Some kinds of planning situations are "programmed" and some are
             "unprogrammed." Why is it generally easier to work in programmed
             situations' What can happen to programmed plans when there is an
             Programmed situations are easier to work in than unprogrammed
             situations for a number of reasons. Programmed situations are obviously
             thought out and planned for ahead of time, while unprogrammed situations
             happen before the business has had time to think them through and develop a
             plan of action. Clearly, the attacks of September 11, 2001 were
             unprogrammed attacks, because few if any people thought that planes would
             fly into buildings, and the buildings would collapse. Programmed
             situations are planned for and even practiced, but unprogrammed situations
             are not planned for, and so, they can be much more dangerous and demanding.
             Programmed plans can fall apart when there is an unexpected event that is
             not planned for. For example, many of the firms located in the World Trade
             Center lost all of their employees in that location. That is difficult, if
             not impossible to plan for, and the results were staggering. Not only were
             the companies unable to do business, they had the grief of losing their
             entire teams to deal with, and the families and their needs to deal with.
             Perhaps now some large organizations have created contingency plans that
             deal with these specific types of disasters and losses, but it was
             impossible to predict these events before the terrorist attacks, and so,
             these were unprogrammed events that were catastrophic and difficult.
             What priorities are there in planning for unexpected events and
             business interruption' What should companies be doing now to prepare for
             There are many priorities in planning for unexpected events and
             business interruption. First, a good contingency plan must outline good
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