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 John E. Katsos, Jason Miklian and Patrick L. McClelland

November 17, 2021

The Big Idea Series / Preparing for the Era of Uncertainty

Summary.

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

Read more on Crisis management or related topics Business ethics and Social and global issues

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.

The Big Idea Series / Preparing for the Era of Uncertainty

Read more on Crisis management or related topics Business ethics and Social and global issues

Building a Culture That Can Withstand a Crisis

Summary.

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