Organizational Behavior

“A Crisis Among Us”

By

Elizabeth Bullock

With each passing day organizations are plagued with situations that many individuals may refer as a crisis. Webster defines crisis as an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending; especially: one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome (Webster.com). It seems that the term “crisis” is a term used and that is subjective, because things happen all the time. Some are good and some are bad, and just like anything else it all has to do with how you interpret it. Crises within an Organization are inevitable and with proper identification and handling of the situation, the “Crisis” can be a turning point for positive changes within the organization.

When I thought about a crisis within and organizations it never occurred to me that almost anything that causes a disruption can be, and in most cases are called a crisis. As I researched the topic it spoke of societal crisis, which included natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, forest fires or even climate change (Jaques). It even went a step further and identified infrastructure disruptions that refers to regional or internal power utility disruptions, planned organizational transitions that includes layoff, reorganizations, mergers, acquisitions and strikes (Lewis).

“Robert B. Irvine, president of the Institute for Crisis Management, noted in Communication World that the Institute characterizes most business crises as one of two types: sudden crisis or smoldering crisis. A sudden crisis as a disruption in the company's business that occurs without warning, and is likely to generate new coverage,” Some are business-related accidents, natural disasters, sudden death or disability of a key person,