Decision-Making in Crisis Situations

7 Digital Training for Authorities: What is the Best Way to Communicate During a Crisis?

A crisis can be defined as “the perception of an unpredictable event that threatens important expectancies of stakeholders and can seriously impact an organization’s performance and generate negative outcomes” (Coombs 2007). When a disaster occurs, an organization that moves from a normal to a crisis state must first meet their social responsibility challenges (Coombs and Holladay 2015) and focus on responding to the crisis (Haddow and Haddow 2014). Several authors have highlighted the importance of preparedness in allowing good crisis management. For instance, Avery et al. (2016) interviewed 307 public crisis managers who managed one or more crises. Given the severity of the crises managed by these actors, the more they claimed being prepared for it, the more satisfied they were with the management performed. Not all organizations are equal with regard to their crisis management preparedness: there are differences in their size (Johansen et al. 2012) and between rural and urban settings. Particularly, when a major crisis has already occurred, public managers are more likely to be better prepared for the next one (Avery et al. 2016).

During a crisis, the importance of communication in the management of the crisis has been emphasized by several authors (e.g. Coombs and Holladay 2010). To meet their crisis management objectives, organizations must communicate to populations in a timely manner ...