Organizational Crisis Research Articles

Academic psychological capital: Implications for organizational crises

AbstractThis study examines the role of academic psychological capital (PsyCap) in buffering the negative impact of organizational crises (COVID‐19 pandemic) on educational outcomes in higher education institutions. Drawing on positive organizational behavior theory and crisis management literature, we hypothesize that students with higher levels of academic PsyCap will have significantly higher retention and graduation rates during the crisis, and that academic PsyCap is a better predictor of these outcomes than traditional predictors such as high school GPA and standardized test scores (Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)). Using a longitudinal approach, we found that academic PsyCap is positively related to 1‐year retention and graduation rates. Academic PsyCap also explains additional variance in these outcomes beyond high school GPA. The findings highlight the importance of cultivating psychological resources like hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism to promote student success and well‐being during challenging times.

Dynamics of nonprofit crisis communication in the pandemic: crisis narratives of homeless shelters

This study examines how U.S. nonprofit homeless shelters strategically used social media for crisis communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using content analysis of 1,109 shelters’ activities on X (formerly Twitter), the research investigates communication strategies adapted to address clients’ evolving needs. Findings indicate a significant increase in social media engagement, with nearly half of COVID-19-related posts employing crisis narratives. These narratives—categorized as blame, renewal, victim, hero, and memorial—revealed a strategic shift toward victim and renewal themes. This evolution highlights nonprofits’ efforts to advocate for their clients by emphasizing challenges while fostering hope. By integrating crisis narrative theory with organizational crisis communication frameworks, this study offers valuable insights into the distinct approaches nonprofits utilize to navigate crises through social media.

Resilience in local Finnish health systems: how are leaders’ approaches to change manifested in organisational crisis responses?

PurposeLocal health systems form the basis for health system resilience. Leaders’ standpoints are crucial in advancing resilience capacities and change. This study analysed how local health system leaders’ approaches to change reflect health system resilience capacities. Furthermore, we explored what triggers and hinders change during a crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe data consist of purposively sampled interviews with 14 local Finnish health system leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using abductive content analysis, examples of resisting, absorbing, adapting and transforming were identified. Contextual triggers and hindrances for the initiation of change processes were analysed to support understanding of health system resilience capacities at the local level.FindingsResilience capacities were manifested by doing standard things faster (absorption), engaging in collaborative reflections (adaptation) and reforming organisational boundaries and services (transforming). “Resisting” leaned on varied levels of reflection, with mixed responses. Triggers and hindrances varied situationally and highlighted the roles of a changing operational environment, existing practices and the social dimension (e.g. building a shared understanding).Originality/valueLeaders’ standpoints and their approaches to change are rarely the focus of attention in system-centred conceptualisations of health system resilience. Leaders’ awareness of their approaches to change can affect organisational responses and health system resilience. This should be more clearly acknowledged in theoretical frameworks, leadership training, preparedness planning and crisis governance. Health system resilience capacities form intertwined, nonlinear processes that are reshaped throughout a crisis. Analysis of resistance can enrich the understanding of local-level processes.

Crisis management: a post-pandemic framework proposition and lessons learned at Hyundai Motor Brazil

PurposeThis study relies on the lessons learned from the recent pandemic crisis to propose a conceptual framework for organizational crisis management and illustrate its application in an organization that effectively protected its competitive position during the crisis.Design/methodology/approachBuilding upon the resource-based view and the dynamic capability theoretical framework, we first conducted a systematic literature review that involves content and bibliographic analysis. Subsequently, we developed a conceptual crisis management framework and applied it to the case of Hyundai Motor Brazil.FindingsThe systematic literature review found innovation and knowledge management as prominent response mechanisms to the pandemic crisis whereas the case provided a better understanding on how these mechanisms contributed to crisis navigation.Practical implicationsManagers will find valuable insights into the importance of linking risk management and crisis management, and leveraging innovation and knowledge to enhance resilience, with straightforward operationalization for benchmark.Originality/valueThis paper is original for relating enterprise risk management, innovation and knowledge management to each phase of existing crisis management processes. It enriches the theoretical and practical debate on the dynamic capabilities’ perspective of risk and crisis management.

Emotion Regulation, Crisis Optimism and Employee Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Negative Emotion

Recent research has highlighted the importance of emotional well-being and crisis optimism for organisational employees during crisis events. This paper examines the role of emotion regulation strategies, specifically reappraisal and suppression, in fostering emotional well-being and crisis optimism in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown crisis. The authors also investigate how emotional intensity moderates the effectiveness of these strategies. A sample of 536 Indian employees was subjected to factor analysis, sentiment analysis and factor score regression. The results demonstrate that reappraisal positively impacts emotional well-being and crisis optimism, while suppression diminishes emotional well-being but increases employee optimism. Notably, high levels of negative emotions exacerbate the adverse effects of suppression on emotional well-being, while slightly amplifying the benefits of reappraisal on optimism. This study sheds light on emotion regulation during organisational crises, emphasising the moderating role of negative emotional intensity.

Organizational Crisis in Spotlight Increases Preference for Female but not Ethnic Minority Leaders: The Role of Signaling Theory for Glass Cliff Appointments

In times of crisis, decision-makers often appoint atypical candidates (i.e., women or ethnic minorities) as leaders, a phenomenon known as the “glass cliff.” Two online experiments (N = 607) with employees in Switzerland and France investigated whether media and stakeholder (i.e., third-party) attention toward the organization drives these preferences given that atypical appointments may be used to signal change. As expected, we found that atypical candidates were more likely appointed during a high third-party attention crisis compared to a low third-party attention crisis and a no-crisis situation. Third-party attention, however, had varying effects on female and ethnic minority candidates, illuminating the complexities of atypical leadership selections during crises. Against expectations, candidate choice was unrelated to the perceived importance of signaling change. Although this research provides causal evidence of the impact of third-party attention on atypical leadership selection, the underlying psychological mechanisms postulated by signaling theory need to be further explored.

Plan for the crisis!

Abstract Background The COVID-19-crisis has posed major challenges for organisations providing care in terms of fulfilling their contracts as well as maintaining their quality standards. This project aimed to analyse the implementation of gender and diversity sensitive crisis preparedness in health and social care organisations in Austria. The innovation of this project lies in the organisational crisis preparation including the interfaces of all organisations and actors involved in the care of a vulnerable person. Methods A comprehensive survey and analysis of existing structures and processes was carried out. A participatory approach was used to develop modular guidelines tailored to different crisis scenarios. This was followed by a detailed process analysis, integration of good practices and the creation of assessment tools for practical evaluation. Staff training and technology needs were identified, followed by an assessment of the applicability of the findings to other social sector organisations. Results This project created guidelines with modular structures that enable preparation for crises and their consequences. Thereby strategies for risk mitigation and good practice examples, e.g. from the COVID-19 pandemic, were developed. A self-assessment of the status of crisis preparation as well as the continuous monitoring with special consideration of the intersectional diversity of the target groups and their vulnerability was developed and made available on the web. Conclusions The project results in guidelines as well as a self-assessment and monitoring tool directly benefiting the participating organisations. Through its transferability to other organisations the project promotes overall crisis resilience and sustainably strengthens the care for vulnerable groups in times of crisis. In addition, solidarity-based help in crisis situations is promoted. The project promotes not only organisational, but also individual as well as macro-social and economic benefits. Key messages • The project developed guidelines for gender and diversity sensitive crisis preparedness for health and social care organisations, including risk mitigation strategies and self-assessment/monitoring. • Crisis preparation must be systematically implemented in health and social care organisations involved in care of vulnerable persons.

Strengthening crisis resilience in German primary care by using quality indicators: findings of a process evaluation in the RESILARE project

BackgroundIn recent years, health systems worldwide have been confronted with several crises such as natural disasters or the COVID-19 pandemic, that affected lives and health of many people. In light of waves of infections and heat, climate change is considered to be the biggest health threat of the 21st century. Strengthening individual and organizational crisis resilience in healthcare settings thus becomes a crucial factor in maintaining care quality and protecting vulnerable patients during such crises. The RESILARE project therefore aimed to develop and evaluate quality indicators that support primary care practices in preparing for and adapting to crisis-related challenges.MethodsIn a three-phased process, indicator development was based on systematic literature research and qualitative data, a two-stage expert panel process, and pilot testing in a maximum of n = 35 ambulatory practices during an outreach visit. Practice-individual indicator-related status and benchmarking information were provided via feedback reports to complete the audit and feedback program. A mixed-methods process evaluation used semistructured interviews with participating General practitioners and nonphysician health professionals to explore support and challenges for the implementation of the derived set of quality indicators. Two online surveys were conducted to evaluate all indicators and the two-part feedback report. Qualitative data were analyzed inductively using a thematic analysis approach. Survey data were analyzed descriptively.ResultsA total of n = 32 indicators covered four domains: (1) individual resilience, (2) crisis prevention, (3) organizational resilience, and (4) climate resilience. N = 34 practices participated in the piloting and the process evaluation. Participants generally attributed a high relevance to the domains, and considered the indicator set suitable for implementation into existing quality management systems. Planning and implementation of measures that strengthen crisis resilience in practices were triggered or intensified by piloting the indicators and by the two-part feedback report. The identified challenges involved the volume of indicators and practice-individual implementation of renewable energy sources on rented premises. Participants expressed their desire for peer exchange regarding proven concepts for crisis resilience.

Keeping Up with the Joneses during an Economic Crisis: The Effect of Different Types of Pay Cuts on Employee Performance

ABSTRACT Many firms implement pay cuts to reduce labor costs during organizational crises and there are different ways to distribute pay cuts among employees. We experimentally investigate how employees respond to equal-share pay cuts compared to performance-based pay cuts. We predict and find that the effect of different ways of allocating pay cuts is moderated by employees’ relative performance before the pay cuts. Compared to equal-share pay cuts, performance-based pay cuts lead to higher performance but only for employees who underperform their peers before the pay cuts. Performance-based pay cuts also result in higher team performance. Interestingly, we also find that when pay cuts are caused by an organizational crisis, low performers do not perceive it as unfair to receive a larger share of pay reduction. Our findings contribute to both literature and practice on pay reduction during organizational crises. Data availability: Data are available from the authors upon request. JEL Classifications: D91; J33; M40.

Local mechanism of engagement in rural landscapes in the Nicaragua-Honduras sentinel landscape: examples of a local farmers' organisation and a multi-actor platform

Landscape approaches have been encouraged as a means of addressing the intricate challenges related to natural resource management and the well-being of land users/farmers. The study presents two mechanisms applied to territory development: first, a multi-stakeholder platform to improve governance in a natural reserve area (space/geographical dimension); second, how a local cooperative can become a learning network and address land-use and landscape management issues. The study evaluates the planning tool interventions of a local project, aiming to enhance landscape governance and value-chain collaboration in Nicaragua's biosphere reserve. We interviewed 403 residents and 29 cocoa cooperative members to evaluate their view of the tools/methodologies' effectiveness in natural resource management and cocoa farmers' resilience and well-being, respectively. Factorial analysis showed that the people of "Peñas Blanca" were aware of the multi-stakeholder platform managing the reserve. Generally, they had a positive opinion of the platform and its ability to balance economic and cultural values with conservation. The local cocoa cooperative has faced a financial and organisational crisis in recent years, with only a small number of members using the cooperative to sell their cocoa beans. This is due to decreased productivity and quality of the cocoa beans for some individual farmers, which impacts their ability to commercialise the beans with the cooperative. However, current access to social and cultural capital is supporting the resilience and adaptive capacity of the cocoa farmers in the territory. The studied cases provide evidence of the effectiveness of multi-sectoral and community-led organizations in integrating economic, ecological, and social objectives in a territory supporting landscape governance with sectoral approaches as valuable entry points.

Will Private School Choice Save Catholic Schools in the U.S.? Interrogating the Catholic School Sector’s Relationship to the School Privatization Movement

A central part of the private school choice coalition in the U.S. has been the participation of Catholic school stakeholders. The purpose of this article is to examine how Catholic school advocacy became linked to private school choice advocacy by highlighting the institutional and organizational crises facing Catholic elementary and secondary schools in the U.S. that led to sector-wide policy responses favoring choice. However, through an analysis of emerging trends in private school choice policy implementation, this paper raises questions about the efficacy of continued advocacy for private school choice policy within the Catholic sector.

A glance at the COVID-19 epidemic control system in Taiwan: implications for organizational crisis management and leadership in black swan events

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic caused substantial impacts and uncertainty in the world. For human resource leaders compelled into new roles in light of the pandemic, this paper used an exemplary case – Taiwan – to (1) discuss lessons and takeaways from the Taiwanese government’s and organizations’ response to the pandemic and (2) identify the structure of a pandemic control model and effective leadership behaviours at the national level that may be adopted in business settings to decrease the disruptive effects of a crisis. While efficient subsystems in organizational governance, policy, leadership, and culture are essential to combat a crisis, the evidence from Taiwan’s case in these contexts highlights the importance of various infrastructures and communication pathways in crisis management. The study aims to advance the understanding of effective responses and leadership skills in times of crisis and contribute to human resource literature and policy development in business settings. Human resource professionals and leaders play an important role as change agents to reduce the disruptive effects of a black swan event and can benefit from this study to be prepared for future crises. Implications for international human resource interventions in crisis management and leadership and recommendations for future research are provided.

Collective response capacity: Developing crisis leadership in organisations

AbstractHow can crisis leadership be developed before an organisational crisis occurs? This article addresses this important question by reviewing three individual‐level leadership perspectives (leader personality traits, leadership styles, and functional leadership) and three organisational level perspectives (leadership as contextual, leadership as collective, and leadership as dynamic), on how to develop crisis leadership with regard to recruitment, selection, and training. While crisis leadership is often perceived as something individual “leaders are born with” or as a variant of general leadership abilities, such an understanding leaves much to chance in terms of who will be effective leaders in a crisis, as well as the development of leadership capacity in organisations before a crisis actually occurs. This passive approach not only contradicts research on what constitutes effective crisis leadership but also is perceived to be unethical in terms of the potential consequences ineffective leadership can have in a crisis. This article provides an integrative overview of current and hitherto dispersed crisis leadership development research, showing how recruitment, selection and training to achieve collective crisis leadership capacity encompasses switching between organisational and individual level perspectives. We suggest implications for theory and future research as well as for practitioners responsible for developing crisis leadership in organisations.

Toward a Push-Pull Model of Leader Sensegiving During Crisis: A Content Analysis of United Nations Security Council Communications

Leader sensegiving during crisis situations has received limited empirical research attention in the management and organization literature, despite the important role it plays in addressing organizational crises. This study examines how the tone of leader sense-giving messages changes as crises unfold, so as to provide a point of departure for future research assessing the efficacy of sense-giving efforts amid crises. Toward this end, I develop a conceptual push-pull model of leader sensegiving in crisis, then test key relationships between crisis conditions, sensegiving activity, and leader message tone. Analysis of a sample of United Nations Security Council presidential statements suggests that increased leader sensegiving activity is associated with worsening crisis conditions and that leader messages tend to adopt a linguistic tone that is visceral and steeped in language that references forceful action when the intensity of crisis conditions is high. Furthermore, leader messages addressing deteriorating crises are associated with relatively high levels of exclusionary, aggressive language but low levels of collectiveness and praise. Directions for future leader sense-giving in crisis research are also discussed.

Foreign identity and organizational crises: Evidence in the U.S. automobile industry

Multinational corporations (MNCs) adeptly manage Liabilities of Foreignness (LOF) and Assets of Foreignness (AOF) to their advantage, and central to this endeavor is the strategic management of their foreign identity. Our research identifies a critical context where foreign identity remains a liability: organizational crises. Drawing on organizational identity and legitimation process theories, we contend that foreign firms face greater legitimacy losses compared to domestic firms during crises due to magnified foreign identity and differences in legitimacy standards. Furthermore, a crisis in one foreign firm can trigger stronger negative spillover effects on other foreign firms than on domestic firms. We test our theory through an analysis of US automobile recall events, demonstrating significant legitimacy impacts for foreign firms. Our findings illuminate the complex dynamics of foreign identity management, offering new insights into the persistent challenges of LOF during times of crisis.

Relationship Quality with a Leader During an Organizational Crisis: Team Dynamics and Outcomes

Relationship Quality with a Leader During an Organizational Crisis: Team Dynamics and Outcomes

An Uncertainty-Management Model Depiciting Employees’ Responses to Organizational Crisis

An Uncertainty-Management Model Depiciting Employees’ Responses to Organizational Crisis

The Structuration of Positive Communication Experiences: The Case of the Great Resignation

The Great Resignation and COVID-19 pandemic are two extended crises marked by organizational change and employee turnover. This study examines the positive organizational communication experiences that influenced employee retention during this time of organizational crisis. Data for this research were collected through 25 semi-structured interviews and analyzed using a phronetic iterative approach. Through the use of structuration theory, the findings indicated that participants’ positive experiences of organizational communication transformed into reasons to stay with their workplaces during a time of extended crisis. Participants identified how organizational structures were reaffirmed or changed as employees and leaders utilized different resources and created new rules for interaction. Findings of this study show how positive organizational communication experiences can mitigate negative experiences and strengthen employee retention. During crises, organizations and their leaders should focus on fostering connection, belonging, and open communication among all employees.

Leadership during crisis: a multi-sector exploration of perceptions of leadership in Australia

Purpose This paper aims to extend our understanding of the concept of crisis leadership based on perceptions of 48 Australian leaders drawn from various sectors including Australian politics, higher education, not-for-profit and corporate sectors. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study employed semi-structured virtual interviews of 48 leaders from Australian politics, higher education, not-for-profit and corporate sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Leximancer text analytics program was used for data analysis. Findings Participants perceived effective leadership during a crisis as encompassing four macro themes: leadership as power, leadership as emanating from people, leadership as management and leadership as specific to the organization. While these findings reinforced extant literature on facets of effective leadership, leaders from different sectors differed on the relative importance of some leadership themes and their relevance to specific sectors. Research limitations/implications While the data were collected from a convenient sample, our findings from multiple sectors in Australia extend our knowledge on crisis leadership by revealing differences in sectorial perspectives of crisis leadership. Further, these findings help refine the extant traditional explanations of leadership and especially offer an enhanced understanding of leadership during a crisis. Consequently, our findings support future research that could help identify specific attributes of leaders navigating organizational crises. Such future research could subsequently help develop a theory on crisis leadership based on a valid and reliable measurement for assessing crisis leadership effectiveness in diverse organizational settings. Originality/value Our study is based on multi-sector data and consequently lays a solid foundation for extending the conceptualization of leadership during crisis, and the need to reconceptualize effective leader attributes useful in crisis contexts. Theoretically, the current study extended recent research on crisis leadership, by examining the conceptualizations of crisis leadership within specific Australian sectors.

Personality and Crisis Preparedness: The Mediation and Moderation of Narcissistic-Rivalry and Escalation of Commitment

Despite extensive research on organizational crises, there is a need for deeper insight into the personalities of managers involved in crisis management and the interplay of personality traits in crisis preparedness. Crisis management (CM) is pivotal in today’s complex and rapidly changing world, involving the strategic process of anticipating, preparing for, and effectively responding to crises that can potentially disrupt an organization. Recent surges in business failures and related corporate crises, along with the varied consequences of COVID-19, emphasize the acute need for effective CM, particularly crisis preparedness (CP). Given that CP in organizations is influenced by various factors, we aimed to develop a model that accurately assesses the impact of individual and situational aspects on CP, drawing on crisis management theory and trait theory as the overarching theoretical basis. Based on a sample of 314 executives and utilizing moderation-mediation analysis, our main findings reveal that narcissistic rivalry fully mediates the positive relationship between conscientiousness and CP. Additionally, Escalation of Commitment (EoC) moderated the relationship between conscientiousness and narcissistic rivalry, such that managers with high conscientiousness disposed to EoC show a desirable low level of rivalry. In conclusion, while EoC is typically viewed as a negative organizational trait, organizations are advised to prioritize hiring conscientious managers who exhibit a propensity for EoC, provided that the organization can effectively manage this tendency. By taking the proper steps, organizations can benefit from the advantages of managers disposed to EoC while reducing crisis risks.