module specification

This module examines crisis management for businesses, how to plan for potential risks and how to deal with a  crisis

This module aims to

explore the different types of crisis that can affect a business,
enable planning for risk
detail the strategies available to deal with crisis situations

Definition of types of crisis
Planning and recognising the warning signs
Crisis leadership and management
Examples of good and bad crisis management

This module will be delivered through weekly workshops.  It is envisaged that guest  speakers and links to real-world examples will form an important part of the taught element. Students are encouraged to work independently, supported by key pre-readings and online tools.
There will also be a one day practical session during the course of the academic year.  This day event will focus on identifying possible risks for a business and dealing with implementing a disaster recovery plan.

The weekly workshops will consist of a combination of theoretical input and problem-based tasks, supported by multimedia, including videos and student centred discussions, peer evaluation of set tasks and problem based group work.  

WebLearn: will be used for the distribution of the Module booklet. It will also be used as an interactive mechanism between students and tutors, for example, to direct students to particular readings or to provide news about the module or the module content. It will also be used for the timely provision of generic feedback following formative assessment.

On completing the module students will be able to

Define different types of crisis and their various impacts on a business

Identify, value,protect and manage a business' tangible and intangible assets

Plan ahead to minimize the impact of crises on a business - from flood and fire to illness and IT failure

Carry out risk assessments

Create an effective disaster recovery plan for businesses

The assessment strategy has been designed to measure the achievement of learning outcomes using individual and group instruments and draws particularly on the lectures from guest speakers. The first assessment will require small allocated groups of students  to develop a written description of a disaster scenario inspired by and developed from case studies recounted by guest speakers.  Having completed a risk assessment and written up the disaster scenario, received feedback, and responded to it, the scenarios will be passed to another group and they will be required to formulate an appropriate response.  This response can be produced using any multi media technique although it is envisaged that the most popular forms will be video or audio files. This will ensure that these responses are reusable learning objects not only for the current cohort, but also future cohorts of students who can refer to them for inspiration and ideas.  The requirement for the disaster scenarios to be based on input from guest speakers will ensure that the focus for the assignments will always be contemporary and limit opportunities for plagiarism.

To ensure individual learning takes place, each group will be required to submit an action plan and contribution log which details their intended and actual contributions to the assessment activity. Participation in classroom sessions will also be considered as evidence of contribution. Students who fail to attend classroom sessions will be considered to not have participated in the assessments.  Although normally the mark for the assessment will be awarded to all members of the group, if there is insufficient evidence of individual contribution and learning, the marker may award different marks to each individual

Altschuller,S, 2011, Information systems for crisis management [electronic resource]  Henry Stewart Talks
Coombs W, and Holladay, S, 2010, The handbook of crisis communication, Wiley-Blackwell
Crisis management : master the skills to prevent disasters, 2004, Harvard Business School Press
Elliott, D, Swartz, E and Herbane, B, 2010, Business continuity management : a crisis management approach, Routledge
Engemann, K,  2011, Essentials of business continuity and risk management [electronic resource] : business impact analysis and risk assessment, Henry Stewart Talks
Faure, G,  and I. William Zartman, 2010, Negotiating with terrorists : strategy, tactics, and politics, Routledge
Fearn-Banks , K, 2007, Crisis communications : a casebook approach, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Fearn-Banks, K, 2011, Crisis communications : a casebook approach, Routledge
Glaesser, D, 2006, Crisis management in the tourism industry, Butterworth 2006
Henderson, J, 2007 Tourism crises : causes, consequences and management,  Butterworth-Heinemann
Leonhardt J and Vogt, J (ed) 2006, Critical incident stress management in aviation , Ashgate
Regester M, and Larkin, J, 2008, Risk issues and crisis management in public relations : a casebook of best practice, Kogan Page