Risk and Crisis Management in the Public Sector

Lynn T. Drennan is Former Education Programme Director at the Institute of Risk Management, UK.Adina Dudau is Professor of Public Management at the University of Glasgow, UK.Allan McConnell is Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at the University of Sydney, Australia.Alastair Stark is Associate Professor in Public Policy at the University of Queensland, Australia.

• Figures, Tables, Boxes and Cases xiiAcknowledgements for the third edition xivPreface xvAbbreviations xx1 Risk and crisis: definitions, debates and consequences 1Risk as probability, threat and opportunity 2Strategic and operational risks 4Public sector risk 8The development of risk management 10Defining crises: schools of thought 11Understanding the plethora of crisis definitions 16The crisis management cycle 28Conclusion 30Discussion questions 312 Risk and crisis management: drivers and barriers 35Adopting a systematic approach to risk and crises 36Justifying risk and crisis management 38Environmental drivers 42Barriers to effective risk and crisis management 49Understanding the causes of crises 51Identifying crises before they arrive 56Conclusion 59Discussion questions 603 Risk identification and assessment 66Risk identification 67Risk assessment 71Risk management capacity 74Risk to whom? 77Objectivist and subjectivist risk assessment 78The precautionary principle 79Risk management and ethics: guiding principles and rules 81Conclusion 83Discussion questions 844 Risk response and risk communication 89Key terms 90Risk response 90Risk communication 97The role of trust 100Risk and learning in the resilient organization 103Conclusion 105Discussion questions 1055 Contingency planning and crisis preparedness 110Key terms 111Planning and preparedness: a primer 111A cycle of preparedness 112Stage one: assessing capabilities 114Ideal planning vs. public sector reality 133Case study 5.1: fantasy documents and the queensland floods 135Conclusion 140Discussion questions 1406 Managing the acute phase of crisis: adapting to uncertainty 145Key terms 146Acute crisis management: elementary issues 146Functions and response patterns 148Influences on the acute stage of crisis management 166Conclusion 174Discussion questions 1747 After the crisis: evaluation, learning and accountability 178Key terms 179Post-crisis evaluation: learning and accountability in context 179The challenge of evaluation: what constitutes a successful crisis response? 181Post-crisis policy reform and learning 187Accountability and blame games 192Factors influencing the crisis aftermath 197Conclusion 202Discussion questions 2038 Risk and crisis management in a global world 208Key terms 209The paradox of globalization 209Emerging global risks 210Growing risks 212Interval risks 218Speculative risks 219Humanitarian crisis management 220Remote crisis management 225Transboundary crisis management 229Conclusion 231Discussion questions 232Conclusion 236Case study one: lesson learning in the shadow of the pandemic 239The ‘what’ of pandemic lesson-learning 239The ‘how’ of pandemic lesson-learning 242Conclusion 243Case study two: cyberattacks and personal data breaches 245Managing cybersecurity risks 246Managing ‘successful’ hacks 247Conclusion 248Case study three: wildfires 250Greece 251USA 252Australia 254Conclusion: the need for better risk communication 256Index 259

“This third edition is the best of the lot. It provides a comprehensive guide to new students and experienced practitioners alike. It combines, with great skill, insights from policy and public management studies to help readers understand and navigate public sector crises.”Paul Cairney, Professor of Politics, University of Stirling, UK.“As public managers around the world try to assess the successes and failures of national COVID-19 responses, this very welcome new edition of a key text reminds us just how substantial the challenges of risk and crisis management really are. From risk identification to matters of risk communication, and from contingency planning to post-crisis evaluation and learning, the main issues are presented in a clear, highly informed and well-structured fashion. Promising to meet the practitioner ‘halfway’, we are taken through the complexities and contradictions of risk and crisis but pointed also to the possibilities for learning from practical and academic experience across several risk domains. The call is for better crisis leadership, enhanced levels of preparedness and for greater organizational resilience in the face of emergent risks. In the wake of recent experience, this message is more essential than ever.”Alan Irwin, Professor, Department of Organization,Copenhagen Business School, Denmark.“Updated with a wealth of Covid era research from around the globe, the third edition of this widely used textbook easily remains the essential one stop shop for anyone seeking a state of the art overview of 'what we know' and 'what to (not) to do' in dealing with risks and coping with crises in public sector contexts.”Paul 't Hart, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.