The Leadership Process During an Organizational Crisis

Authors

  • Rodrigo Antônio Silveira dos Santos UNIFA
  • Rodrigo Bandeira-de- Mello FGV/EAESP
  • Cristiano José Castro de Almeida Cunha UFSC

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12660/joscmv9n1p94-109

Keywords:

Crisis leadership, crisis management, crisis response, critical infrastructure breakdown, organizational leadership.

Abstract

This article reports results of a qualitative study that examined the leadership process during an organizational crisis in the Brazilian electrical sector. The studied organization is a company involved with the generation and distribution of electric energy, which faced a crisis because of the rupture of electricity-distribution cables that affected the energy supply chain for a whole city, during approximately 52 hours. In this context, the authors analyzed the crisis’ stages and the organizational crisis management phases, in order to identify the leadership tasks adopted by organizational leaders during the crisis response. The major challenges brought with the crisis were identified and it was analyzed the leadership tasks used to address challenges: sensemaking, decision making, meaning making, terminating and learning.

Author Biography

Rodrigo Antônio Silveira dos Santos, UNIFA

Military officer in the Brazilian Air Force, he holds a Bachelor Degree in Logistics from AFA (2000), a MBA on Strategic Management (2002) and a Master Degree (2004) from UFSM. He also holds a Doctor Degree (2012) from UFSC and a MBA on Public Management (2011) from UFF. Currently, he teaches at Universidade da Força Aérea (UNIFA) at the Aerospace Science Postgraduate Program.

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Published

2016-07-18

Issue

Section

Special Issue on Crisis Management and Humanitarian Operations