Claremont Graduate University
School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences
Human Resource Design Program – Summer 2006
HRD 326 – Crisis Management
August 4th (6 – 9:50 pm), August 5th and August 6th (9 am – 6:30 pm)
Instructor:
Phone:
E-mail:
Scott J. Schroeder, Ph.D.
(808) 739-4611
scott_schroeder@mail.com
This course introduces students to the fundamental principles of crisis management in
organizations. In human resource management and leadership roles, we are most often
used to thinking about organizational change in an architectural manner. That is, change
is something we conceptualize, design, implement, and evaluate in a planful manner.
Frequently, though, events occur at work which are unplanned, and when these
unplanned events are significant and negative they are often labeled crises.
When crises happen in organizations, we can’t employ our usual architectural approaches
to managing change. Instead, handling crises effectively requires that we operate more
like paramedics than architects. As organizational paramedics we need to be able to 1)
identify the crisis, 2) establish and carry out a short-term response plan, and 3) access
appropriate resources for providing long-term resolution of the crisis. Developing the
knowledge and skills to engage these three tasks is what this course is all about.
As human resource professionals and managers, we can be confronted with crises
affecting both persons and systems. An executive may have a drug problem, or our
organization may suffer the consequences of down-sizing. An administrative assistant
may experience burnout, or our organization may encounter a technical disaster. For the
purposes of this class, there are two implications of this. The first is that we need to
examine crisis management at both the individual and organizational levels. (In real life,
we will almost always operate at the intersection of these two levels). The second
implication is that we need to be comfortable being confronted with the challenges of
people and systems in crisis. Coming face-to-face with significant, negative events can
be unsettling for even the most seasoned organizational paramedic.
The process of the course has been designed to address these issues. Over the weekend
we will take on readings and learn about procedures which will help us understand and
respond to workplace crises encountered by individuals and organizations. And at the
core of some course segments will be a case conference in which we will evaluate and
create a response plan for an actual crisis situation.
There are two types of assignments which will be used in helping you to get the most out
of this course and in assessing your performance. The first assignment involves the
course readings. Because this class is designed as a graduate seminar, thoughtful
discussion and participation is essential to making the weekend as involving and useful as
it can be. And in order for you to contribute effectively, you need to have completed the
reading ahead of time.
The second type of assignment is written case analysis. Over the weekend, you will
complete short assessments and response plans for presented crisis situations to give you
practice at crisis response planning and documentation. In addition, you will complete a
case-based final exam during the Sunday afternoon class session. All of the cases will be
provided by the instructor. The format for the written assignments will be discussed in
class.
The book that will be used in this course is Organizational Crisis Management: The
Human Factor by Gerald Lewis (2006). This book provides an industry standard
template for identifying organizational crises and responding to them effectively, with
particular attention paid to HR issues. The book should be reviewed prior to the weekend
sessions.
Grading will be based on the following distribution of assignments (noting that
assignments may be modified to fit the class size):
Contribution to and preparedness for the class sessions
10%
Responses to practice crisis cases
30%
Final exam case
60%
Pre-course Note to Participants
This course is focused on application and skill building. It is a course about action and
doing. As a consequence, it will be a high-involvement weekend that is activity and case
based… requiring your use of the theoretical knowledge you’ve gained in your graduate
program, along with your judgment. During the weekend practicing is what matters. In
crisis management, you’ll learn that having an established action plan and following it to
the letter will lead to more successful crisis resolution. This is your chance to put your
self-discipline to the test.
Schedule of Class Sessions
Evening of August 4th – Introduction to Crisis Management
This class session provides an overview of crisis management and its importance for HR
professionals. We will discuss what constitutes a “crisis” and how to distinguish a
problem from a crisis. You will also learn components of crisis training programs and
the personal characteristics of effective crisis managers. We will also examine the basic
tasks associated with managing individuals and systems in crisis: crisis identification,
response planning, and accessing collateral and institutional resources. The appropriate
application of consulting and counseling skills to crisis intervention in the workplace will
also be discussed.
Morning of August 5th – Individuals in Crisis I – Stress and Burnout
Saturday we will explore some of the most prevalent types of individual crises in
organizations today. The trend toward down-sizing and restructuring has altered the
psychological contract people have with their employers and has had traumatic and
stress-producing consequences for many. For some it means the loss of a career,
organizational ties, and professional identity. For others it means survivor guilt and work
overload. Additionally, certain strong performers in organizations can be subject to
burnout and overuse. Preventing and handling crises related to these issues is the topic of
this morning’s session. We will also examine an actual individual crisis case.
Afternoon of August 5th – Individuals in Crisis II – Violence and Substance Use
Increasing demands on employees to be efficient and productive across the various
domains of their lives can lead people to seek to alleviate these pressures through the use
of drugs and alcohol. These increasing demands combined with the intensified abuse and
alienation some experience in their jobs can lead to organizational sabotage and violence.
Dealing with crises involving substance abuse and violence at work is the topic of this
afternoon’s session. We will also examine an actual individual crisis case.
Morning of August 6th – Organizational Crises I – Prevention and Assessment
As HR professionals operating inside organizations, we are in the position to contribute
to the prevention of significant threatening events at the systems level. To the extent that
we can identify the most likely organizational crises, we can plan to avoid them and to
respond to them. In this session we will discuss the crisis management audit and scenario
building as tools for organizational crisis prevention and response planning. We will also
examine an organizational crisis case.
Afternoon of August 6th – Organizational Crises II – Tactical and Strategic
Responses
Effective crisis management requires both immediate action to facilitate crisis relief as
well as subsequent work to accomplish crisis resolution. In this session we will review
both short-term and long-term action plans for managing systems crises. We will also
examine the appropriate composition of a crisis management team and the relevant
involvement of other organizational constituents. We will also complete the course with
a case-based final exam.
Instructor Background Information
Scott Schroeder, Ph.D. is Dean of the School of Business, Chair of the Professional
Studies Division, and Associate Professor of Management at Chaminade University of
Honolulu. Scott’s career has been lived as a management activist, dedicated to putting
into practice management systems and approaches that bring out employees’ best work
and eradicate employee abuse and exploitation in organizations.
His research focuses of individuals’ personal power and social influence at work, with
special interest in getting people the power they need to have personal and professional
success in their careers. He is most recently co-author with Donald Gibson of “Who
ought to be blamed? The Effect of organizational roles on blame and credit attributions”
in the International Journal of Conflict Management, and his article “Initiation Rites and
Institutional Thinking at the Threshold of a Career” won the outstanding paper award at
the 1996 Southern California Doctoral Research Conference.
He has done extensive clinical work in executive psychotherapy and coaching and
consults on issues of executive development and team effectiveness. His clients have
included individuals and organizations from industries including entertainment,
professional sports, health care, advertising, education, government services, the U.S.
military, high tech, and not-for-profit. His work in forensic psychology as a principal of
The Laundis Group included assessment of multiple crisis situations, their effects and
resolution.
Scott has held administrative and faculty positions at several universities, including
Arizona State University, UCLA, and Antioch University, where he was responsible for
developing a graduate program in organization development which was consistently
ranked among the top ten programs nationally during his tenure. He has taught courses
on individual effectiveness, organization development, and crisis management in the
HRD program at CGU since 1996. He completed doctoral specializations in
management and psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles.