Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management最新文献

As artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming part of complex systems and critical infrastructures, perspectives on resilience may need to be revisited. This paper focuses on the challenges and approaches in engineering design for achieving resilience in complex and increasingly intelligent systems (CoIS). Building on a case study of a system situated in the context of search and rescue (SAR) operations at sea as well as scenarios of SAR operations supported by AI solutions, it outlines challenges for organisational and engineering design in contexts where flexibility, adaptability, and high reliability are important. The findings point at resilience as a system property, made up of the constituent systems, their interaction and coordination in a system-of-systems framework. AI and autonomy in CoIS represent potentially a double-edged sword; while AI and autonomy contribute to system capabilities and resilience, they can also introduce limitations in terms of, for instance, confined operational envelopes. Achieving resilience in CoIS thus requires a holistic approach that considers constituent systems as well as their interplay, organisational factors, and the judicious balance of AI and human-based solutions.

Research has focused on episodic crises (e.g., fire extinguished), with regard to causality, management, and recovery. But some crises (e.g., illegal migration) are continuous, with no clear conclusion, and the nature and timing of the recovery phase are indeterminate. To explore the challenges facing leaders in a continuous crisis, we turn to ‘extreme fiction’ – a radically imaginative narrative of possible accidents, crises and disasters. The television series The Walking Dead is an example of a continuous crisis. This is also a novel crisis, which means that crisis management routines, protocols, and standard operating procedures may not apply, and the value of past experience may be limited. Our analysis offers a novel perspective on the nature of the crisis leadership role, by showing how a continuous crisis generates three paradoxical leadership agendas: managing the crisis (which includes unmanageable elements), managing conflict (while initiating and participating in conflict), and managing values (which may have to be temporarily abandoned). Our findings also demonstrate how contextual properties shape the leadership role in a continuous crisis.

Nonmarket (NM) strategy is an emerging concept, similar to the notion of NM social, public and media strategy (SPMS). Previous literature has predominantly focused on larger corporations, often overlooking smaller enterprises. Additionally, much of the existing research has been centred on developed markets, leaving a gap in qualitative research. The current analysis seeks to elucidate how foreign small and medium-sized enterprises (FSMEs) in transitional markets, such as Shanghai, adopt specific NM SPMS to mitigate the liability of foreignness (LOF) during a pandemic. The study utilizes a CGT approach, employing semi-structured interviews with 27 participants, including foreign entrepreneurs and digital marketing specialists. Additionally, qualitative data was analysed comprehensively using Atlas.ti 9 software. The qualitative methodology implementation resulted in the creation of the authenticity and high performance framework from where specific strategies and general implications are presented. The study highlights two principal themes: (1) The need for increased flexibility and speed in social media message communication and (2) Customized FSME strategies through digital marketing—a never-going-back market digitalization. The second theme is subdivided into (a) Tailored public relations for FSMEs. (b) An increased need for internal cohesion—fostering a stable mindset and positive rapport among staff. (c) An increased need for trialling new target customers. (d) Creating a relatable story—showing a particular vulnerability can be viral and (e) Maintaining a strong reputation for operational performance.

Social enterprises are organizations that make society more resilient, but at the same time they have their own vulnerabilities and are threatened by a number of factors that can throw them into a crisis. Nevertheless, a crisis in social enterprises and their crisis preparedness are not topics that the literature adequately deals with. The aim of this mixed method research is to identify how social entrepreneurs make sense of crisis preparedness, and how to measure it. The qualitative part of the research shows that there are five key themes that are perceived by social entrepreneurs when it comes to crisis preparedness in the context of social enterprises' specifics: Crisis preparedness as a prevention against mission drift, as a necessity when working with disadvantaged employees, as a path toward greater financial stability, as a “helper” in a changing legislative environment, and as a response to a fragile organizational structure. Combining these findings with the literature review, composite Perceived Threats Index (PTI) and Crisis Preparedness Index (CPI) are constructed. Using correlation and regression analysis and hypothesis testing, we validate them and confirm relationship between geographical scope of social enteprises and crisis preparedness as well as between latter and perceived threats.

The Covid-19 pandemic significantly influenced public discourse, particularly on the use of face masks, with social media serving as a platform for the public to express their opinions and share experiences. This study examines how the Swedish public supports their arguments when discussing their stance on face masks during the Covid-19 pandemic, split into three categories: (1) personal opinions, experiences, and nonrelevant comparisons, (2) comparing and contrasting data, and (3) discussing scientific studies and expert opinions. Utilising webnography, we analysed 800 tweets mentioning face masks in Sweden where our findings reveal the varying methods of backing up one's standpoint. Furthermore, the framing of information by media outlets and public health authorities significantly influences the interpretation of scientific results and guidelines, leading to varying public behaviours towards face mask usage. Additionally, the study highlights the crucial role of confirmation bias, where individuals' pre-existing beliefs affect their acceptance or rejection of evidence. Despite the reliance on media representations, which often lack direct engagement with primary sources, the media plays a critical role in maintaining a critical perspective during crises. The study underscores the importance of responsible journalistic practices and effective communication strategies by public health authorities to ensure accurate public understanding and adherence to health guidelines.

This study aims to reveal how media influence public trust during crises and whether these mechanisms vary by media type, trust dimensions, government levels, and regions. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study, we surveyed 31 provincial-level regions in China from April 22 to 28, 2020, analysed the data with Stata 16.0, and drew the following conclusions. First, the mechanisms by which social media and traditional media influence public trust differ significantly. Social media can only directly impact outgroup trust or reduce both government trust and outgroup trust by lowering citizens' perceptions of government performance (CPGP). In contrast, traditional media directly enhance public trust across all dimensions and can also indirectly increase trust by boosting CPGP. Second, traditional media affect trust in both local and central governments, while social media have no significant effect. Third, citizens' perceptions of central and local government performance play distinct roles in this process. Finally, the impact of media on public trust varies between urban and rural areas and across different regions.

As global crises become increasingly complex and intertwined, crisis readiness has emerged as a pivotal factor for an organisation's survival. Despite a growing, interdisciplinary corpus of research underscoring the necessity for systematic crisis management and strategic communication, a comprehensive understanding of corporate crisis readiness and methodologies for its achievement remain elusive and inadequately addressed. To bridge this knowledge gap, we conducted a systematic literature review, meticulously analysing 7287 articles to identify 40 eligible studies from 1987 to 2022. Through inductive content analysis and narrative synthesis, we have delineated the concept of crisis readiness and devised a comprehensive 10-step process framework that organisations are advised to implement in preparation for potential crises. This investigation enriches the academic dialogue on crisis readiness by integrating insights from strategic management, crisis handling, organisational development, and learning theories. This offers a more nuanced understanding of how organisations can equip themselves for crisis situations. Additionally, our study sheds light on promising directions for future research in this vital field.

Crisis management models aim to prevent, prepare and successfully overcome a crisis. The tourism industry is particularly prone to crises and thus requires adequate models to deal with crises and disasters. Several researchers developed crisis management models for tourism crises. As scholars call for a more holistic approach, this systematic literature review examines 25 crisis management models with organisational and tourism focus between 1979 and 2019 applicable to the tourism field. A textual narrative synthesis is used as methodological approach to analyse and understand the identified models, not only formally but also content-wise. The findings show that crisis terminology is not consistent, that the crisis lifecycle and crisis management processes are used disparately and that stakeholder involvement within the models is low. As a result, a new model for destination crisis management is created on a micro-level with aligned terms and phases.

Although the spillover effect of crises represents an emerging area of interest within crisis communication studies, the perspective of consumers on the risk of crisis spillover as a result of corporate misconduct by another company remains underexplored in emerging markets like China. This study aims to fill the void through assessing how the severity of a crisis and the strategic responses by companies influence consumer perceptions of spillover risks from corporate misconduct by another company. A pre-test (N = 120) determined two corporate misconducts as characteristic for the automotive industry in China. These scenarios were utilized in an online experiment (N = 320) to examine the effects of two crisis response strategies (issuing a denial vs. giving no response) by a competitor automaker. The results reveal that when a corporate misconduct is perceived as more severe, the perceived crisis spillover risks to the industry is higher; this perceived risk mediates the impact of crisis severity on negative word-of-mouth. Issuing a denial is more effective than giving no response, and leads to more positive consumer outcomes. This research unravels the complex dynamics at play in shaping consumer attitudes towards companies indirectly impacted by a crisis through a spillover effect.

This study investigates how three types of emotions (anger, affective empathy, and cognitive empathy) mediate the relationship between crisis type and corporate social responsibility (CSR) fit and organizational outcomes such as purchase intentions, negative word-of-mouth (nwom), organizational reputation, as well as forgiveness. An online 2 (crisis type: product-harm vs. moral-harm) x 2 (CSR fit: high fit vs. low fit) between-subjects design (N = 412) was conducted with the participants recruited via CloudResearch, a crowdsourcing platform. The findings indicate that anger significantly mediates the relationship between crisis type and crisis outcomes, with product-harm crises increasing anger and leading to more negative outcomes. Conversely, high CSR fit reduces anger and enhances positive organizational outcomes. Affective empathy also mediates these relationships, with product-harm crises lowering affective empathy and CSR fit improving it, subsequently influencing purchase intentions, reputation, forgiveness, and negative word-of-mouth. Cognitive empathy partially mediates these effects, particularly affecting negative word-of-mouth, reputation, and forgiveness. These results suggest that managing stakeholder emotions through CSR alignment can effectively mitigate negative impacts during crises. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.