Crisis Management in International Business: Keys to Effective Decision Making

Firms involved in international business are affected by many crisis and crisis‐like events not generally associated with normal operations. Crisis management provides a business firm with a systematic, orderly response to crisis situations. Many crises can be prevented – or at least coped with more effectively – through early detection. The real challenge is not just to recognize crises, but to recognize them in a timely fashion and with a will to address the issues they represent. A crisis in an international business firm can consist of as many as four different and distinct phases: prodromal crisis stage, acute crisis stage, chronic crisis stage and crisis resolution stage. Recognizing these phases, and dealing with them effectively, gives the business manager an important edge in addressing issues of importance to the organization.