Grappling with Grand Crises: An Ecosystem Approach

Abstract

Organizations are vulnerable to grand crises, such as pandemics, terrorism, and climate disasters that are complex and often require a crisis management ecosystem (CME) to address them. However, the nature and core features of CMEs have not received much attention in the crisis management literature. In this paper, we provide insights into the complexity of grand crises, and the core features of CMEs that are important to address them. We draw from the management literature on ecosystems and crisis resilience, and study CMEs that were used in the United States, Spain, and India to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. We also discuss the contributions and implications of our paper for crisis management research and practice.