Crisis Strikes Research Articles

M@n@gement in Times of Economic Crisis: Insights Into Organizational Ambidexterity

We constantly hear of the increasing complexity of our fast-paced, globalized world, and those who did not survive the succession of crises of the last decade could certainly attest to the difficulties of strategy-making in such circumstances. Of course, our reflex when confronted with fear of the future is often to run for cover, particularly if management can get away with downsizing while blaming the crisis. But of course, this only fulfils the short-term objectives of strategy. If an organization favors short-term exploitation when crisis strikes, what will become of it in the longer term? By the same token, allocating resources to long-term exploration might incur the risk of precipitating the fall. It is with this ambidexterity dilemma in mind that I approached a group of colleagues who have for some time been at the forefront of research in the field. First, of course, is Michael Tushman of Harvard Business School. Michael, besides being a leading international scholar, is also one of the editors of M@n@gement. Michael is very supportive of the journal, and I thank him for that as well as for accepting the offer to join in this attempt to reflect on the dilemma of “ambidexterity in times of crisis”. Michael has been working for a long time with my dear colleague Gilbert Probst, of the University of Geneva. Working together with Michael and other colleagues, Gilbert has inspired many young scholars to research the complexity and paradoxes of ambidexterity. Finally, Achim Schmitt, an up-and-coming academic, was the final element required for a successful team. Their joint efforts produced a very thoughtful insight into the way in which ambidexterity can pass a stress test in preparation for major future crises. They offer their views on improving the theory of organizational ambidexterity in the context of economic crises, and their case study of Samsung Electronics captures the essence of ambidexterity in practice. I feel that in broader terms their text also sets the agenda for future research on ambidexterity. I hope that the readers of M@n@gement will enjoy this Unplugged essay as much as I did. Emmanuel JosserandEditor in Chief M@n@gement

Table of Contents

Abstract New National Standards Board for U.S. Community Foundations takes compliance to next step Private‐public partnership assists aging workers Fundraising Tested, practical program raises funds in hard times Media Relations Build strong media relationships to support your organization When crisis strikes, relationships are critical to media inquiries International Charities Network calls for reform of counterterrorism rules and restrictions Group aims to replace Treasury guidelines with Principles of International Charity Best Practices New FWI resource highlights how employers “Make Work Work” Trying times call for innovative measures in workplace IS conference promotes collaboration Research Public seeks socially responsible companies Recession produces a new kind of philanthropist Employers worry about employees' retirement preparations Employment Law Quick Looks

HYBRID NARRATIVES: THE MAKING OF CHARACTER AND NARRATIVE AUTHORITY IN RUDYARD KIPLING'S “HIS CHANCE IN LIFE”

When Rudyard Kipling offeredhis wry observations on officialdom in Imperial India to his cousin, Margaret Bourne-Jones, in 1885, he might have been toying with the kernel of one of his more perplexing stories on race and hybridity, written for his 1888 anthology,Plain Tales from the Hills. When Kipling actually came to address this theme fictionally, in his short story entitled “His Chance in Life,” he made one crucial change: he substituted a dark-skinned telegraphist of mixed race for an Englishman, thereby engaging with the illogics of character that hybridity posed for narratives on race and Empire. In Kipling's story, his hybrid hero, stationed in the mofussil town of Tibasu, experiences a sudden surge of Britishness in the mixed blood flowing in his veins at the moment when crisis strikes, and leads a group of terrified policemen in quelling a communal riot between Hindus and Muslims. He is found guilty of exercising unconstitutional authority by a Hindu sub-judge, but the verdict is set aside by the British Assistant Collector. As a reward, he is promoted to an up-country Central Telegraph Office, where he proceeds to marry his ugly sweetheart, also of mixed race parentage, and live happily with a large brood of children in quarters on the office premises, a loyal government servant, “at home” with officialdom and Empire.

Why some companies emerge stronger and better from a crisis: 7 essential lessons for surviving disaster

Ian Mitroff, recognized around the world as an authority in crisis management, has created a plan that goes well beyond disaster preparedness to help your company get accustomed to working in the face of some unsettling facts:* In an age of terror, cyberattacks, large-scale corporate fraud and more, crisis is no longer a question of if, but of when. * Your company, no matter its size, industry, or location, is not immune from this reality. * Your contingency planning will only be as effective as the human beings charged with putting it into action.Mitroff outlines seven distinct competencies your organization needs to handle crises effectively:* Right Heart (emotional IQ): By accepting crisis as an inevitability, you can process much of the shock and grief beforehand, and avoid making the effects of the crisis even worse through an unconstructive response. * Right Thinking (creative IQ): Crises don't give a damn for the ways in which we have organized the world, so out-of-the-box thinking is essential. * Right Social and Political IQ: Understand that your business is subject not only to the particular pitfalls of its industry, but also to the universal and complex challenges that threaten all companies. * Right Integration (integrative IQ): Realize that crises are perceived differently by different stakeholders, and are never simple exercises that can be solved. Identify and reconcile these perceptions now so that the path is clear when the crisis strikes. * Right Technical IQ: Think like a controlled paranoid to uncover ways in which malicious forces could cause a crisis in your company. Question every assumption about what is normal, impossible, or absurd. * Right Aesthetic IQ: Reconsider the classic design of the corporation, which is meant to address problems as they arise, and move toward one in which crisis management is an overarching discipline on a par with, for example, finance. * Spiritual IQ: Reject the notion that people's physical, mental, and spiritual beings are completely separate; recognize that crises cause us to question the very meaning of our lives and what we do, and establish ahead of time why our work is, and must remain, important to us on many different levels.Although crisis management has taken on new urgency in recent turbulent times, the need for careful planning did not originate on September 11, 2001. Mitroff's examples, drawn from interviews conducted both after the 2001 attacks and during his 25-year career as an expert in crisis management, demonstrate the need for action -- and offer a blueprint for taking it.

Crisis Management in Small-Scale Tourism

Summary Since the events of September 2001, many tourism academics, analysts, and corporations have displayed attention toward crises in the tourism industry. Most attention has focussed on how nations and large tourism corporations cope with unforseen crises. However, when crisis strikes, it is indiscriminate, affecting small-scale tourism businesses also. This article analyses some popular crisis management models, and their applicability to smaller scale businesses. The small island of Gili Air in Indonesia is examined, and the crisis management techniques employed by owners and operators of small and micro tourism businesses. The results indicate that while these businesses face similar issues resulting from crises, they are ill equipped to produce long-term solutions.

BUSINESS-OPERATIONAL CONTINUITY PLANNING

ABSTRACT U.S. federal and state regulations require industry to develop and maintain detailed crisis and emergency response plans. These plans are, for the most part, well thought out and detailed. As a result, along with extensive training and exercise programs, industry preparedness is better than it has ever been to respond to and manage an emergency. But how well prepared is industry to handle the business or operational continuity aspects of a crisis or emergency? What plans are in place to deal with the requirement for continuing essential business functions in the face of a disaster? If a major incident occurs to a refinery, terminal, or offshore production platform that requires it to be taken off-line, or damages it beyond repair, are there plans in place to minimize the impacts on the rest of the organization and on the downstream customers? How will this be done simultaneously while managing the response? This paper addresses those needs and discusses the requirements that companies in the oil and chemical industry should consider in developing business and operational continuity plans. It explains a multi-step planning process that is being used by many companies around the world to maintain their business edge when a crisis or disaster strikes. This planning process includes such functions as conducting a risk analysis and business impact analysis, developing mitigation and recovery strategies, drafting a continuity plan, developing an awareness program, and building a training and exercising program. The paper also looks at the similarities between business and operational continuity plans and a company's emergency or crisis management plan and address ways in which the plans may be integrated.

A California Generation Capacity Market

California, overconfident with its new Power Exchange spot market, seems unaware that it could be afflicted by the same turmoil that bludgeoned the Midwest in June. An electricity capacity market should be put in place before crisis strikes.

Crisis management

Sets out to provide and insight into crisis and share the experiences of others so that managers can develop their own crisis management programmes. Examines different types of crises before making suggestions about what to do when a crisis strikes.

Organizing for Crisis Response

Crises are turning points in organizations. When crisis strikes, fast-response management depends on quickly configuring and deploying information and communications. This paper brings together research and practice in crisis response management, information technology and news media fast-response methods to derive principles for using information technology as an organizational resource. Firms increasingly recognize the need to view their information technology (IT) platform as a key business resource for just-in-time scheduling, distribution, coordination, service and logistics. If they see it as an equally key resource for just-in-time crisis response, it then creates a powerful base for crisis response management. Exxon Valdez and the Gulf War illustrate these requirements. They provide a stage model of crisis response. The model is not intended as a general description of crisis, but as a more specific modelling of organizational response capability. This stage model is illustrated by Dow Coming's recent silicon-gel implant crisis.

Organizing for crisis response

Crises are turning points in organizations. When crisis strikes, fast-response management depends on quickly configuring and deploying information and communications. This paper brings together research and practice in crisis response management, information technology and news media fast-response methods to derive principles for using information technology as an organizational resource. Firms increasingly recognize the need to view their information technology (IT) platform as a key business resource for just-in-time scheduling, distribution, coordination, service and logistics. If they see it as an equally key resource for just-in-time crisis response, it then creates a powerful base for crisis response management. Exxon Valdez and the Gulf War illustrate these requirements. They provide a stage model of crisis response. The model is not intended as a general description of crisis, but as a more specific modelling of organizational response capability. This stage model is illustrated by Dow Corning's recent silicon-gel implant crisis.

Crisis Response Planning Toward a Contingent Analysis

Abstract Social scientists studying responses to disasters have suggested ways to overcome recurrent operational and behavioral problems during implementation. An analysis of the response of a number of jurisdictions to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens shows the techniques are useful to local government. Officials only adopted those techniques, however, after some ad hoc learning in the heat of emergency. The question of how to foster the development of adaptive strategies before a crisis strikes has received less attention, and it is often dismissed as a problem of political apathy. Beyond apathy alone, evidence presented here is used to argue that we ought to attempt to identify organizational arrangements or contingencies that act as incentives for, or barriers to, more effective public-sector crisis management strategies.

What to do now, before crisis strikes

What to do now, before crisis strikes