by Sophia Opatska, Winni Johansen and Adam Gordon
This published paper investigates business crisis management in a conflict zone in wartime conditions. Interviews were held (in Ukranian) with owners and managers of 20 companies in different industries across the country.
Among the key findings were how war situations is a “cosmology episode” for which it is not possible to adequately prepare, and how managing crises changes when its end point is unknown. These factors stimulated emergent, adaptive crisis management capabilities characterized by improvisation and other forms of resilience. They also stimulated intention to more structured anticipatory and preparedness practices, as well as narratives of future renewal in communications with staff and stakeholders, which serve as guidepost and coping mechanism in uncertain times.
The research was a collaboration between the AU Unesco Chair in Anticipatory Leadership and Futures Capability; AU BSS crisis management faculty; and the Lviv School of Business, Ukraine, represented by Sophia Opatska. Opatska was a visiting researcher at Aarhus University in 2022.
The three authors also presented this work at an AUFF seminar https://aias.au.dk/events/rebuilding-of-ukraine in 2023.
Sophia Opatska, Winni Johansen, and Adam Gordon spoke at the AUFF-Ukraine Research Fellows conference hosted by the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS) on 28 March 2023.
UCU Business School in Lviv, Ukraine reports on the ongoing research: Organization future-orientation and preparedness for times of crisis
This study, in association with UCU Business School (Lviv, Ukraine), investigates organization future-orientation and leadership preparedness in the context of external shocks. It was presented at the ISC Strategy Conference. The research domain is Ukraine, 2022.