INTRODUCTION
The term crisis has the meaning unique to each specific organization, be it in the public or private sector. Based on the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, New 8th Edition (2010), it defines crisis as a time of great danger, difficulty or confusion when problems must be solved or important decisions must be made. Visit here for more info.
Those in the Risk Management fraternity normally defines crisis as a major disorder of an organization's normal business activities that may excite a wide media coverage and public scrutiny. While crisis management is the strategy and actions adopted to avoid or cancel out the possible adverse consequences of a crisis situation.
Crises can be those of violent in nature, such as kidnapping (for ransom or otherwise), fire, storm, or other natural disasters as well as the more subtle versions such as leveraged buyouts, mergers, acquisitions, or major reorganization of the existing corporate structure.
It should be clearly understood that crisis and violence of the situation are not necessarily synonymous.
Obviously, managing effectively in such scenarios requires a more demanding leadership role, closer interaction with staff members, and a more hands-on approach to solving the problems. During times of crisis, the manager cannot afford to remain in the office, remote from employees, but must become personally involved with subordinates to build trust which will enable free voicing of concerns.
Crisis management is not the quick fix solution but instead entails the identification, analysis, and forecasting of the crisis issues and subsequent outlining of specific methodologies that will enable the organization to prevent or cope with the crisis.
Also, it must be understood that crisis management is not represented by a separate functional unit within the organization. Instead, it is an aggregate of functional units necessary to manage a specific crisis event.
The resultant crisis management team should not be visualized as a task force but as a permanent component of an organization that is reinforced as a matrix by functional units identified as necessary for addressing a particular crisis situation.
ANALYSIS
Perhaps the most important element in the crisis management process is the design of the organizational structure that will become into play during the crisis event. In many cases, crisis management matrix design appears to be the most favored structure.
The second issue which must be addressed is the selection of the crisis team. In choosing which individuals are to be assigned to the team, consideration must be given to the length of the required task and to whether or not it will require a full time as opposed to a part-time commitment from its members.
Next, the crisis team manager is tasked with developing the group into an effective working unit. During this process, the manager must remain aware that the purpose of the unit is to deal with the crisis while still allowing the remainder of the organization to operate in line with daily routine.
The development of this team is performed through the analysis of goals and roles as well as group and individual processes. Once the team members understand these issues, the transformation into an effective cohesive unit begins.
The fourth step in the process is the design and implementation of the crisis audit. It represents the tool that gathers data for the formulation of the crisis priorities. These priorities are not separate and distinct from the organizational objectives. The priorities are in reality steps taken to assure that organizational objectives can be accomplished in spite of the crisis factors.
Once the team goals and crisis priorities have been established, the next issue to be addressed is the implementation of the crisis plan. For many organizations, the plan will normally consist of five components: introduction, objectives, assumptions, trigger mechanism, and action steps.
The introduction gives an overview of the crisis situation, while the objectives are designed to clearly describe the goals and reduce generalizations and ambiguities. The assumptions will state those conditions over which we have little control yet will have major impact if they occur.
The trigger mechanism is the alarm instrument that brings the plan into activation. It must be structured in such a way that it will not be prematurely implemented or conversely delayed. Once implemented by the trigger mechanism, the plan, now fully implemented, moves the team into the action phase. In industry standard, this will be managing the crisis or we usually call it crisis management.
In conclusion, we can say in simple words that crisis management is "post-incident" response or management of the aftermath of crisis.