Session Summary

Session Number:687
Session ID:S323
Session Title:Organizational Learning From Crisis: Towards an Appreciation and Use of Crisis' Positive Properties
Short Title:
Session Type:Division Symposium
Hotel:Hyatt West
Floor:LL2
Room:Regency Ball B(S)
Time:Tuesday, August 10, 1999 3:40 PM - 5:00 PM

Sponsors

OB  (Robert Liden)bobliden@uic.edu (312) 996-4481 

General People

Chair Roux-Dufort, Christophe  Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales rouxdufort.ch@edu.edhec.asso.fr 03-20-15-45-00 
Chair Nathan, Maria L. U. of Texas, San Antonio MNATHAN@UTSA.EDU (210) 458-5779 
Discussant Shrivastava, Paul  Bucknell U. shrivast@coral.bucknell.edu 717-524-1821 

Submissions

Exploring the barriers to learning from crisis 
Presenter Smith, Denis  Sheffield University Management School deniss@netscape.net 03-20-15-45-00 
Presenter Elliott, Dominic  De Montfort U. dominicelliott@email.msn.com 03-20-15-45-00 
Crisis management and negative emotional residue 
Presenter Pearson, Christine M. U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill chris_pearson@unc.edu 919-962-3117 
Crisis and the art of learning vicariously 
Presenter Nathan, Maria L. U. of Texas, San Antonio MNATHAN@UTSA.EDU (210) 458-5779 
Presenter Kovoor-Misra, Sarah  U. of Colorado, Denver skovoor@castle.cudenver.edu   
Post-crisis learning to preventive learning: Some empirical evidence for a preventive crisis learning management tool 
Presenter Roux-Dufort, Christophe  Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales rouxdufort.ch@edu.edhec.asso.fr 03-20-15-45-00 
Presenter Jacques, Jean-Marie  U. of Notre Dame     
Presenter Gatot, Laurent  U. of Notre Dame gatot@fundp.ac.be   

Abstract

To the French or English, the word crisis means abrupt disruption, but to the Greek or Chinese it preserves the idea of opportunity, evolution, and transformation. What is the significance of crisis to the organizational world? Disruption, damage, destruction and/or opportunity, renewal, and transformation? Most of us have an intuitive appreciation of how crisis may hold potential opportunity-giving properties. Yet this viewpoint for all practical purposes is not well developed by either academics or practitioners. In this symposium, we propose to develop this crucial aspect of crisis management--how crisis that has occurred can be used as organizational learning opportunity. This is not to say that crisis is ever invited; it is to say that we must do a better job of learning well from crises that have occurred. This symposium's participants are from around the world--Belgium, England, France, and the United States. We are all active field researchers who are each compelled by the fact that although many and varied crises are occurring, we do not have good, clear evidence that our organizations are learning anything from them. Thus, we offer three empirical pieces and one conceptual piece that open up the field of crisis management to explore this gap. We ourselves are a plurality of individuals from various countries, contributing multiple perspectives on crisis leaerning. Our work falls within both the Organizational Behavior and Organization/Management Theory domains.