Crisis Management  in Organizations ~ Syllabus ~ Spring 2013

Course Description

This course provides an introduction to crisis management in organizations. It examines the types of crises encountered, potential impact on the organization and its stakeholders, and strategies for prevention, management and recovery. Current events and cases will be presented to explore the ethical, legal, and human implications of these crises.

This course is presented as part of the Master's in Management. In keeping with trends in  higher education and convenience to adult learners, it is designed to integrate the best of face-to-face, teamwork, and online learning to explore this topic. Over the next eight weeks you, your team, and instructor will identify the types of crises that organizations face, explore the concepts and practices used to manage them effectively, and discuss the application of these ideas and procedures to your organization.

Objectives

• to audit the types of crises/disasters to which organizations can be exposed
• to describe the potential impact of crises on businesses and stakeholders
• to describe the stages of crisis
• to explain the mechanisms and outcomes of traumatic stress
• to explain how to form a crisis management team
• to describe the key role and strategy for social media and crisis communications
• to describe how to conduct a risk audit for your organization
• to know the steps in preparing and evaluating a crisis management plan   
• to apply problem solving and ethical reasoning methods in case analysis of business crises

Methods

We will typically spend the first portion of each class discussing recent news, content from reading assignments, and discussion questions regarding text and web readings. The second portion of class will focus on small team and class discussion of principles and procedures applied to case examples and issues.

Resources

Texts:. This text is popularly used by both executives and students. Please browse it quickly and in entirety soon as possible. Most importantly, as you read consider how you might apply key ideas to your own organization. Bring these insights to class discussion

• Crandall, W., Parnell, J. A., & Spillan, J. E. (2010). Crisis management in the new strategy landscape.  Los Angeles: Sage, ISBN: 978-1-4129-5413-6 (paper)

PowerPoint:  Powerpoint presentations are available as supplements to each topic and are found on the class schedule.  Please browse these for each class.

APA Style Sheet-- concise presentation of key style recommendations

Current News

At the beginning of each class or team meeting session your team should discuss recent news related to CM in organizations or in the business world in general. Be sure to bring a copy of the article or news or your notes on it in case a question of source arises. Be prepared to present the news in your meetings, and especially to be able to discuss what it reflects about the readiness of organizations to manage crises, and what they might do to prevent it or manage it better.

Evaluation

Performance in this course will be assessed by the following means:

• Class participation & discussion: Attend class regularly, come prepared with readings and assignments completed, and participate actively in discussion (participation rubric). This portion of the grade will be used for borderline grades.
• Risk assessment paper (100 pts):  10-12 page paper on a risk analysis done on an organization you are very familiar with. The paper should be in APA 6th edition style and include the following areas:
• Coverpage with title, course name and number, your name, date, and e-mail for contact (this is page 1)
• Identification and brief description of a business (you can use a pseudonym for the business if you like). Be sure to describe enough of the business so that the risk factors and impacts are meaningful.
• Generate a list of 20 potential events across several categories that could potentially occur; rate these using the probability-impact dimensions of the risk audit. Using numbers or letters, place each event on the risk matrix as a figure.
• Select and describe in more detail the likelihood and impact of a specific event and what is currently planned. discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the plan. Conclude this discussion with recommendations for improvement.
  
• Include at least five references from journals in APA style that are cited in text. Other sources may be added to these five if desired.
  
• Case analysis (100 pts): Any crisis-related situation or topic can be used for this assignment (please check with instructor for approval). The paper should be between 10-17 pages in length. Include the following areas: (grading rubric for paper)
• Coverpage with title, course name and number, your name, date, and e-mail for contact (this is page 1)
• Page 2: start with a clear statement of the purpose of the paper and overview of what you plan to do-- what are the "deliverables?"
  
• Use appropriate headers and subheaders, graphics, and citations to support your thesis. 
• Conclude with at least five journal articles cited in text and referenced at the end in APA style. Other sources may be added.
• Papers must be in APA style (6th edition). Please feel free to submit early drafts of your paper or speak with the instructor for feedback on your idea. 

Schedule

Class Policies  

Assignments & Class Preparation

The success of this kind of course relies on everyone reading the assignments, answering the study questions, and attending meetings prepared to discuss the application of concepts and practices.  Your participation is also essential-- come prepared with questions about what you have read, ideas about how crises could be prevented or reduced, and information to add to case discussions. The success of the class and value of your experience is based on how well your team is prepared.

Equal Access 

Students with disabilities, students who sustained injury in active military service, and students with chronic medical conditions are entitled to appropriate and reasonable auxiliary aids and accommodations through The Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  It is the student's responsibility to notify the Disability Resource Center as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.  For more information or to request academic accommodations, please contact The  Disability Resource Center in Tower Hall 2126; by phone at (218) 723-6747, 218-625-4891; or via e-mail at disabilityresourcecenter@css.edu 

          Ethics.

You are expected to submit your own original work  for grading purposes. While you are strongly encouraged to interact with others, solicit feedback and suggestions, all final work must be your own. When writing your paper or comments online, be sure to give proper credit to sources for ideas by citing the sources. Minimize quotes by putting ideas into your own words, but cite the source. Plagarism is very serious and can result in a failing grade and disciplinary review. If you have concerns or become aware of such an ethical violation, please contact the instructor. Again, in your writing, be sure to cite sources properly and give appropriate credit to other authors.

          Confidentiality

  Learning is most effective when it can be applied to real world cases and situations. We encourage you to discuss application of the concepts and practices in your work setting or in organizations with which you are familiar. Discuss in your team, an agreement of confidentiality and nondisclosure regarding organizational information you may share. Please exercise your own judgement in discussions and writing regarding the information you disclose. You may choose to disguise some information.

Completion of work.

All work for this class must be completed at the time of finals week when it is due. When delays are granted, it is very rare that work completed at a later time is any better than what can be submitted by the end of the term. Incompletes also make it difficult to compare your work to that of your cohort after the class has ended. Unless there is a special circumstance, you must submit your completed work (or however much you have completed) at that time.