When establishing a BCMS, good practice is to create governance that supports informed decisions, prioritisation, and cross-functional coordination. The BCI's guidance explicitly recognises the value of a steering group/team to ''oversee, advise and make recommendations to top management,'' ensuring the programme is guided by the right expertise and stakeholder perspectives rather than being driven by one function alone. This fits the purpose of PP1 (Establishing a BCMS), which includes establishing high-level governance and coordinating interrelated activities such as scope, policy, objectives, and roles/responsibilities.

Options A and B rely on coercion (rules/mandatory obligations). While participation is important, ''forcing'' engagement often undermines ownership and culture---whereas a steering group creates structured, senior-supported engagement and clearer accountability. Option D can be useful for specific inputs (e.g., supplier continuity requirements), but routinely inviting external parties into BCMS establishment is not the core good-practice governance mechanism; external expectations are normally managed through contracts, SLAs, assurance, and stakeholder communications rather than open-ended participation in internal governance.