Crisis Management in Higher Education: What Have We Learned From Virginia Tech?

Abstract

Crisis management is a relatively new research territory in the field of human resource development (HRD). With the increasing number of crisis events occurring in higher education institutions in recent years, crisis management has increasingly attracted research attention. This article focuses on the shootings that occurred on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (US) in 2007. By adopting the single case study as research methodology and Mitroff’s crisis management model as the conceptual and analytical framework, the authors examine one higher education institution’s real-life experience with crisis events and the resultant change management. The authors highlight implications this crisis experience has for HRD practice, specific to educational institutions and business organizations that may experience crises of the same/similar nature.