Crisis Management: Disaster in Chile

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On October 13, 2010, thirty three miners of Chile were finally rescued. The men had been trapped underground since August 5, 2010 when a rockfall caused a tunnel to collapse. Since then, the miners had remained trapped in a collapsed gold and copper mine for two months. The miners were hauled to the surface by a specially designed steel shaft known as “Phoenix” capsule through 2,050 feet of rock to the surface. While the mission of rescuing was completed, the Chilean government has gained enormous applauds from the world for their meticulous and systematic crisis management. Based on the Chile mine disaster, I would like to discuss some issues arising from the catastrophe in which it will be the nature of the crisis, the steps of crisis management, and the effectiveness of Chilean government on the crisis management.

First of all, I would like to talk about about the nature of crises. In order to manage a crisis, one must first understand that crises occur abruptly, it cannot be anticipated or forecasted, and/or it may not occur within an issue category. There are two crisis definitions mentioned in (Buchholtz & Carroll, 2009) that can help us to better understand what crisis means:

A crisis is a major, unpredictable event that has potentially negative results. The event and its aftermath may significantly damage an organization and its employees, products, services, financial condition, and reputation. (p. 213) 2

Another definition of crisis will be:

An organizational crisis is a low-probability, high-impact event that threaten the viability of the organization and is characterized by ambiguity of cause, effect, and means of resolution, as well as by a belief that decisions must be made swiftly. (p. 213)3 After understandin...

... middle of paper ...

...fs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999), 11.

3. Christine M. Pearson and Judith Clair, “Reframing Crisis Management,” Academy of Management Review (Vol. 23, No. 1, 1998), 60.

4. Fiona Govan, A. L. (2010, august 26). the telegraph. Retrieved april 13, 2011, from telegraph.co.uk: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/chile/7966590/Families-of-trapped-Chilean-miners-to-sue-mining-firm.htm

5. Bloomberg BusinessWeek. (2011, March 2). Retrieved april 13, 2011, from Businessweek: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9LN9H200.htm

6. Richard J. Mahoney, “The Anatomy of a Public Policy Crisis,” The CEO Series, Center for the study of American Business (May 1996), 7.

7. BARRIONUEVO, A., & ROMERO, S. (2010, october 12). New York Times. Retrieved april 11, 2011,from New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/world/americas/13chile.htm

8. Fink, 70.

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