should prioritize the order of events for restoring business functions. Business processes with the greatest operational and financial impacts should be restored first.”
Question 2
A BIA team at a electronics assembler finds that a server failure would halt order entry for days. The team estimates the financial impact of this scenario at a high figure. The plant manager asks what to do with that estimate in the BIA report. What should the team do?
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Answer: D. Compare the estimated loss with the costs of possible recovery strategies
Ready.gov's BIA guidance says scenarios causing significant interruption should be assessed for financial impact where possible, and those costs compared with the costs of possible recovery strategies. The estimate should not be filed apart, swapped for recovery costs, or dropped, since the BIA covers financial as well as operational impacts.
On the job
An EHS manager at a pharmaceutical packaging plant supports a BIA after the team finds that losing the chilled storage controls would stop shipments. The team estimates the financial impact of that interruption, then prices a backup power option and an off-site storage contract. The estimated loss is compared with the cost of each possible recovery strategy before the report goes to management.
Study aid, not site-specific safety advice. The official rule controls.
Answer D comes from
Ready.gov (FEMA), Business Impact Analysis and Business Continuity Planning(opens ready.gov in a new tab)“Scenarios resulting in significant business interruption should be assessed in terms of financial impact, if possible. These costs should be compared with the costs for possible recovery strategies.”
Question 3
A regional retailer is reviewing its business impact analysis (BIA). One store was flooded in late October and could not reopen for three weeks. The owner says the loss is the same as if the flood had happened in mid-February because the repair time and the cost of repairs would be identical. The continuity planner must decide whether the timing of a disruption belongs in the analysis. What should the planner conclude?
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Answer: D. Timing matters, because a disruption just before the holiday shopping season can cost a large share of yearly sales
Ready.gov's BIA guidance says the point in time when a function is disrupted can have a significant bearing on the loss, and a store damaged before the holiday season may lose much of its yearly sales. The repair-cost-only view, the one-month cutoff, and the fixed-loss view are not supported by the excerpt.
Answer D comes from
Ready.gov (FEMA), Business Impact Analysis and Business Continuity Planning(opens ready.gov in a new tab)“The point in time when a business function or process is disrupted can have a significant bearing on the loss sustained. A store damaged in the weeks prior to the holiday shopping season may lose a substantial amount of its yearly sales.”
Question 4
A distribution company's BIA team is listing possible loss scenarios. One scenario is that its only trucking vendor stops running for two weeks because of a strike, so no goods reach the warehouse. Which type of disruption does this scenario represent?
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Answer: A. Interruption of the supply chain, including failure of a supplier or disruption of transportation of goods.
Ready.gov's BIA guidance lists supply chain interruption, including supplier failure or disrupted transportation of goods, as a disruption type. A trucking stoppage fits that. No servers or data are affected, so it is not an IT loss. Higher expenses are one possible effect, not the only one. The warehouse cannot be restocked when no goods arrive, so shipping from it is not a given.
Answer A comes from
Ready.gov (FEMA), Business Impact Analysis and Business Continuity Planning(opens ready.gov in a new tab)“Interruption of the supply chain including failure of a supplier or disruption of transportation of goods from the supplier”