Glossary term
Crisis Management
Subject: Risk Management, Business Continuity and Resilience
Also known as: crisis response
Crisis management is the way senior leaders take decisions, direct the response and communicate during a sudden, serious event that threatens people, operations, finances or reputation and goes beyond normal routines.
Explanation
A crisis is a situation where the stakes, uncertainty and pace overwhelm usual processes, so a small group takes control. It is a situation where the stakes, uncertainty and pace overwhelm usual processes, so a small group takes control. Most organisations form a crisis team led by a senior executive, with legal, communications, operations, HR and risk represented. The team sets priorities, usually protecting people first, then assets and reputation, and decides on spokespeople and messages for staff, customers, regulators and media. It works from a pre-agreed structure and a log of decisions. Crisis management differs from business continuity, which restores activities, and from incident response, which handles a technical or operational event. The crisis team may call on both. After a crisis, regulators and the press compare what leaders said with what they knew at each hour, so a decision log earns its keep.
Example
A food producer learns that a batch of packaged salads may carry a bacterial contaminant. The chief executive convenes the crisis team within the hour. It orders a product recall, briefs the food safety regulator, prepares a customer statement and sets a call line. Updates go out every four hours. Later, the team reviews its decisions and revises the crisis plan.
Not to be confused with
- Incident Response
- Incident response manages a specific event, often technical. Crisis management steers leadership decisions and communication when the event threatens the whole organisation.