Programs & Events
Crisis Management for Leaders
Crisis Management for Leaders
These recent weeks have been a time of unprecedented change for all of us as we have
adapted our businesses and our lives to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. For business
leaders, managing risk in the midst of a global crisis is now “job one,” as uncertainty
and change is taking place throughout our entire organizations.
To address some of your concerns and point a path forward, HBS recently offered a
five-part series of faculty-led programs on Crisis Management for Leaders. Each interactive session, as well as related resources, is available below in recorded
format.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Faculty: Professors Dutch Leonard and Bob Kaplan
The current environment is like none that we have ever encountered before. After a
discussion of the facts and characteristics that define the COVID-19 crisis we will
consider the implications for leaders and discuss how the challenge is not one of
execution but rather one of innovation. Through the introduction and discussion of
a risk management framework, we will consider the central elements of this process
for supporting leaders in identifying novel approaches to responding to the realities
of this crisis.
View video from the additional sessions: Tues., March 24, 5:30 pm; Thurs., March 26, 5:30 pm
Faculty: Professors Fritz Foley and Malcolm Baker
An effective response to a crisis requires access to resources and thoughtful allocation
of those resources. Liquidity constraints can become binding very quickly as cash
needs spread through supply chains and sources of revenue and funding vanish. In this
session, we will discuss processes that organizations are using to evaluate their
current liquidity needs and to make wise financial choices.
View video from the additional session: Tues., March 31, 7:00 am
Related Resources
Program 3
Structuring the Organizational Response
Faculty: Professors Amy Edmondson and Dutch Leonard
Returning to the framework introduced in Session 1, we will delve into issues of process
and workflow management in crisis situations. Through the consideration of the Columbia
Shuttle case study we will ask and discuss the question of how to lead productive
and problem-solving discussions in crisis situations and the importance of maintaining
an emphasis on inquiry during these important group deliberations.
View video from the additional session: Thurs., April 2, 5:30 pm
Related Resources
Faculty: Professors Ananth Raman and Bob Kaplan
We will explore multiple different organizations' responses to novel risk in the midst
of a crisis. Examples will include Ericsson’s and Nokia’s responses to Albuquerque
fire, Nissan versus Toyota after Fukushima, Swissgrid, and Airbus. We will use these
examples to consider a series of actions and their effectiveness both in the specific
context of the case and, more importantly, in the context of the crisis presented
by COVID-19.
View video from the additional session: Tues., April 7, 8:30 am
Related Resources
Faculty: Professors Amy Edmondson and Dutch Leonard
In this final session of the offering we will use the Chilean Mining Rescue case study
to consider how the crisis response team confronted an unprecedented problem. What
were the conditions at all three levels--senior executives, experts on the surface,
and front-line workers trapped in the mine--that resulted in real-time problem solving.
How do leaders confronted with the impossible present reality and give hope? The session
will conclude with a discussion focused on what we have discovered through this series
of conversations about identifying and managing novel risk and leading in the face
of the COVID-19 crisis.
View video from the additional session: Fri., April 10, 7:00 am
Related Resources
For more content visit the Managing through Crisis page.
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