Crisis: A Global Case Primer

What if the biggest threat to your business wasn’t economic downturn, competition, or disruption-but your own playbook?

In today’s polycrisis world-where pandemics, political instability, online outrage, and fractured supply chains collide-business as usual is a recipe for failure.  Responsible Management in Crisis breaks through the noise with gripping, real-world case studies of a dozen leaders who faced extraordinary pressure and made one defining choice: to lead with principle or retreat into safety.

From  Starbucks‘ failure in Sumatra to Unilever’s radical shift under Paul Polman, from refugee hiring at Chobani to a small-town brewery’s social media meltdown, this book doesn’t just tell stories-it rewrites the leadership manual. Each chapter is crafted for maximum relevance today, designed for MBA students, executives, entrepreneurs, and anyone tired of bland, boardroom-safe strategies that don’t hold up in the real world. Crisis gives you the tools to:

• Navigate public backlash without losing your soul-or your business.
• Engage meaningfully with fragile communities and polarized audiences.
• Make long-term decisions that survive short-term storms.
• Translate values into strategy in a way your balance sheet-and your team-can believe in.

Packed with teaching notes and MBA-aligned frameworks, this book bridges the classroom and the boardroom to teach you what to do when the storm hits.

If you want a business book that’s as principled as it is practical, as gritty as it is global-this belongs on your desk, in your syllabus, and in your strategy.

This is the essential guide for any business leader or entrepreneur needing a lodestar to navigate our complex, uncertain world. Through gripping first-hand accounts and showcasing tested empirical strategies, this book offers a proven framework that arms you with the skills to lead your organization successfully through the world’s toughest crises.

From the jungles of rebel-held coffee plantations in Colombia to the boardrooms of global corporate giants like  Tesla and Coca-Cola, Prof. Miklian and Prof. Katsos dissect the fabric of crisis management. Their two decades of research has been jointly nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and is presented here in one place for the first time. They reveal transformative insights through ten real-word cases — patterned on the world-leading Ivey business school case model — that will reshape the way you view business in high-stakes situations.

Crisis  dismantles conventional thinking, positioning crises as unique opportunities for growth and positive societal impact. With advice forged in the fires of real-life conflict zones and corporate upheavals, this book will guide you in:

Anticipating and managing challenges of socio-political strife.

Designing your business practices to weather any storm and seize emerging opportunities.

Redefining corporate responsibility to build a better society and a stronger, more resilient business.

Join the ranks of those who dare to lead when the stakes are at their peak.  Crisis inspires with stories of companies that have navigated through the chaos of conflict and will equip you with the strategies that have allowed them to emerge as architects of change and harbingers of peace.