Crisis management for sustainable development: Converting business crises into benefit

The prevalence of crises is a real phenomenon that demands proper planning and implementation of measures to preempt and curb its consequences on both national economies and business operations. Crisis is one of the concepts that cannot be overlooked, pervasive in nature, and does not necessarily denote negativity. Crisis is no longer an unusual, arbitrary, or minor characteristic of today's business environment. As far as the business environment continues to be volatile and unpredictable, it is unlikely that business organizations would be free from crises. Crises are noted to be a vital part of a business context and can serve as an avenue for positive change and creativity if the right tools and techniques are employed to properly manage them. On the other hand, crises can jeopardize the continued existence of the organization and obstruct the achievement of its goals. Thus, the debilitating ramifications of crises on business growth, survival and overall success calls for adoption of sustainable crisis management approaches in this new business world order that is framed by Industry 5.0, digitalization, and green business practices. The primary purpose of this article is to establish how modern crisis management methods could lead to sustainable organizational development. The current study departs from existing studies in the literature by systematically presenting methods to anticipate, solve, and transform business crises into advantage. The chapter also throws light on how organizations should manage business crises that may well be accelerated by Industry 5.0 and its components; digitalization and sustainable development.