King V Code: What BCM Practitioners Should Know

Resilience Is Now a Governance Imperative

Under Principle 8 (Risk), King V explicitly holds the governing body accountable for ensuring “business continuity arrangements that allow for organisational resilience, including the ability to operate under conditions of volatility, and to withstand and recover from acute shocks” (Recommended Practice 93d).

This isn’t just stronger language -- it’s a fundamental repositioning. BCM moves from a compliance checkbox to a strategic capability that boards must actively oversee and resource.

Technology & Disaster Recovery: Now Explicitly Linked

Principle 10 (Data, Information and Technology) reinforces this by requiring “arrangements for organisational resilience and disaster recovery planning and testing” (Practice 108b). King V recognises what practitioners have long known: technology failures can cascade into existential threats.

Embedding resilience within both risk and technology governance closes a critical gap -- one that became painfully visible during the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerating cyber threats.

BCM in Context: Supply Chains, Climate & Stakeholders

A distinctive feature of King V is also situating resilience within the organisation’s “economic, social and environmental context.” BCM planning can no longer focus solely on internal operations. Practitioners must now account for:

• Supply chain vulnerabilities and third-party dependencies
• Community and social impacts
• Environmental risks, including climate-related disruptions

King V’s “integrated thinking” framework ensures resilience strategies account for interdependencies across multiple capitals and stakeholder relationships -- a richer, more realistic lens than traditional BCM.

How King V Builds on King IV

King IV addressed business continuity within risk management frameworks. King V goes further to shifting the emphasis from disaster response to ongoing resilience capability. The ability “to operate under conditions of volatility” acknowledges that uncertainty is persistent, not episodic. Organisations must be built to absorb disruption, not merely recover from it.

How BCM Practitioners Can Leverage King V

King V gives practitioners real governance leverage. Use it to:

• Secure board engagement: Principle 8 (Practice 91) mandates board oversight of BCM so use this to get a seat at the table.
• Strengthen ERM integration: Align BCM with the enterprise risk management framework for strategic coherence.
• Connect to sustainability: Link continuity planning to stakeholder interests and the organisation’s ESG objectives.
• Justify investment: Use an outcomes based framework to demonstrate how BCM contributes to “Performance and Value Creation” and “Conformance and Prudent Control”, two of King V’s four governance outcomes.

The Bottom Line

King V transforms BCM from a supporting function into a boardroom conversation. For practitioners, this is the moment to step up, align your frameworks to the Code’s requirements, and demonstrate that resilience is not just risk mitigation but a competitive advantage.