International Journal of Latest Research in Humanities and Social Science (IJLRHSS)

Volume 05 - Issue 02, 2022

www.ijlrhss.com || PP. 01-07

COVID-19 Pandemic and Crisis Management

Salome Chkheidze
IMS Manager,
Independent Auditor of Management Systems and
Occupational Health and Safety
Business Administration PhD Student,
Georgian American University
0160, Georgia, Tbilisi, Aleksidze Street 10

Abstract: Due to the unpredictability of global events, many modern organizations attempt to identify
potential crises before they occur in order to sketch out plans to deal with them. When and if a crisis occurs,
the organization must be able to drastically change course in order to survive. The aim of crisis management is
to be well prepared for crisis, ensure a rapid and adequate response to the crisis, maintaining clear lines of
reporting and communication in the event of crisis and agreeing rules for crisis termination. The COVID-19
crisis that began in 2019 can be expected to become a textbook example of crisis management. Businesses
around the world were forced to shut their doors. Millions of employees were sent home. In this article I will
discuss what the crisis management is and ways to create effective crisis management plans. In addition, crisis
management will be considered as pandemic crisis management for organizations and specific solutions of
effective crisis management systems.
Existence of Crisis management plan allows the organization to lead effectively at the period of crisis.
So having an effective crisis management plan for organizations is vitally important. In this article, I will
consider two different sectors – economy and education of countries and specifically I will give examples of
Georgia.
Keywords: crisis management; action plan; organization

Introduction
Crisis is defined as inherently abnormal, unstable and complex situation that represents a threat to the
strategic objectives, reputation or existence of an organization. (BSI, 2011)
Due to the unpredictability of global events, many modern organizations attempt to identify potential
crises before they occur in order to sketch out plans to deal with them. When and if a crisis occurs, the
organization must be able to drastically change course in order to survive.
Any business, large or small, may run into problems that negatively impact its normal operations. A
crisis can take many forms — an office fire, the death of a CEO, a terrorist attack, a data breach, or a natural
disaster can lead to tangible and intangible costs to a company in terms of lost sales, damage to its reputation,
and a decrease in income.
The COVID-19 crisis that began in 2019 can be considered as a great example of crisis management.
Businesses around the world were forced to shut their doors. Millions of employees were sent home. Essential
services struggled to function. Educational system in different countries had to struggle a lot to survive. For
public sectors, it was delivering education with a different system and for private sector it was both, delivering
education and keeping financial stability.
Crises are associated with highly complex problems, the full implications and nature of which maybe
unclear at the time. Each possible solution may have severe consequences of one from another. Managers may
have to choose the ―least bad‖ solution and may have to resolve (or at least recognize and accept) fundamental
strategic dilemmas. These might mean that every choice comes with a penalty of some sort and there is no ideal
solution. (BSI, 2011)
Crises may create situations that can harm the fundamental norms, self-image and values of an
organization. In this case, effective leadership becomes the only way to survive. During the crises management,
managers are the people who should make fast and correct decisions with their teams at a time when they may
be under pressure of time and intense scrutiny. Managers should ensure that their plans are effective; it is
measurable and understandable for every employee.
Effective Crisis Management can demonstrate organization’s positive qualities and enhance its
reputation. Moreover, in case of appropriate crisis management, organization can become much more popular
and say a new word on the market while other competitors can lose their prestige. So crisis can become for ones
a way for development, while for others it can be a collapse.

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International Journal of Latest Research in Humanities and Social Science (IJLRHSS)
Volume 05 - Issue 02, 2022
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In a rapidly changing environment, schools and universities need to be able to anticipate, prepare for,
respond and adapt to any sudden disruptions that may come their way.
For setting up and managing an effective business continuity management system, an organization needs to
define a risk assessment process that will enable it to understand the threats and vulnerabilities of its critical activities
and supporting resources. It is necessary to assess the impact that would arise if an identified threat became an incident
and caused a business disruption For setting up and managing an effective business continuity management system, an
organization needs to define a risk assessment process that will enable it to understand the threats and vulnerabilities of
its critical activities and supporting resources. It is necessary to assess the impact that would arise if an identified threat
became an incident and caused a business disruption For setting up and managing an effective business continuity
management system, an organization needs to define a risk assessment process that will enable it to understand the
threats and vulnerabilities of its critical activities and supporting resources. It is necessary to assess the impact that
would arise if an identified threat became an incident and caused a business disruption for setting up and managing an
effective business continuity management system, an organization needs to define a risk assessment process that will
enable it to understand the threats and vulnerabilities of its critical activities and supporting resources. It is necessary to
assess the impact that would arise if an identified threat became an incident and caused a business disruption For setting
up and managing an effective business continuity management system, an organization needs to define a risk
assessment process that will enable it to understand the threats and vulnerabilities of its critical activities and supporting
resources. It is necessary to assess the impact that would arise if an identified threat became an incident and caused a
business disruption For setting up and managing an effective business continuity management system, it is
important an organization to define risks at stage of planning and assess them. This process will make the
organization understand the threats and values of its critical activities. It is important to have an effective risk
assessment system in order to assess risk impact on activity or system and possibility to occur. Top Managers’
role is vitally important at crisis management. Their decisions may include direct intervention and decisive
strategic leadership that cannot be preconceived. Organizational change is about making alternations to the
organization’s purpose, culture, structure and processes in response to seen or anticipated changes in the
environment, which can be especially significant during a crisis. Strategic management of change is all about
identifying and embedding in the organization those changes that will ensure the long-term survival of the
organization. (Hamidovic, 2012)

What is Crisis Management?

The term crisis refers to a high consequence, lower probability action known to strike the organization
that has the capacity to bring down the entire business as: industrial action; supply chain disruption; civil
disorder; product contamination; natural disaster; terrorism, pandemic and political risk, crisis management
plan becomes a potent survival tool. (D.Saleh, 2016)
At crisis, there are only two ways – to survive or to sink. The main goal of a crisis management plan is to
protect employees, customers, consumers, corporate image, firm assets, and corporate brands. By having a crisis
management plan in place, an organization is more able to take the necessary actions to minimize loses in
business and reduce risks. The plan should have references to the applicable laws and regulations to protect
relationships and ensure compliance with regulatory and government agencies. For the effectiveness of the plan
to be achieved, it is vital for a firm to educate and train employees and to prepare them and equip them with
information on what to do in the event of a crisis. (D.Saleh, 2016)
Sometimes managers mix two terms – crisis and incident. There is a big difference between an incident
and a crisis. In everyday business, small incidents can occur at any time and are unavoidable. When such
incidents occur, organizations should have an incident investigation procedure to find the root causes of the
incident and set effective preventive actions. Failure to manage small incidents could turn them into crises.
A crisis is a situation that is bigger and more serious compared to an incident. A crisis can pose higher
uncertainty and disturb critical activities. It could arise from incidents that are left unresolved or not resolved
properly. Crises are typically more massive and require severe and strategic intervention. A crisis, most often,
requires urgent and strategic action.
We can also avoid incidents, if we assess near misses appropriately. Near miss is a potential incident that
can cause any negative results. If we notice there is a near miss, in case of effective leading, we can reduce a
chance of turning the near miss into the incident. However, crisis is a situation, which can be caused by internal
or external factors and must be led effectively in order to survive.
A crisis can either be internal or caused by external factors. Examples of external forces that could
affect an organization’s operations include natural disasters, security breaches, false rumors that hurt a
business's reputation. COVID-19 Pandemic situation is one of the best example of external factor, which
caused very negative effects for some organizations. An external crisis needs a very intensive, fast and smart
work from top managers’ side to survive.

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International Journal of Latest Research in Humanities and Social Science (IJLRHSS)
Volume 05 - Issue 02, 2022
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Internal crises are caused within the organization. In this case, it can be a situation, when, for example,
an employee smokes in an environment that contains hazardous chemicals, downloads questionable computer
files, offers poor customer service that goes viral online. An internal crisis can be managed, mitigated, or
avoided if a company enforces strict compliance guidelines and protocols regarding ethics, policies, rules, and
regulations among employees.
As Pas 200 says, Crises place exceptional demands on managers and their support teams, at a time
when they may already be under pressure of time and intense scrutiny.
Managers should ensure that their planning takes into account the need to sustain a response at
high levels of intensity. They should also anticipate the needs of staff who may be working at extraordinary
levels of activity and, possibly, dealing with distressing issues. Crises often force organizations to review,
transform or defend their choices, policies, culture and strategies, possibly under public and media
scrutiny. However, they can bring new opportunities and benefits to an organization if they are handled
successfully.
Even if the organization is perceived tobe at fault or blame worthy, the demonstration of virtue,
integrity and compassion can offset, to some extent, the damage to its reputation and standing. A well-
managed crisis can demonstrate the positive qualities of an organization and enhance its general
reputation. (BSI, 2011)
Successful crisis management some times involves stepping outside the normal "rules" of an
organization or its business environment. Indeed, crises often invalidate taken-for-granted expectations
on the part of stake holders and the wider community.
An organization's performance in crisis management, and its apparent preparedness, may expose its
top management to public scrutiny. The consequences, inpersonal, professional and organizational terms,
could be significant. (BSI, 2011)
Crisis Management includes activities and processes, which help the managers as well as employees to
analyze and understand events, which might lead to crisis and uncertainty in the organization. Crisis
Management enables the managers and employees to respond effectively to changes in the organization culture.
As Peter Drucker said, “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with
yesterday's logic.” When there is a crisis, change and innovation is a step to survival. However, top
managers should always consider the importance of team involvement in change management. If the crisis
management plan is effective, if all the employees are informed and they know how to manage, then the chances
of dealing with crisis are really high. Hence, communication between employees at the time of crisis must be
effective. Psychological stability is also very important and top managers should clearly understand that. At
crisis management, being too rigid and impatient, can destroy all. Top managers are the people who are the main
heroes to struggle with crisis. However, they can’t do anything if they do not have a support from their team. At
crisis management there should be regular touch with the employees and help them adapt to changes and new
situations. Top managers should realize they spend incredibly much energy and time to deal with crisis but they
do it for survival and the employees are the people, who help them to survive.

There are three categories of Crisis Management that exist in an organization:

Responsive Crisis Management is a type of management, which includes plans that are designed to be acted
upon immediately. They should include clear guidelines and protocols on what to do, who to involve, and crisis
response to outside entities. Responsive plans generally concern rare but somewhat predictable financial or
crises with employees.

Proactive Crisis Management is also about anticipating potential future issues and having plans in place to
prevent them. However, these plans are generally about crises that are easy to prepare for but difficult to control
ahead of time. For example, companies avoid accidents by ensuring that employees follow safety protocols.
Companies examine safety studies and put protocols in place in the case of a natural disaster.
Employees must be informed about safety protocols from the moment they start working at the company. Both
employees and executives should frequently be updated on changes in regulations and protocol.

Reactive Crisis Management focuses on damage minimization during later phases of crisis. This type of crisis
management is the hardest to solve and the most complex, since it covers an unknowable number of
unpredictable risks of a business. Since reactive crisis management must occur quickly, it is important to
implement a communication strategy that is concise and action-oriented. While rebuilding long-term
professional or client relationships is also a key component, a clear and concise plan for primary actors involved
in the crisis management plan must take priority. (D.Saleh, 2016)

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Volume 05 - Issue 02, 2022
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According to mentioned above, we see that from two ways – to survive or to sink - organizations, which
want to survive in crisis, should definitely have an appropriate crisis management plan. Within the effective
crisis management, organization prepares the individuals to face unexpected developments and adverse
conditions in the organization with courage and determination. Moreover, employees can understand and
analyze the causes of crisis and cope with it in the best possible way. In addition, they adjust well to the sudden
changes in the organization. Adaptation process, as mentioned above, is one of the most important for
employees at crisis management. Finally, Crisis Management helps the managers to feel the early signs of crisis,
warn the employees against the aftermaths and take necessary precautions for the same.

COVID-19 and Crisis Management

The impact of the coronavirus is rippling through all over the world, including Georgian economy.
The pandemic has disrupted lives across all countries and communities and negatively affected global
economic growth in 2020 beyond anything experienced in nearly a century. The virus reduced global economic
growth in 2020 to an annualized rate of around -3.2%, with a recovery of 5.9% projected for 2021. Global trade
was fallen by 5.3% in 2020. (Jackson, et al., 2021)
According to PwC survey report, which was done in 2020 in Georgia, from all the sectors, the
accommodation and food service companies were effected the most – more than 75% of this sector is
experiencing significant revenue reduction. As a quick solution to resolve decreased demand and liquidity
issues, companies started to reduce their headcounts. More than 50% of companies have already experienced
some employee reductions, with the tourism and service related industries being most vulnerable (more than
40% have already reduced 100% of their employees). The agriculture sector has been the least affected from this
perspective. (PwC, 2020)
Based on the survey results, the main difficulty the companies face is decrease in demand followed by
the currency rate fluctuations and disruption in the supply chain. In addition to the responses recorded in the
study, the companies also cited the closure of business due to quarantine and restrictions on transportation as a
significant difficulty. In terms of sector analysis, closure of external borders disrupts mostly accommodation and
food service enterprises, with 49% indicating it as a difficulty, as well as transportation and storage business –
41%. Almost half of the respondents operating in the construction or ICT sectors are especially concerned by
difficulties related to the currency exchange rate and late payments from clients. Disruption in the supply chain
and difficulties related to the currency exchange rate was identified as a difficulty by companies operating in the
agriculture and manufacturing sectors. (PwC, 2020)

Source: https://www.pwc.com/ge/en/assets/pdf/may-2020/Georgia_Covid
19_survey_Report_Final_English_21.05.20.pdf

Another very important sector is education. Georgia’s educational system at pandemic has become more
disappointing. Distance learning in the Georgian education system was not adopted before the pandemic and the
country was unprepared for the new challenges. 38% of households did not have computers and 16% still lacked
internet access in the same period. Challenges in the distance learning process in the rural areas are higher

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International Journal of Latest Research in Humanities and Social Science (IJLRHSS)
Volume 05 - Issue 02, 2022
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compared to the urban areas, driven by the high degree of inequality, which is largely related to the socio-
economic status of families. Share of households who lacked access to computers in the rural areas was 68% in
2020, whereas the share of households with the same problems in the urban areas was 24% in the same
period.(Adeishvili, Amashukeli, Eristavi, & Tushurashvili, 2021)
Pandemic caused close of different private schools because of decrease number of students. Public sector
had to change a system of teaching, while private sector had to deal with both, teaching system and financial
stability. Those who made changes, survived. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns
and safety regulations have led to decreased duration of classes and efficiency of the studying process.
Developing of educational system is connected with economic, social and political stability of the country,
hence, Implementation of strategic planning in education is vital. It is important to mention that, unfortunately,
education system must be accessible to all and provide all citizens of the country with the opportunity to achieve
high-quality sustainable outcomes, which still remains a problem. At pandemic, educational system appeared
not ready to provide students with high quality education. There are several reason of it. Firstly, it is access to
internet and digital resources. Especially in regions, students and teachers had lack of access to technologies.
Secondly, for those who had access to education, is appropriate trainings for teachers and students to use the
technologies appropriately and purposely. In addition, crisis management planning and understanding
importance of it by the top managers. Every change must be planned, assess and measured. If not, then there is a
high probability change will turn into a collapse.
Expenditure on education in Georgia as a % of GDP was lower compared to the OECD average (5% in
2017) and EU (4.7%) and Russia (4.7%), but higher compared to the neighboring Armenia (2.7%) and
Azerbaijan (2.5%).

In recent years, numerous reforms have been carried out with the purpose of fundamentally restructuring
the old-fashioned education system, changing its institutional structure, eliminating corruption, granting
autonomy to universities, and introducing European standards. The fact is that all these reforms have not yet
yielded significant results and the Georgian education system still faces many challenges and occupies the last
positions in world rankings in terms of education. The results of PISA show that the Georgian education system
needs significant changes. Georgia Ranks 70th out of 78 countries by summed up score of reading, math, and
science. We lag behind all neighboring and developed countries.

So, COVID-19 pandemic has hit Georgia and the whole world hard. Mobility restrictions, a sudden halt
to international tourist arrivals, and weak external demand drove an estimated economic contraction of 6.2
percent in 2020. The poverty rate increased by an estimated 5.4 percentage points. Job and income losses were

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International Journal of Latest Research in Humanities and Social Science (IJLRHSS)
Volume 05 - Issue 02, 2022
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severe. The fiscal deficit and public debt rose above statutory levels as the crisis put pressure on fiscal and
external balances. (worldbank.org, 2021)

Conclusion
To sum up, COVID – 19 Pandemic can be considered as a crisis of 21st century for all economic and
social sectors. The world was not ready and only those who made big changes and effective strategical plans to
deal with the crisis were able to survive.
Too few organizations take crisis management into account. The capability to manage crisis should be
seen as something that can be simply developed as and when needed. The development of the crisis
management capability requires a systematic approach.

To summarize all mentioned above, we can highlight main keys for crisis management:
- Creation of crisis management plan. Plan should include concrete activities with responsible
people, deadlines and resources. CMP must become a guidebook for all employees and managers.
It is vitally important employees have a 24/7 access to the CMP and understand that well. CMP
should include also not only the planning, but control and measurement tools. Activities should be
measure in order to see whether the plan is effective or not and in case of inefficiency urgently
make changes.
- Training personnel. When making changes, employees should realize the importance of this
change and get it as a survival tool. Usually changes are connected with some skills and
knowledge and in this case top manager should have responsible people who will train the
employees in order to make changes effectively. It is important to mention that top managers often
forget they won’t achieve a goal with only well-designed strategic plan if employees are not
appropriately trained and aware.
- Information access. Being able to reach your stakeholders and provide them with accurate
information in a time of need is the first step in your crisis communication strategy. But you must
also be sure you can account for them, coordinate a response if necessary and confirm they are
safe. Employees and other interested parties should have information access and be always
updated. All the analyses, data and other analytical information should be accessible for employees
to see the progress and/or regress of the procedures and the organization.

The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating: tens of millions of people are
at risk of falling into extreme poverty, while the number of undernourished people, currently estimated at nearly
690 million, could increase by up to 132 million. Millions of enterprises face an existential threat. Nearly half of
the world’s 3.3 billion global workforce are at risk of losing their livelihoods. The pandemic has been affecting
the entire food system and has laid bare its fragility. Millions of students around the world are without access to
education. The result of this crisis will be visible after several years and the organizations will be able to
measure their crisis management tools, however the negative effects, that the world had because of not being
ready for the pandemic crisis management, will always have their paths on humans lives.(www.who.int, 2020).
As Warren Buffett says: ―It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think
about that, you’ll do things differently‖. So, let us rethink the future.

Bibliography
[1]. Adeishvili, G., Amashukeli, D., Eristavi, D., & Tushurashvili, G. (2021). COVID-19 and Georgian
Education. Tbilisi: Open Society Foundations.
[2]. BSI. (2011). PAS 200 crisis management. In BSI, PAS 200 crisis management (p. 46). London: BSI.
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[4]. Hamidovic, H. (2012).
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(2021). Global Economic Effects of COVID-19. Global Economic Effects of COVID-19.
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Volume 05 - Issue 02, 2022
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[7]. worldbank.org. (2021, May). www.worldbank.org. Retrieved from
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