Crisis decisionmaking process tracing

Crisis management studies at CRISMART have as a point of departure a synergy between psychological and organizational theoretical research, which we have chosen to call “cognitive-institutional theory”. In several of the scientific publications a specific part of the field is developed, while in four of the books an overarching theoretical description is provided.

The theory was first illustrated in ten cases from Sweden in the Swedish-language Krishantering på svenska (“Crisis Management in Swedish”). This was followed by Eric Stern’s dissertation, Crisis Decisionmaking: A Cognitive-Institutional Approach, which in particular covered group dynamics in decisionmaking. Beyond Groupthink, edited by three CRISMART researchers, brought together some of the world’s foremost political group psychologists to settle the one sided application of Irving Janis’ theory on groupthink. In The Politics of Crisis Management four experienced crisis management researchers summarize their knowledge on all components of the anatomy of crisis. The book presents the challenges a leader faces in a crisis, built on four phases: making sense of a crisis, taking wise decisions, communicating a reasonable picture of the event and what measures can be taken, and being able to end the acute phase of the crisis in a way that maintains public trust. All of these phases involve cognitive and institutional elements.