CM Lecture 1

Management > Crisis Management > Elements > Why is the subject important?

Why is the subject important?

• Increasing prevalence of crisis facing firms
• Danger of impact to firms, stakeholders and society
• Lack of systems to deal with crisis
• Search for methods to avoid and deal with crisis

Aaron Wildavsky developed the notions of organisations in the latter half of the twentieth century becoming increasingly complex and interdependent, as they were affected by other companies, subcontractors and global politics. With this in mind, the definition of "crisis" changes, as firms have to deal with crises resulting from this interconnectedness, such as:

• When a crisis happens in one company, it affects the others
• Competitive pressures
• Higher technology: complexity

An interesting take on the situation is to see it in a positive light, as it shows firms their boundaries and weaknesses, from which they can learn, and encourages them to change and to innovate.

The key stakeholders of a companies who will be affected by crisis include public authorities (international agencies, governments-regulatory systems) and the public (consumers and employees).

Categories of crisis

Crisis in context

Some ideas