This document provides guidance on crisis management to help organizations plan, establish, maintain, review and continually improve a strategic crisis management capability. This guidance can help any organization to identify and manage a crisis. Elements for consideration include:

—    context, core concepts, principles and challenges (see Clause 4);

—    developing an organization’s crisis management capability (see Clause 5);

—    crisis leadership (see Clause 6);

—    the decision-making challenges and complexities facing a crisis team in action (see Clause 7);

—    crisis communication (see Clause 8);

—    training, validation and learning from crises (see Clause 9).

It is applicable to top management with strategic responsibilities for the delivery of a crisis management capability in any organization. It can also be used by those who operate under the direction of top management.

This document acknowledges the relationship and interdependencies with various disciplines but is distinct from these topics.