Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

We present a case-based role-play exercise that effectively simulates a crisis students must manage. In the exercise, a farm equipment manufacturing company has decided to redirect its product line, and this change requires laying off a significant portion of its workforce. Students must grapple with the fact that a local news report will be released soon to inform the public about the company’s plans, possibly before the company’s employees learn about them. Students assume one of five roles in the executive team and discuss how to resolve the crisis. The objective of the exercise is to help students learn ways to lead in an organizational crisis. To meet this objective, we discuss how instructors can implement and debrief the exercise. This exercise was designed as the second in a two-part series (the first part focusing on organizational change), but it can also be used as a stand-alone exercise.

Keywords

crisis management communication role-plays/acting experiential exercises manufacturing offshore layoffs

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alpaslan

C. M.

Green

S. E.

Mitroff

I. I.

(2009). Corporate governance in the context of crises: Towards a stakeholder theory of crisis management. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 17(1), 38–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5973.2009.00555.x

Brockner

Konovsky

Cooper-Schneider

Folger

Martin

Bies

R. J.

(1994). Interactive effects of procedural justice and outcome negativity on victims and survivors of job loss. Academy of Management Journal, 37(2), 397–409. https://doi.org/10.2307/256835

Brockner

Wiesenfeld

B. M.

(1996). An integrative framework for explaining reactions to decisions: Interactive effects of outcomes and procedures. Psychological Bulletin, 120(2), 189–208. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.120.2.189

Brockner

Wiesenfeld

B. M.

Diekmann

K. A.

(2009). Towards a “fairer” conception of process fairness: Why, when and how more may not always be better than less. The Academy of Management Annals, 3(1), 183–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/19416520903047228

Bundy

Pfarrer

M. D.

(2015). A burden of responsibility: The role of social approval at the onset of a crisis. The Academy of Management Review, 40(3), 345–369. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2013.0027

Bundy

Pfarrer

M. D.

Short

C. E.

Coombs

W. T.

(2017). Crises and crisis management: Integration, interpretation, and research development. Journal of Management, 43(6), 1661–1692. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316680030

Coombs

W. T.

(1998). An analytic framework for crisis situations: Better responses from a better understanding of the situation. Journal of Public Relations Research, 10(3), 177–191. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr1003_02

Coombs

W. T.

(1999). Information and compassion in crisis responses: A test of their effects. Journal of Public Relations Research, 11(2), 125–142. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532754xjprr1102_02

Coombs

W. T.

(2014). Crisis management and communications (updated). Institute for Public Relations. https://instituteforpr.org/crisis-management-communications/

10.

Coombs

W. T.

Holladay

S. J.

(2002). Helping crisis managers protect reputational assets. Management Communication Quarterly, 16(2), 165–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/089331802237233

11.

Fischbacher-Smith

(2013). Tales of the unexpected: Issues around the development of a crisis management module for the MBA program. Journal of Management Education, 37(1), 51–78. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562912455664

12.

Foote

L. M.

(2013). Honing crisis communication skills: Using interactive media and student-centered learning to develop agile leaders. Journal of Management Education, 37(1), 79–114. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562912455419

13.

Goodman

P. S.

(2010, August 21). In case of emergency: What not to do. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/business/22crisis.html

14.

Kahn

W. A.

Barton

M. A.

Fellows

(2013). Organizational crises and the disturbance of relational systems. Academy of Management Review, 38(3), 377–396. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2011.0363

15.

Lalonde

Roux-Dufort

(2013). Challenges in teaching crisis management: Connecting theories, skills, and reflexivity. Journal of Management Education, 37(1), 21–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562912456144

16.

Lund Dean

Fornaciari

. (2002). How to create and use experiential case-based exercises in a management classroom. Journal of Management Education, 26(5), 586–603. https://doi.org/10.1177/105256202236728

17.

McDonald

L. M.

(2013). Using student-constructed cases to investigate crises. Journal of Management Education, 37(1), 115–134. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562912455521

18.

Parsons

(1996). Crisis management. Career Development International, 1, 26–28. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620439610130614

19.

Pearson

C. M.

Clair

J. A.

(1998). Reframing crisis management. Academy of Management Review, 23(1), 59–76. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1998.192960

20.

Pearson

C. M.

Mitroff

I. I.

(1993). From crisis-prone to crisis prepared: A framework for crisis management. Academy of Management Perspectives, 7(1), 48–59. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.1993.9409142058

21.

Shrivastava

Mitroff

Alpaslan

C. M.

(2013). Imagining an education in crisis management. Journal of Management Education, 37(1), 6–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562912455418

22.

Wright

A. L.

Nichols

McKechnie

McCarthy

(2013). Combining crisis management and evidence-based management: The Queensland floods as a teachable moment. Journal of Management Education, 37(1), 135–160. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562912455522

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.02 MB

The Loki Equipment Exercise Part 2: Crisis Management

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material