Crisis management in public administration: The three phases model for safety incidents

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the factors that affect crisis management in public administration for safety incidents, during pre-crisis, crisis and post crisis phase. The sample is comprised by 177 experienced in crisis management participants representing government, public organizations and security/armed forces in Greece. Data were collected by means of structured questionnaires in a series of personal interviews. Results indicate that the ability of crisis management team leader and members to make right decisions, the internal and external communication and crises type are predictors of the three phases of crisis management (pre-crisis, crisis and post crisis) in public administration. Implications for management include the need to implement cultural and structural changes, develop crisis management team leader’s ability to make decisions in conditions of urgency conditions, to transform internal formal communication channels and procedures and to redesign external communication strategy in order to manage effectively today’s safety incidents in a dynamic and unpredictable environment.