Crisis Management

The Ukraine crisis is affecting organizations of all types doing business or with operations and employees not just in Ukraine but also in Russia, Belarus and countries bordering that area. The crisis is just one of the many types of risks organizations face today. While some risks can be planned for and mitigated, other hard-to-predict events require organizations to be better prepared for the unexpected. Boards and management teams must step up their crisis readiness to better lead their organizations.

Crisis response time is critical for an organization. The speed with which bad news can spread that directly affects an organization has been reduced to minutes.

Types of crisis events

There are many types of crisis events that an organization might experience a crisis—and there’s rarely a perfect response.

• Natural or man-made events: significant weather events; deliberate tampering with consumer goods; active shooter events
• System breach or security failure: blackouts, server failures, data breaches, or other cybersecurity issues
• Fraud, compliance, or ethical failures: deliberate violations of laws and regulations or standards of conduct; manipulation of the books and records to increase earnings or profitability
• Legal matters: retaliating against a whistleblower who then goes public
• Product failures: faulty parts placed in consumer products leading to recalls
• Geopolitical: wars, terrorist acts, economic downturn, or elections in emerging markets
• Operational failures: supply chain disruptions and the inability to secure or maintain an assembled workforce

For the organization to respond quickly, a crisis response plan has to be in place, which includes proper training of the crisis team and the right leadership to manage the crisis effectively.