Understanding organizational aspects for managing crisis situations: A comparison between military and civil organizations: Part II
Journal of Organizational Change Management
ISSN: 0953-4814
Article publication date: 13 November 2019
Issue publication date: 29 January 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The uncertainty of the current economic environment increases the risk of organizational failure. The traditional approach intends the crisis as a phenomenon that can be managed according to some predetermined and well-defined procedures. Although this traditional approach emphasizes on the technical dimension, it does not take into account that organizational dimension, which instead plays a crucial role in the circumstances of today’s crisis. The purpose of this paper is to investigate which are the most effective organizational practices able to promote an adequate culture prevent or manage effectively crisis situations.
Design/methodology/approach
A group of Italian military and civil opinion leaders took part in the study. Authors hypothesized that the military organizations, being defined as “High Reliability Organization,” have organizational characteristics that allow them to manage crisis situations more effectively, and, for this reason, they can be taken as a reference by civil organizations.
Findings
The results show noticeable differences about organizational attributes concerning the two organizations. According to the results, the military organization has the most appropriate organizational dimensions to prevent and manage the crisis situations.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper lies in the empirical and theoretical framework provided to analyze risk and crisis management, based on the comparison between military and civil organizations. The paper aims to be a starting point from which a positive process of cultural osmosis between the two organizations can be promoted.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The authors gratefully acknowledge the General Sergio Bosco, the General Luciano Inguaggiato of the IASD and Gianluca Consonni of The European House of Ambrosetti.
Citation
Gabrielli, G., Russo, V. and Ciceri, A. (2020), "Understanding organizational aspects for managing crisis situations: A comparison between military and civil organizations: Part II", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 50-65. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-09-2019-0287
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited