Managing a crisis : leadership and organizational elements essential for success
Author(s)
Rowe, Andy (Andy Harold)
DownloadFull printable version (9.435Mb)
Alternative title
Leadership and organizational elements essential for success
Other Contributors
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division.
Advisor
Peter Kurzina.
Terms of use
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Every organization will face a crisis at some point in its history. How well an organization handles the preparation, response and recovery from a crisis is highly dependent on the strength of its leadership and overall design. This thesis develops a framework of five leadership and seven organizational elements necessary for the evaluation of an organization's response during a crisis. Utilizing this framework, interviews were conducted with senior leaders of businesses that successfully navigated tremendous crisis situations. As a result of these interviews, I determined the leadership elements of a strong foundation of support, realistic analysis and a propensity to act had the greatest impact on the success or failure of a leader during a crisis. The organizational elements of leadership support, a strong shared vision, and the ability to think systemically were also determined essential to the effective handling of a crisis. Organizations should dedicate time and resources to cultivate the robust development of these elements as part of their crisis preparation.
Description
Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Engineering, System Design and Management Program, Engineering and Management Program, 2016. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 89-91).
Date issued
2016Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering and Management Program; System Design and Management Program.Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keywords
Engineering and Management Program., System Design and Management Program., Engineering Systems Division.