Central European Business Review 2016, 5(3):25-37 | DOI: 10.18267/j.cebr.156

Crisis Typologies Revisited: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Albena Björck
Dr. oec. HSG Albena Björck, Senior Lecturer and Head of Corporate Education, Department of International Business, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, School of Management and Law, Stadthausstrasse 14, 8401 Winterthur, Switzerland, albena.bjoerck@zhaw.ch, bjoe@zhaw.ch

For effective crisis management and communication, a decision maker has to understand the causes and nature of a crisis and how it influences stakeholder perceptions. Identifying an organization's vulnerabilities is essential for crisis prevention but practitioners often lack the ability to define crisis scenarios, especially the worst-case ones. A crisis typology is a structured approach to analyze crisis situations and to introduce measures for crisis prevention and containment. This paper aims to review recent literature on crisis classifications and to discuss their application. Because a single typology cannot capture the complexity and the interdisciplinary nature of a crisis, four relevant typologies from different disciplines are compared. Their combined application in an interdisciplinary framework is suggested. The paper discusses the need for typologies that reflect the cultural and contextual dimensions. Conclusions concerning the limitations and directions for further research are drawn.

Keywords: Crisis management; strategic crisis communication; interdisciplinary approach; intercultural analysis; contextual influence
JEL classification: D81, M16

Received: June 20, 2016; Revised: August 20, 2016; Published: September 30, 2016  Show citation

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Björck, A. (2016). Crisis Typologies Revisited: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Central European Business Review, 5(3), 25-37. doi: 10.18267/j.cebr.156
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