Public Sector Crisis Management

Every decision that is made by managers and policy-makers in a public sector organization requires an evaluation and a judgement of the risks involved. This vital requirement has been recognised in the growth of risk management. However, risks can never be fully prevented, which means that public managers also have to be crisis managers. Today’s crises develop in unseen ways; they escalate rapidly and transform through the interdependencies of modern society, and their frequency is growing: the global financial crisis, the European volcanic ash cloud, the Japanese tsunami and subsequent Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown, the Christchurch earthquake and the Queensland floods. All highlight the extreme challenges that public sector organizations across the world have had to face in recent years. Risk and Crisis Management in the Public Sector Second Edition responds to these challenges by presenting the only guide for public managers and public management students which combines lessons about risk and crisis management together in a single, accessible text. It equips readers and public managers with the knowledge and skills to understand key issues and debates, as well as the capacity to treat risks and better prepare for, respond to and recover from crisis episodes. This exciting new edition enhances the original text with contemporary cases and a greater focus on the international, trans-boundary and multi-agency dimensions of risk and crisis management. These enhancements reflect the fact that today’s public manager must increasingly operate within a global and interdependent governance context.

The term “crisis management” was applied to business only after the publication of the monograph “Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable” by Steven Fink in 1986. Since then, this term has turned from a journalistic cliche into a scientific concept, and its concept, theory, and methodology have been further developed.It is the turning point in the meaning of the word “crisis” that indicates the possibility of changing the situation by making decisions that contribute to changing the vector of development of events from destruction to recovery and further development. From the above, the general definition of the term “crisis management” follows as a process of saving the system from its destructive effects. The activity of the crisis manager is always temporary and stops as a result of a favorable overcoming of the crisis or vice versa—the destruction of the system. Therefore, the criterion for the success of a manager in emergency crisis management is effectiveness as an absolute measure of the presence or absence of a result—it either exists or does not exist.

Risk and Crisis Management in the Public Sector 3rd edition is a guide for public managers and public management students which combines practical and scholarly knowledge about risk and crisis management together in a single accessible text. In the uncertainty of the twenty-first century, public managers need to know how to identify risks and plan for crises, how to respond to uncertain events and emergencies and how to develop resilience. This book provides this fundamental knowledge with reference to a range of contemporary cases including COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and global cyber-crime crises. It also explores the international, transboundary and multi-agency dimensions of risk and crisis management. This fully updated new edition explores the cutting edge of risk and crisis management scholarship, provides an extensive series of tools and practical guidance for public managers who deal with uncertainty and draws on a wealth of classic and contemporary case studies. This content equips readers and public managers with the knowledge and skills to understand key issues and debates, as well as the capacity to treat risks and better prepare for, respond to and recover from crisis episodes. This book is essential reading for students studying public management, risk management and crisis management as well as professionals in the public management sector.

A newly updated edition of a concise and evidence-based approach to strategic crisis leadership.

This book links theory and practice, with the specific aim of equipping public managers and those studying public management with the necessary knowledge and skills to manage risk, and effectively deal with crises.

A wide range of natural hazards pose major risks to the lives and livelihoods of large populations around the world. Man-made disasters caused by technological failures, industrial accidents, spillages, explosions, and fires, compound this threat. Since 9/11, security threats based on violence (terrorism, insurgency, and civil strife) have attracted much governmental attention and a great deal of public resources. As the scale, frequency, and intensity of disasters and crises have dramatically increased over the last decade, the failures in responding to these crises have prompted a critical need to evaluate the way in which the public sector responds to disaster. What have we learned? What has changed in the management of disasters and crises? What do we know about the causes, patterns, and consequences of these events? This book looks at some of the approaches that can be taken to empirically examine disaster and crisis management practices. It contributes to the literature on crisis and disaster management, as well as social policy and planning. Introducing approaches that are applicable to a variety of circumstances in the U.S. and in other countries, it offers ways to think through policy interventions and governance mechanisms that may enhance societal resilience. This book was originally published as a special issue of Public Management Review.

More than 12 years have passed since the publication of the first edition of Crisis and Emergency Management. During that time numerous disasters—from 9/11 to massive earthquakes in Iran and China, to the giant Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and the Fukushima Tsunami and ensuing nuclear meltdown—have changed the way we manage catastrophic events. With contributions from leading experts, this second edition features 40 new chapters that address recent worldwide crises and what we have learned from emergency responses to them. See What’s New in the Second Edition: Up-to-date concepts, theories, and practices Analysis of recent disasters and their effect on emergency management Policy and managerial lessons Suggestions for capacity building in crisis and emergency management The book covers a wide range of international issues using critical, empirical, and quantitative analyses. It discusses various approaches to topics such as resolving political tension and terrorism issues, the potential use of biological weapons, and the role of public relations in crisis. The author offers insight into organizational and community resiliency development; a "surprise management" theory in practice for upgrading the knowledge and skills in managing crises and governing emergencies; and better and more effective organizational, political, social, and managerial coordination in the processes. He presents case studies that enhance and advance the future theory and practice of crisis and emergency management, while at the same time providing practical advice that can be put to use immediately. Managing crises and governing emergencies in such an age of challenges demands a different kind of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that were not available yesterday. This book gives you valuable information with applications at the macro, micro, organizational, and interorganizational levels, preparing you for emergency management in an increasingly globalized and uncertain world.

This research project will examine public sector managers' perceived learning impediments, in regard to crisis management, within local levels of government. Throughout this research, the term "learning impediment" will refer to an obstruction or blockage that prevents learning, the modification of behavior through practice, experience, or training, from taking place (Learning, 2001). Crisis management will be defined, and challenges, such as organizational regression, media coverage of crises, and the dynamism of the public sector, will additionally be presented. A modern-day regulatory failure will be introduced, providing a current example of unsuccessful crisis management strategy implementation that showcases the devastating effects that occur when learning does not take place. This research project aims to identify perceived learning impediments through a questionnaire that will be distributed to public sector managers in Santa Clarita, California. This research is necessary because it will be helpful in targeting and possibly eliminating organizational weaknesses, as well as providing managers with the opportunity to reflect on their current role and management practices. If learning takes place, managers will gain the tools necessary to incite change and allow growth to occur, possibly preventing future crises.

Public organizations are increasingly expected to cope with crisis under the same resource constraints and mandates that make up their normal routines, reinforced only through collaboration. Collaborative Crisis Management introduces readers to how collaboration shapes societies’ capacity to plan for, respond to, and recover from extreme and unscheduled events. Placing emphasis on five conceptual dimensions, this book teaches students how this panacea works out on the ground and in the boardrooms, and how insights on collaborative practices can shed light on the outcomes of complex inter-organizational challenges across cases derived from different problem areas, administrative cultures, and national systems. Written in a concise, accessible style by experienced teachers and scholars, it places modes of collaboration under an analytical microscope by assessing not only the collaborative tools available to actors but also how they are used, to what effect, and with which adaptive capacity. Ten empirical chapters span different international cases and contexts discussing: Natural and "man-made" hazards: earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, terrorism, migration flows, and violent protests Different examples of collaborative institutions, such as regional economic communities in Africa, and multi-level arrangements in Canada, the Netherlands, Turkey, and Switzerland Application of a multimethod approach, including single case studies, comparative case studies, process-tracing, and "large-n" designs. Collaborative Crisis Management is essential reading for those involved in researching and teaching crisis management.