BCI Crisis Management Report 2021

The BCI survey findings suggest COVID-19 has helped to propel the discipline of crisis management into a much more collaborative, inclusive, and dynamic discipline.

Using survey data from leading crisis management experts around the world, the report outlines the importance of high levels of collaboration and a non-siloed approach as crucial to creating a culture of resilience in an organisation. It also demonstrates how the organisations which have had the most success with their response have a centralised process but allow some autonomy amongst regional operations to allow them to adopt and shape practices based on their own cultural differences and local laws and regulations. At the same time, the role of leadership within an organisation is paramount during a crisis. Leadership can help to engage the whole organisation in the importance of good crisis management, as well as leading the crisis management team through the response. The level of agility and adaptability that organisations have had to exhibit in order to survive – and thrive – post-pandemic is notable. While following a tried and tested approach with a recognized framework remains at the core of crisis management practice, the ability to adopt and adapt plans to make them quickly appropriate to the incident in question have been showcased in the research carried out for this report.

The below are key shifts organisations are making globally to ensure their resilience.

Table of contents

1. Introduction
   
   
2. Crisis management structure
   
   
   • Centralisation vs localisation
   • The characteristics of the crisis management structure of 2021
   • Interaction and collaboration
   • COVID-19 has brought greater appreciation of the role of good organisational resilience in a crisis
3. Planning for a crisis
   
   
   • Planning for a crisis
   • Agility of planning
   • The post-incident review (PIR) – when should it happen?
   • The post-incident review – who should be involved?
   • Issues are already being identified – and rectified – ahead of the PIR
   • COVID-19 has triggered an investment surge in crisis management
   • The pandemic is invoking positive organisational change
4. Technology in a Crisis
   
   
   • Enterprise software has been the greatest enabler during the pandemic
   • 99% of organisations say technology has facilitated their organisation’s response to COVID-19