Crisis management is the systematic attempt to avoid organizational crises or to manage those crises events that do occur (Pearson & Clair, 1998). A crisis is a major, unpredictable event that threatens to harm an organization and its stakeholders. Although crisis events are unpredictable, they are not unexpected (Coombs, 1999). Crises can affect all segments of society – businesses, churches, educational institutions, families, non-profits and the government and are caused by a wide range of reasons. Although the definitions can very greatly, three elements are common to most definitions of crisis: (a) a threat to the organization, (b) the element of surprise, and (c) a short decision time (Seeger, Sellnow & Ulmer, 1998).
The practice of crisis management involves attempts to eliminate technological failure as well as the development of formal communication systems to avoid or to manage crisis situations (Barton, 2001), and is a discipline within the broader context of management. Crisis management consists of skills and techniques required to assess, understand, and cope with any serious situation, especially from the moment it first occurs to the point that recovery procedures start.
Crisis management consists of methods used to respond to both the reality and perception of crises such as a Crisis Management Plan. Crisis management also involves establishing metrics to define what scenarios constitute a crisis and should consequently trigger the necessary response mechanisms. It consists of the communication that occurs within the response phase of emergency management scenarios.
The fundamental mission
of the Crisis Management
Group aT Skill is to
take the lead in
responding to
“bet-the-company” or
other major legal crises
for our clients.
Unexpected crisis events
— a catastrophic
facilities explosion, a
publicly announced
criminal indictment, the
discovery of financial
statement errors,
reports of product
defects, a corporate
governance or compliance
failure, just to name a
few — can quickly
destabilize a company.
Instantaneous and
sustained response is
crucial, especially when
media scrutiny is
immediate and intense.