Constructing Crisis: Leaders, Crises and Claims of Urgency

There is no such thing as a crisis. Rather than an actual, corporeal thing, a crisis is a claim asserted from a position of power and influence, intended to shape the understanding of others. A constructed crisis by a leader may or may not be legitimate, and, legitimate or not, the content of a claim alone does not determine whether people decide to believe it. Rather than viewing crises as the result of objective events, Spector demonstrates that leaders impose crises on organizations to strategically assert power and exert control. Interpreting crisis through a critical lens, this interdisciplinary book encompasses not just management and organizational literature, but also sociology, history, cognitive science, and psychology. The resulting wide-ranging, critical, and provocative analysis will appeal in particular to students and academics researching leadership and crisis management.

Author: Bert Spector
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 09/05/2019
Pages: 316
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.33w x 0.58d
ISBN: 9781108446082

About the Author
Spector, Bert: - Bert Spector is Associate Professor of International Business and Management at D'Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, Boston. His research interests include organizational change, leadership, business model innovation and management history. His previous book Discourse on Leadership: A Critical Appraisal (Cambridge, 2016) received the 2017 Choice Award for an Outstanding Academic Title.