AN EVALUATION OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT IN PUBLIC SECTOR
Abstract
A crisis is a situation approaching a dangerous phase, which requires urgent inter-vention to avoid harmful effects on the body of an organization in order to return to normal situation. It is a decisive and critical time for the organization, where the wrong decision can even cost its viability. This situation can shape political, legal, economic, and governmental impact on its activities. From different definitions of crisis, we seek to underscore key elements of a crisis that may threat a public orga-nization and, also, to highlight both the elements of management responsiveness resulting in the loss of control in the organization, regarding the short time demand for decision-making. The key purpose of this chapter is to illustrate the basis available in the international literature, upon which public risk mechanisms can be reviewed and chosen in public sector organizations under the scope of their applicability.Keywords: public sector management, crisis management, organizations’ management. IntroductionIn the everyday life, the concept of crisis can encompass the whole range of activities and relationships, at an individual, social, and political level. But its inter-pretation varies, depending on the perspective of the crisis, regarding personality, experience, and professional level. In the context of organizations and systems, the crisis and its response have become particularly important nowadays, due to the unforeseen forms in which it can occur, the degree of damage it can cause to their structures and operations, the dimensions that it can realize in a short time, the modern environment of globalization, and the fast dissemination of information through enhanced communication networks. The crisis may manifest itself on the horizon as a result of a wrong decision, or it may occur without warning, anywhere, anytime. It can affect all sectors of society, businesses, government, and nongov-ernmental organizations. In order to safeguard the viability of organisms in critical situations, there is a need for constant monitoring and analysis and an academically sound approach to documentation of actions needed.Therefore, managing the crisis by public bodies and governments is a prereq-uisite for their smooth operation and survival. According to Porter’s theory of resources and capabilities, the main mechanism for the survival of the organisms in the environment in which they operate is the dimension of competitive advantage,
