arrows

Perspectives

Crisis Management

What's your focus?

There’s more than one kind of crisis. And more than one way to prepare for it. In the Focus on series, the Deloitte Center for Crisis Management provides insight on the ways unplanned events can drive unforeseen advantages by exploring different industries, roles, and approaches.

Focus on: Overcoming natural disasters

Unlike malicious threats, nature doesn’t target your business, but it can devastate it in minutes, without regard for borders or jurisdictions. Like any form of crisis, however, natural disasters present challenges that respond well to scenario planning, simulation, and aggressive preparedness. They also present an unusual opportunity for public-private partnership and mutual assistance.

In this issue, we focus on ways to prepare for, respond to, and recover from nature-driven crises that are often widespread and multifaceted.

Focus on: The board’s-eye view of cyber crisis management

Many boards don’t generally get involved in day-to-day company operations, but the potential fallout from a cyber crisis makes it prudent for board members to roll up their sleeves. With their personal reputations on the line as well as corporate value, board members are wise to insist company leaders demonstrate the organization’s vigilance and resilience in an increasingly threatening cyber environment.

This issue, we focus on the board’s-eye view of cyber crisis management. The potential fallout from a cyber crisis, including operational disruption, compromised business growth, relationship risk, and personal reputational damage, is too severe for board members to remain on the sidelines.

Focus on: Building crisis-ready boards

Board members are seldom seen by the public, but in the event of a crisis, the board is often propelled onto center stage as the media learns of the story and asks those difficult-to-answer questions. In order to prepare for the unexpected and to be the voice of the company at such a critical moment, a lot has to happen behind the scenes, and quickly. When a crisis strikes, board members are called upon for their leadership and guidance until the threat subsides.

In this issue, we focus on building crisis-ready boards. When a crisis strikes, board members are expected to act decisively, taking quick, corrective action to resolve the issue at hand.

Focus on: Keeping energy and resources flowing

Without energy and other critical resources, it’s virtually impossible for businesses to operate. Organizations in the energy and resources industry are constantly exposed to dangers that can have rippling effects on economies, cultures, and livelihoods. Therefore, it’s vital for them to anticipate, prepare, and think long-term to lessen the impact on society and to protect the fate of their organization.

In this issue, we focus on keeping energy and resources flowing. It’s important to build robust crisis plans and keeping those plans current in order to emerge stronger from a crisis.

Focus on: Making crisis simulations matter

You know it’s coming. But not when, where, or how big. No one knows when a turn of events will demand the best your organization can deliver, which is why you’ll sleep a lot better if you’re confident your crisis management plan works. One of the ways to earn that confidence is with a program of effective, multidimensional simulations that test your board, your C-Suite, and the organization that stands behind them.

In this issue, we focus on making crisis simulations matter. There is more than one way to approach a simulation. The ones that create lasting value go far beyond the theatrics of a simple “fire drill.” Effective simulations put the organization to a stringent test.

Did you find this useful?