Abstract
This qualitative chapter, which used a case study design, sought to examine whether the leadership theory of proposition modelling, respect, and motivation, MRM, could be used as a framework to guide a primary school through and out of the trauma it was experiencing. Organizational traumas are natural occurrences that affect large and small organizations. They can be triggered by several factors such as mergers, acquisitions, staff retrenchment, interpersonal dysfunctionalities, and drastic change. The research found that by focusing on building trust, pursuing community engagements, managing conflicts, and building capacity, the principal was able to help the school community overcome its trauma. The chapter concludes that an essential ingredient in effective management of organizational trauma is building and maintaining trust, and this strategy is aided by engagement of stakeholders, respecting the collective wisdom, and meaningful power-sharing.
TopIntroduction
Organizational crises are natural occurrences that reflect the dynamism of human behavior and its impact on organizational functioning, and the impact that external events can have on an organization. There is a strong position within the scientific literature on crisis management and intervention, which suggests that the constructs, crisis, and crisis management remain ill-defined (Bundy et al., 2017; Callahan, 1994; Deverell, 2012). Bundy et al., who propose what they describe as an integrative framework of crisis and crisis management, suggest that there are two primary perspectives in the literature, one focused on the internal dynamics of crisis and the other on external stakeholders. This assessment, by Bundy et al, is consistent with the approach of this study. This chapter seeks to examine how a school in Jamaica, whose relationship with stakeholders was impacted by a set of internal dynamics, applied an effective framework to contend with their reality to protect, preserve, and promote its mission and purpose.
The origins of the concept of crisis are in the fields of psychology and psychotherapy. Caplan (1961) is credited with what has become one of the widely accepted definitions of crisis, which states that a crisis occurs when a person is faced with obstacles which, for a time, threaten the attainment of important life goals and thus require extraordinary or unusual means and approaches to cope with or overcome them. Since Caplan’s widely accepted definition of crisis in 1961, the scientific literature on the construct has been expanded, with some of the most recent revisions adding the component of organizational healing, as seen in the works of Bhasin (2019) and Fontella (2020). Prior to these scholars, there were Venugopal (2016), Vivian and Hornman (2012), and De Klerk (2007), among others.
Bhasin (2019) defines organizational crises as occurrences that are destabilizing and dangerous to the health and well-being of a community, typically occur at short notice, and can further cause a sequence of unexpected events. Bhasin posits that there are eight types of organizational crises: technological, financial, crises of deception, confrontation, misdeeds, malice, violence, and crises of nature. According to Bhasin, crises of organizational misdeeds occur when the management of organizations makes decisions that are inimical to the interests of stakeholders and are of such a nature that they could cause reputational damage to the organization. Organizational crises, according to Fontella (2020), occur when a company has wronged its customers and damaged mutually beneficial relationships. These actions undermine trust and place the organization at a place of such brokenness that healing of the wounds becomes a condition for restoration, renewal, and advancement. This healing requires acknowledgment of the misdeeds committed and a commitment to repair the damage done. Both acts become preconditions for moving forward.
Fontella (2020) suggests that an organizational or business crisis has three key elements, and the latter is applicable to this study. It must pose an imminent threat, involve an element of shock or surprise, and place the organization under unusual or undue pressure and strain. Fontella identifies the following five types of organizational crises: financial, personnel, organizational, technological, and natural.
Venugopal (2016) offers a specific definition of organizational trauma which carries similar resonances. “Organizational trauma is a situation in which an individual is confronted with actual or threatened death, serious injuries or sexual violation, or exposed to death, injury, or suffering of other people within the same working environment.” (p. 65). This study utilizes aspects of the foregoing definitions in addressing the crisis at Fishlake Primary School.
Alongside Bundy’s classification of crises, it may be further posited, using Sigmund Freud’s and Erik Erikson’s categories of human experiences, that crises are developmental and life situational in nature (Cherry, 2019). Developmental crises arise from the normal passages of change which occur in the life of both humans and organizations. On the other hand, life situational crises arise when humans and organizations face unexpected events that exceed their initial coping capacity because their ‘weight’ is greater than their internal and accumulated resources (Golan, 1978).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Organizational Renewal: Organizational renewal is how an organization alters a downward trajectory and repurposes itself towards refocusing on its existing or new vision and purpose.
Capacity Building: Policies and activities specifically targeted at improving the skills, competencies, leadership efficiency, managerial impact, and overall improvement to an organization’s human resources.
Conflict Management: Strategies leaders utilize to improve relationships among employees, stakeholders, and their associates to promote actions that drive productivity and mitigate or eliminate those that reduce it—the process of mediating and mitigating fractious differences and disputes among persons.
Healing: Healing is the process of renewal and recovery where an individual or organization recovers from a state of brokenness resulting from the damaged trust, which occurs because of the misdeeds committed by others. It is also a psychological place of being committed to repair the damage done and move forward.
Motivation: Motivation is a form of energy needed for production and productivity, or a consciousness about the process and expected outcomes and their relationship to a bigger picture or more significant purpose.
Change: Change is a direction or set of decisions translated into actions that influence a difference in organizational operations, identity, and overall ethos.
Respect: Respect is an interpersonal facility that supports the creation and maintenance of positive and mutually supportive relationships in which people see each other for whom they are and are enabled to accommodate each other to fulfill their needs and aspirations.
Organizational Trauma: Organizational traumas are events that cause significant disruptions in organizations, which can have critical short-term or long-term adverse implications for the organization’s stability and effectiveness.
Engagement: A set of methods/techniques/strategies employers use to reach out to employees to earn their trust, establish their sense of worth that result in employees’ commitment to the workplace and improved organizational performance.
Modeling: Modeling has to do with leaders displaying behaviors they expect of others, so that others, both inside and outside the organization, can refer to this modeling as a guide towards shaping their conduct and understanding the things for which the organization stands and the values it holds dear.