The appropriate response to an avian flu pandemic is different for every company, and for every industry. Some organizations may need to shut down; others might have clients that themselves need help coping with the pandemic. It’s up to each organization to decide what a pandemic would mean for its employees and its particular business, and then gauge how much it can help other organizations and the communities in which its employees live and work. The biggest mistake a company can make is to throw its hands up at the enormous scope of the problem and hope it goes away. Like any business continuity issue, there are steps companies can take to prepare, both to take care of employees and ensure that the business itself will survive the pandemic.

-- Gary Lynch