A market in Somalia. CTG employs hundreds of staff in Somalia as field monitors who travel across the country to food delivery sites to measure the impact of food programs. (Photo: Iain Statham)

The Big Idea Series /

Preparing for the Era of Uncertainty

Building a Culture That Can Withstand a Crisis

How a company that works in conflict zones prepares for the unknown.

by

and

Patrick L. McClelland

by

and

Patrick L. McClelland

November 17, 2021 · Long read

01

A New Crisis Playbook for an Uncertain World

02

What Covid-19 Taught Us About Doing Business During a Crisis

03

Building a Culture That Can Withstand a Crisis

04

6 Types of Resilience Companies Need Today

05

The Power of Community Partnerships in Times of Crisis

06

Spotting a Modern Business Crisis — Before It Strikes

Summary.

Alice Laugher, the CEO of Committed to Good, a private company that provides specialist staffing and logistics solutions to the humanitarian community, is accustomed to working in crisis zones: South Sudan, Gaza, and West Africa during the Ebola epidemic, among others. These experiences have taught her how to build a corporate culture that allows business to thrive, even amid uncertainty and turmoil. In this interview, Laugher explains that the relationships between employees and local communities are key: They help organizations anticipate crises in ways that competitors without those trusting connections don’t, and they create an organizational culture that is resilient in the face of drastic external change.

In the new era of constant crises, a handful of CEOs have become experts at preparing for and navigating them.

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John E. Katsos is an associate professor of business law, business ethics, and social responsibility at the American University of Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates, and a research affiliate at Queen’s University Belfast. As a scholar, he has published dozens of academic and media articles, as well as reports for boards and international organizations. He has done fieldwork in Iraq, Lebanon, Cyprus, Syria, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong and is considered one of the world’s leading researchers on business in crisis zones. As an educator, Katsos teaches undergraduate, graduate, and executive students in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa how to manage more ethical and sustainable organizations for a better world.
Jason Miklian is a senior researcher at the Centre for Development and the Environment, at the University of Oslo. He has published extensively on the topic of business and peace, including award-winning articles based on fieldwork in Bangladesh, Colombia, India, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Considered a top global expert in the field of business, peacebuilding, and crisis, he sits on numerous boards and high-level expert panels. Miklian has also written for or been cited in an expert capacity by the New York Times, the BBC, Foreign Policy, The Economist, and other news organizations, and he is a coauthor (with Scott Carney) of The Vortex: A True Story of History’s Deadliest Storm, an Unspeakable War, and Liberation (HarperCollins, forthcoming).
Patrick L. McClelland is associate professor of management at the American University of Sharjah, where has served as the head of the management department and director of graduate programs in the School of Business Administration. His published work is an assessment of the impact that top managers have on their organizations. As an educator, he teaches strategic management, international business, and corporate governance to undergraduate, graduate, and executive students in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. He has also served public and private organizations in an advisory capacity in all three regions.

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