Sustainable strategic crisis management: how government and military organisations can learn from the business sector

Abstract

The aim of the study is to test the hypothesis that strategic risk control methods in business cooperation and conflict transformation theory can be applied in military cooperation crisis management in order to better leverage partner expectations, lower the risk exposure and to reach intended objectives. The knowledge of cooperation and the risks in cooperation has become fundamental for business success. At the same time an increasing number of regional and local conflicts have engaged the international community in cooperative military missions. Though crisis management in business and military operations are performed with very different means, the two operations also show a number of strategic management similarities. The research question is if the similarities are large enough to make knowledge and experience from one area valid for sustainable strategic management in the other area? The study shows that the chosen factors in business decision on cooperation are valid factors in the decision process before entering into an international military peace mission in a crisis situation.