Introduction
Crisis management is defined as how an organization deals with the emergence of a sudden situation. The Covid-19 pandemic was a sudden situation that led to changes in all business perspectives affecting the operations. Crisis management is characterized by three elements that include foresight which is the ability to predict a situation and make plans on how to handle business in such a situation. The second element is coping, which is the capability to prevent adverse effects once a problem occurs (ATILGAN, 2019). The final one is the recovery in which businesses have strategies that will help them recover from the adverse effects of the situation. Based on this perspective, the pandemic has adversely affected many companies, and hence there is a need to apply crisis management strategies. The pandemic has affected the worldwide economy, meaning that the business has suffered, and the ones with better crisis management approaches are the ones that have achieved quick recovery. There are four phases of crisis management, and they include mitigation or prevention of the risks, preparedness, response, and healing. Many businesses have suffered from funding withdrawals, supply chain disruptions, and the contraction of severe trade. The paper will discuss crisis management by businesses to ensure that recovery has been achieved and that quality services are offered to the customers (International Finance Corporation, 2021). Effective leadership can be identified as one of the major approaches that have contributed to successful crises management. This research paper will discuss crisis management and how new organizations have been formed during the age of Covid-19.
Leadership
The management process in crisis management has been used as the key to helping many organizations overcome the adverse effects of the pandemic. Leadership qualities like effective communication and decision-making and others help in crisis management. These qualities help businesses to mitigate the destructive and wide-scale impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Effective crisis management calls for leadership qualities that promote growth due to improved adaptation approaches. Organizational leaders need to apply leadership styles based on the situation to successfully come out of a crisis (Gemma & Aaron, 2020). However, leadership cannot be used as the only approach to help in crisis management. In the process of making a better response to the pandemic, five behaviors need to be executed by leaders during this Covid-19 pandemic age.
One of these behaviors includes a network of teams that contribute to the successful management of the crisis. The virtual network of teams is significant in providing support by offering ideas that can be utilized to solve existing problems. These teams may include the response team, project management, and medical advisory team. The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in panic, especially when it led to the closure of business networks such as supply chains. Leaders need to display bounded optimism and calmness. When the leader shows these behaviors, it helps the employees be calm and motivated to support the business despite the effects of the pandemic (Gemma & Aaron, 2020). A leader is also expected to make quality decisions despite the uncertainty surrounding the business environment in the world. The authority of the leaders is given a chance for them to make accountable and transparent decisions that will help the company move forward. The decisions help in empowering the right people to make decisions that will respond to the crisis effectively. Another behavior is the demonstration of empathy in which leaders prioritize human tragedy before business. Covid 19 required some healthy measures to be considered, and the leaders needed to apply them as a priority to cater to the stakeholders’ health. Making a positive difference to the lives of the stakeholders welcomes their support hence successful crisis management (Gemma & Aaron, 2020). Effective communication by the leaders is crisis behavior that helps in the proper direction. The Covid-19age has resulted in changes in with the employees, the supply chains and the customers. As a leader, one should communicate with these stakeholders to make decisions on the way forward.
Flexible Organizational Structure
Flexible organizational structure is the other approach that has helped companies to manage and overcome the crisis. The leadership ensures that the organizational structure is flexible and can adapt to the changes that occur. During the age of the Covid-19 pandemic, most of the flexible companies were the ones that survived the adverse effects. Based on flexibility, crisis management is achieved when the structure supports an open culture and behavioral flexibility, which promotes expertise than authority and hence guarantees success. A flexible organizational structure is characterized by independent working groups, digitalized virtual organizations, and matrix organizations (Fennell, 2021). During the age of the pandemic, the application of some of these characters, such as independent working groups and virtual organizations, has helped them manage and recover from the crisis. Virtual working groups have played a significant role in the promotion of business during this age of the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been an age of uncertainty, panic, having no idea of the solution to the problem, and repetition of the crisis. This uncertainty and panic have been addressed by having virtual working groups that have ensured continuity of organizational operations. The pandemic required spread prevention measures such as reduced gatherings and social distancing, and hence virtual working conditions are the ones that helped many organizations. An approach that helps in crisis management is proper planning that ensures that there are enough resources that are needed to handle the crisis. Based on this connection, the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic was unique, and many are the companies that lacked planning on how to address the crisis. A survey conducted in Turkey in crisis management stated that only forty-six percent of the companies are scheduled to handle the problem of the Covid-19 pandemic (WEF Global Risks Report 2019). The remote working model was adopted as a way of ensuring continued growth amid the pandemic.
Digitalization of business has become the way forward for companies to promote a healthy working environment through the reduced spread of infections. It is an approach that, despite ensuring continuity of business, the safety and health needs of the pandemic are met, and the business community is protected. As earlier mentioned, quality leadership means improved communication strategies. When these changes occurred during the pandemic, communication was considered an essential aspect. The management of the organizations can communicate to the employees, suppliers, and customers how virtual business management would be accommodated (Hudecheck et al., 2020). Through communication, an understanding would be promoted, and the company would receive ample support from these stakeholders. Since the crisis-affected supply chains, the contracts of supplies were affected, and communication helped to address these contractual issues. Based on the business, the supply chains have also been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which calls for new supply chains to be implemented. For instance, restructuring the supply model, making new collaborations, and applying digital ecosystems are some of the approaches that can be used to address the pandemic crisis. Flexible organizational structure has been proved to be the way of the problem and promotion of business. Based on this organizational structure, companies that quickly ensured remote working for the employees have not recorded adverse loss effects.
The establishment of technological infrastructure that connects all the departments has been utilized during this pandemic. The infrastructure has involved tools like Microsoft, Teams, Zoom, and Cisco that facilitate virtual communication, promoting business flow. During this age of the Covid-19 pandemic, virtual communication as part of new organizational culture has been accommodated by organizations to promote continuity through professional and social interaction of the employees. However, the success of virtual working conditions has been enabled through proper planning (Katie & Alexander, 2020). During planning, the management sets aside emergence resources that can be used during crisis management. Prediction of the crisis and preventing adverse effects needs the company to prepare through resources. In this perspective, significant budgets that are required for the digitalized workforce, automation services, and artificial intelligence are planned. Innovation is another crucial aspect that promotes crisis management. During this pandemic, innovations would be used to ensure business continuity since new technologies needed to be developed. Innovations would help the employees and other stakeholders in their role to make the business better (Kresta, 2021). These innovations would be used to offer training to the employees to equip them with the skills and knowledge required for the new organizational structure. In this perspective, proper planning would invest in technological innovations that can be used during the Covid-19 pandemic. Innovations will help companies in the communication with customers, suppliers, and employees to ensure that the effects on business are not adverse.
Covid19 impacts needed the companies to accommodate the four phases of crisis management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Based on these methods, Covid-19 has created a significant crisis, and the organizations’ preparedness helped in business continuity. Preparedness involves finances that would ensure that the business processes are not interrupted by the pandemic. Companies are advised to invest in crisis by ensuring that some finances are put aside to help the organizations overcome the effects of a crisis (Fasth et al., 2021). Research shows that companies that had prepared through enough resources for the new organizational structures. For instance, it has been mentioned that technological structures involving new technologies that require enough finance pandemic has drained the company’s resources that did not prepare through the pandemic. These organizations failed to adapt to the changes that were brought about by the pandemic. The response to the effects was poor, and some of these organizations may not recover from the adverse effects. Frequent communication shows that leaders understand the situation, and the other members’ adjustments are made known.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the paper has discussed the elements of crisis management and how it helps respond to situations. The leadership approach based on the leader’s behaviors is one of the aspects discussed in the essay. Some of these behaviors include effective communication, empathy, and others that help in crisis management. During this age of Covid-19 pandemic, the use of these behaviors has contributed to the resilience of businesses despite the negative impacts of the pandemic International Finance Corporation, 2021). The technological approach such as virtual communication has been mentioned. This virtual business has been accommodated by some companies and has ensured continuity of business. An essential suggestion on crisis management is planning. Planning is part of preparedness that helps the company to address the adverse effects of a situation. The Covid-19 has resulted in the implementation of new strategies which may continue to be used even after the pandemic because productivity has increased. Companies should invest in technologies and should save resources that can be used to address a crisis during a pandemic.
References
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