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Crisis Management For Organisations During A Global Pandemic By Dr Victor SL Tan
he changes and impact the coronavirus global pandemic have on organisations are unprecedented with massive lockdowns: airflights grounded, factories and businesses closed. Even with Movement control order releasing some restrictions for some industries and business in stages, social distancing and tight rules and penalites for breaking rules and regulations are still in effect. Most employees are forced to work from home. Companies are indeed facing an unprecedented crisis. Suddenly crisis management has become the top agenda. What is crisis management? Crisis management is about implementing well- thought out strategies to handle sudden and impactful negative event. While there are many models of crisis management, I would like to share one proven approach for effective crisis management.
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CRISIS MANAGEMENT TEAM MEETING Some companies already have their crisis management team (CMT) in place. They would just have to convene
Malaysia Retailer Vol 8 No 2
an emergency meeting. For those without the CMT, a meeting should be called comprising the various heads departments or strategic business units which are most affected by the crisis. In the case of the coronavirus pandemic, most companies would have
form a CMT to assess the impact on their business and develop strategies and specific counter measures to address the issues immediately. The CMT could be divided into sub teams with specific roles and responsibilities as shown the table.
KLSCC’s Crisis Management Approach
Response To Crisis
Crisis Management Team Meeting
Crisis Management Approach Reinforce and Fortify the Organisation
Assess Effectiveness of Strategies