Chronicle of a Crisis Foretold: Slowing Down our Understanding of Crisis in Organizational Life

Abstract

Although researchers have increasingly explored the notion of crises happening in organizational life, it remains commonplace to interpret such situations as sudden and unexpected. This paper questions whether such conceptualization actually is in line with the day-to-day reality that many organizations face. Drawing on the detailed case of synthetics in the diamond industry, this paper showcases how researchers’ current approach to the concept of crisis may put too much stress on the sudden and exceptional at the expense of the more gradual and mundane. By arguing to ‘slow down’ our understanding of what constitutes a crisis, this paper works to reorganize the fields on risk, resilience, and crisis management – helping organizations to become better aware of the gradually developing risk that seemingly trivial phenomena might pose, and proactively tailor their flexibility as well as crisis approach accordingly.