STUDENT PROTESTS IN UNIVERSITIES: EXPLORING THE MODEL FOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT, CRISIS LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

Abstract

With the increasing number of crisis events occurring in higher educational institutions, crisis management has attracted research attention. This article focuses on student protests that were widely experienced throughout the university campuses in Pakistan. By adapting a multiple case study and Zdriaski’s ‘Crisis Matrix’ as the conceptual and analytical framework, the researcher examines higher educational institutions real life experience with student’s protests.The purpose of this qualitative study was to report descriptions of challenges and strategies as narrated by leaders who had experienced campus crisis with complete reflections on their leadership competencies and strategies used. Additionally, after managing the crisis comprehensive list of leadership competencies required for organizational learning were explored. This study has value for practitioners when organizational learning is selected as an approach to organizational effectiveness specially during challenging times when learning is promoted at all levels and aligned with the overall strategic intent.