Linking Crisis Management and Leadership Competencies The.pdf

Linking Crisis Management and Leadership Competencies: The Role of Human Resource Development Lynn Perry Wooten Erika Hayes James The problem and the solution. Most executives are aware of the negative consequences associated with an organizational crisis and focus on communications and public relations as a reactive strategy. However,many neglect the other leadership responsibilities associated with organizational crises.This may result from lack of formal training and on-the-job experiences that prepare executives to lead crises. Executive who enable their organizations to recover from a crisis exhibit a complex set of competencies in each of the five phases of a crisis—signal detection, preparation and prevention, damage control and containment, business recovery, and reflection and learning. In this article, through the use of qualitative research design and the analysis of firms in crises, we examine leadership competencies during each phase of a crisis. In addition, this article links the important role of human resource development to building organizational capabilities through crisis management activities. Keywords: crisis management; leadership competencies; crisis leadership Newspaper articles, radio, and television almost daily feature some company in crisis. These organizational crises include events such as natural disasters, product recalls, corporate fraud, widespread sexual harassment, or employee discrimination against employees. In most cases, the leadership team is not prepared to manage the crisis, and mishandling an organizational crisis can have negative, long-term consequences for a firm’s profitability, reputation, mark