A DETAILED STUDY ON CRISIS MANAGEMENT

CRISIS MANAGEMENT
PROJECT REPORT

Project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement of

South Asia University for the award of the degree of
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
2010

Submitted By

NAME : VIKASH GOVIND

ENROLMENT NO : SAA04M143ELBIHA3

Under the guidance of

Dr. DEVABHALAN,MTA,MPHIL AND PHD

SOUTH ASIA UNIVERSITY

LONDON

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 GEMS B SCHOOL
PONDICHERRY

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that project entitled “ A DETILED STUDY ON CRISIS

MANAGEMENT “ is submitted by VIKASH GOVIND
GEMS B SCHOOL, PONDICHERRY in partial fulfillment of the first
trimester requirement in Principles of Management for the award of the degree Master
of Business Administration and is certified to be an original and bonafide work.

PLACE : Guide Signature

DATE :

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am indebted to all powerful almighty God for all the blessings he showered on me
and for being with me throughout the study.

I also express with great pleasure and sincerity to record my thanks,

gratitude and honour to Mr. L. Alphonse Liguori-Managing Director, Mr. M.
Tamijuddin-Director academics, Mrs. V.Marudham-office assistant for their valuable
advice and for timely help concerning various aspects of project.

I place on record my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my project guide

Dr. E .DEVABALANE for his kind co-operation and guidance which enable me to
complete this project.
I take this opportunity to dedicate my project to our loving faculty
Dr. E.DEVABLANE who was a constant source of motivation and I express my deep
gratitude for his never ending support and encouragement during this project.
Finally I thank each and every one who helped me to complete this project.

DATE : VIKASH GOVIND

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This study aims at the studying in detailed THE CRISIS

MANAGEMENT. It also highlights the various types of crisis

management and different strategies of crisis management and

goes depth to the crisis management.

Accordingly the research design was prepared and adequate

literature survey was made. Secondary data was collected through the

internet and other sources. After the collection of secondary data analysis

was made to analysis the data.

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CHAPTERS TITLE PAGE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO CRISIS 6

MANAGEMENT

• NEED OF STUDY 10

• OBJECTIVES OF STUDY 12

• PERIOD OF STUDY 14

• RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 16

CHAPTER 2 TYPES OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT 18

CHAPTER 3 CRISIS LEADERSHIP 22

CHAPTER 4 CASE STUDIES 28

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 59

BIBLOGRAPHY 61

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 CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION TO CRISIS MANAGEMENT

1.1 NEED OF THE STUDY

1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1.3 PERIOD OF THE STUDY

1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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INTRODUCTION TO CRISIS MANAGEMENT

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INTRODUCTION TO CRISIS MANAGEMENT

What Is a Crisis?
In discussing the development of a Crisis Management Plan, one should start
by clarifying what a crisis is. For the purpose of this book, a "crisis" is an
unstable time for an organization, with a distinct possibility for an undesirable
outcome. This undesirable outcome could interfere with the normal
operations of the organization, it could damage the bottom line, it could
jeopardize the positive public image, or it could cause close media or
government scrutiny. Obviously, the full gamut of disasters comes to mind;
that is, fires, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, bombings, etc. In addition,
examples of a crisis can include when an organization experiences a product
failure, a product safety issue, product tampering, a product market-shift, an
incident that results in a poor image or negative reputation, an international
incident that negatively affects the organization, and a financial problem –
especially a fuzzy accounting problem. (Author Note: The "fuzzy accounting"
problem is difficult to prepare for because you will be working with the culprit
when developing the Crisis Management Team's plan.)
Keep in mind that crisis does not only mean danger. It also means an
opportunity.

Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a

major unpredictable event that threatens to harm the organization, its
stakeholders, or the general public. Three elements are common to most
definitions of crisis: (a) a threat to the organization, (b) the element of
surprise, and (c) a short decision time. Venette] argues that "crisis is a process
of transformation where the old system can no longer be maintained."
Therefore the fourth defining quality is the need for change. If change is not
needed, the event could more accurately be described as a failure or incident.

In contrast to risk management, which involves assessing potential threats and

finding the best ways to avoid those threats, crisis management involves
dealing with threats after they have occurred.
8 It is a discipline within the
broader context of management consisting of skills and techniques required to
identify, assess, understand, and cope with a serious situation, especially from
the moment it first occurs to the point that recovery procedures start.

Crisis management consists of:

• Methods used to respond to both the reality and perception of crises.

• Establishing metrics to define what scenarios constitute a crisis and
should consequently trigger the necessary response mechanisms.
• Communication that occurs within the response phase of emergency
management scenarios.

Crisis management methods of a business or an organization are called Crisis

Management Plan.

Crisis management is occasionally referred to as incident management,

although several industry specialists such as Peter Power argue that the term
crisis management is more accurate.

The credibility and reputation of organizations is heavily influenced by the

perception of their responses during crisis situations. The organization and
communication involved in responding to a crisis in a timely fashion makes
for a challenge in businesses. There must be open and consistent
communication throughout the hierarchy to contribute to a successful crisis
communication process.

The related terms emergency management and business continuity

management focus respectively on the prompt but short lived "first aid" type
of response (e.g. putting the fire out) and the longer term recovery and
restoration phases (e.g. moving operations to another site). Crisis is also a
facet of risk management, although it is probably untrue to say that Crisis
Management represents a failure of Risk Management since it will never be
possible to totally mitigate the chances of catastrophes occurring.

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NEED OF THE STUDY

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 NEED OF THE STUDY

The crisis is exploding at a very fast pace

In this connection the study of crisis management and its operation
according to different strategies and crisis management leadership is
a useful study.

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

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 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study are as follows:

• To find out the work of crisis management

• To understand the crisis management
• To analysis the various types of crisis management
• To study the various types of crisis leadership
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PERIOD OF THE STUDY

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 PERIOD OF THE STUDY

The period of study is limited for a span of three months.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology for this project is a very important aspect.

Secondary data has been collected and the data has been compiled for any
research to understand the work of crisis management.

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 CHAPTER 2

TYPES OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT

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2- TYPES OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT
During the crisis management process, it is important to identify types of
crises in that different crises necessitate the use of different crisis management
strategies.Potential crises are enormous, but crises can be clustered.

Lerbinger categorized seven types of crises

1. Natural disaster
2. Technological crises
3. Confrontation
4. Malevolence
5. Crisis of skewed management value
6. Crisis of deception
7. Crisis of management misconduct

Natural crises

Natural crises, typically natural disasters considered as'acts of God,' are such
environmental phenomena as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes and
hurricanes, floods, landslides, tidal waves, storms, and droughts that threaten
life, property, and the environment itself.[4][5]

Example: 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake (Tsunami)

Technological crises

Technological crises are caused by human application of science and

technology. Technological accidents inevitably occur when technology
becomes complex and coupled and something goes wrong in the system as a
whole (Technological breakdowns). Some technological crises occur when
human error causes disruptions (Human breakdowns). People tend to assign
blame for a technological disaster because technology is subject to human
manipulation whereas they do not hold anyone responsible for natural
disaster. When an accident creates significant environmental damage, the
crisis is categorized as megadamage. Samples include software failures,
industrial accidents, and oil spills.
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 Examples: Chernobyl disaster, Exxon Valdez oil spill

Confrontation crises

Confrontation crises occur when discontented individuals and/or groups fight

businesses, government, and various interest groups to win acceptance of their
demands and expectations. The common type of confrontation crises is
boycotts, and other types are picketing, sit-ins, ultimatums to those in
authority, blockade or occupation of buildings, and resisting or disobeying
police.

Example: Rainbow/PUSH’s (People United to Serve Humanity)

boycott of Nike

Crises of malevolence

An organization faces a crisis of malevolence when opponents or miscreant

individuals use criminal means or other extreme tactics for the purpose of
expressing hostility or anger toward, or seeking gain from, a company,
country, or economic system, perhaps with the aim of destabilizing or
destroying it. Sample crises include product tampering, kidnapping, malicious
rumors, terrorism, and espionage.

Example: 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders

Crises of organizational misdeeds

Crises occur when management takes actions it knows will harm or place
stakeholders at risk for harm without adequate precautions. Lerbinger
specified three different types of crises of organizational misdeeds: crises of
skewed management values, crises of deception, and crises of management
misconduct.

Crises of skewed management values

Crises of skewed management values are caused when managers favor short-
term economic gain and neglect broader social values and stakeholders other
than investors. This state of lopsided values is rooted in the classical business
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creed that focuses on the interests of stockholders and tends to view the
interests of its other stakeholders such as customers, employees, and the
community.

Example: Sears sacrifices customer trust

Crises of deception

Crises of deception occur when management conceals or misrepresents

information about itself and its products in its dealing with consumers and
others.

Example: Dow Corning’s silicone-gel breast implant

Crises of management misconduct

Some crises are caused not only by skewed values and deception but
deliberate amorality and illegality.

Example: Martha Stewart fraud case

Workplace violence

Crises occur when an employee or former employee commits violence against

other employees on organizational grounds.

Example: DuPont’s Lycra

Rumors

False information about an organization or its products creates crises hurting

the organization’s reputation. Sample is linking the organization to radical
groups or stories that their products are contaminated.

Example: Procter & Gamble's Logo controversy

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 CHAPTER 3

CRISIS LEADERSHIP

Crisis Leadership
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Erika Hayes James, an organizational psychologist at the University of
Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business, identifies two primary types
of organizational crisis. James defines organizational crisis as “any
emotionally charged situation that, once it becomes public, invites negative
stakeholder reaction and thereby has the potential to threaten the financial
well-being, reputation, or survival of the firm or some portion thereof.”

1. Sudden crisis
2. Smoldering crises

Sudden crises

Sudden crises are circumstances that occur without warning and beyond an
institution’s control. Consequently, sudden crises are most often situations for
which the institution and its leadership are not blamed.

Smoldering crises

Smoldering crises differ from sudden crises in that they begin as minor
internal issues that, due to manager’s negligence, develop to crisis status.
These are situations when leaders are blamed for the crisis and its subsequent
effect on the institution in question.

James categorizes five phases of crisis that require specific crisis leadership
competencies. Each phase contains an obstacle that a leader must overcome
to improve the structure and operations of an organization. James’s case study
on crisis in the financial services sector, for example, explores why crisis
events erode public trust in leadership. James's research demonstrates how
leadership competencies of integrity, positive intent, capability, mutual
respect, and transparency impact the trust-building process.

1. Signal detection
2. Preparation and prevention
3. Containment and damage control
4. Business recovery
5. Learning

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Signal detection

Signal detection is the stage in a crisis in which leaders should, but do not
always, sense early warning signals (red flags) that suggest the possibility of a
crisis. The detection stages of a crisis include: Sense-making: represents an
attempt to create order and make sense, retrospectively, of what occurs.
Perspective-taking: the ability to consider another person's or group's point of
view.

Preparation and prevention

It is during this stage that crisis handlers begin preparing for or averting the
crisis that had been foreshadowed in the signal detection stage. Organizations
such as the Red Cross's primary mission is to prepare for and prevent the
escalation of crisis events. Walmart has been described as an emergency relief
standard bearer after having witnessed the incredibly speedy and well-
coordinated effort to get supplies to the Gulf Coast of the United States in
anticipation of Hurricane Katrina.

Containment and damage control

Usually the most vivid stage, the goal of crisis containment and damage
control is to limit the reputational, financial, safety, and other threats to firm
survival. Crisis handlers work diligently during this stage to bring the crisis to
an end as quickly as possible to limit the negative publicity to the
organization, and move into the business recovery phase.

Business recovery

When crisis hits, organizations must be able to carry on with their business in
the midst of the crisis while simultaneously planning for how they will
recover from the damage the crisis caused. Crisis handlers not only must
engage in continuity planning (determining the people, financial, and
technology resources needed to keep the organization running), but will also
actively pursue organizational resilience.

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 Learning
In the wake of a crisis, organizational decision makers adopt a learning
orientation and use prior experience to develop new routines and behaviors
that ultimately change the way the organization operates. The best leaders
recognize this and are purposeful and skillful in finding the learning
opportunities inherent in every crisis situation.

Crisis management - a leadership challenge

Crisis management of late has become an important component of managing the
business. In the current day situation no business is immune to crisis. Crisis may hit an
organization in the shape of terrorist attack, industrial accidents, product recall or
natural calamity. Crisis management is closely linked to public relations where
company’s image and pride are at stake.
Leadership framework for crisis management
A leader must institutionalize the process of crisis management to anticipate, prepare
and mitigate an

impending crisis. To ensure an effective crisis management mechanism leadership

support and involvement is absolutely essential.

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First step in doing so starts with leader setting the tone by clarifying the goals and
purpose of crisis management plan, which essentially are based on the philosophy and
values of the organization. Leadership should help his top management team draft the
crisis management policy, which provides definitions for generally used terms and
identifies different levels of crisis in the organization. This demonstrates leadership’s
commitment and promotes an enabling environment.

Second step in the process is to identify a core crisis management team, for identifying
all possible crises that the company or any of its units may face and develop, plans,
roles and responsibility for preparing and mitigating each of the crises. The role of
leadership at this stage is empowering the core team for studying and analyzing crisis
by various attributes such as industry, location, process, marketplace pressures etc.

Next step for leadership is to ensure effective and elaborate communication strategy
and infrastructure even in the case of crisis / emergency / disaster, so that timely and
consistent communication with internal and external stakeholders / partners is
maintained at all times.

Establishing partnerships with external agencies is one of the critical leadership roles so
that relevant knowledge and physical resources are available to the organization in
times of crisis.

Also the leaders at appropriate levels should ensure that training pertaining to crisis
management is imparted to the people and organizational preparedness for facing the
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crisis is checked time to time through properly designed mock drills.

Crisis resolution - the ultimate test

This generally is not sufficient, as usually crises are characterized by that dreaded
element called surprise, so a strong emphasis on crisis resolution is part of crisis
management. While no plan may manage a crisis but a practical plan and general
preparedness may go a long way in resolving any crisis that may arise.

Meticulously designed crisis management plans might have been crafted and laborious
drills might have been conducted to ascertain high levels of general preparedness, but
that one critical decision which defines the organizational response and gives crisis
resolution a specific direction and that affects the outcome and perception of
stakeholders and general public in the big way depends on the values instilled by the
leader over the years.

It is organizational values and leader’s belief that determine the organizational response
to crisis on hand. Actions emanating from common understanding of organizational
values have everyone in the company wedded to the cause. It is through such response
and follow-up that the company and the leader emerge from the crisis with enhanced
image and reputation.
Classic case cited for organizational response and successful crisis management is how
Johnson & Johnson handled Tylenol crisis in early eighties. James Bruke, the then
CEO, led his team based on the direction provided by the J&J credo which places the
company’s responsibility to customers above that of towards other stakeholders such as
employees and shareholders.

Through all the preparedness leaders clarify "how and what to do". But when
confronted with crisis, leadership is about “how to be” rather than “how and what to
do”.

The challenge of a crisis is an ultimate test of leader’s character.

A trigger for change
Anticipating crisis is a matter of strategic planning and risk management, but each crisis
that manifests itself, must be dealt with adeptly by leaders, who also must consolidate
the lessons learnt and communicate the same to the people as organizational learning
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and thus drive sense for initiating change in the organization.

The figure above shows how the cycle of identifying crises, managing them, and more
importantly extracting learning from the act of managing the crisis and communicating
the learning as a trgger for initiating a change programme to overcome the vulnerability
of the organization can take the organization to higher orbit of maturity and
performance.

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 CHAPTER 4

CASE STUDIES

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 EXAMPLES OF SUCESSFUL CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Tylenol (Johnson and Johnson)

In the fall of 1982, a murderer added 65 milligrams of cyanide to some
Tylenol capsules on store shelves, killing seven people, including three in one
family. Johnson & Johnson recalled and destroyed 31 million capsules at a
cost of $100 million. The affable CEO, James Burke, appeared in television
ads and at news conferences informing consumers of the company's actions.
Tamper-resistant packaging was rapidly introduced, and Tylenol sales swiftly
bounced back to near pre-crisis levels.

Johnson & Johnson was again struck by a similar crisis in 1986 when a New
York woman died on Feb. 8 after taking cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules.
Johnson & Johnson was ready. Responding swiftly and smoothly to the new
crisis, it immediately and indefinitely canceled all television commercials for
Tylenol, established a toll-free telephone hot-line to answer consumer
questions and offered refunds or exchanges to customers who had purchased
Tylenol capsules. At week's end, when another bottle of tainted Tylenol was
discovered in a store, it took only a matter of minutes for the manufacturer to
issue a nationwide warning that people should not use the medication in its
capsule form.

Odwalla Foods
When Odwalla's apple juice was thought to be the cause of an outbreak of E.
coli infection, the company lost a third of its market value. In October 1996,
an outbreak of E. coli bacteria in Washington state, California, Colorado and
British Columbia was traced to unpasteurized apple juice manufactured by
natural juice maker Odwalla Inc. Forty-nine cases were reported, including
the death of a small child. Within 24 hours, Odwalla conferred with the FDA
and Washington state health officials; established a schedule of daily press
briefings; sent out press releases which announced the recall; expressed
remorse, concern and apology, and took responsibility for anyone harmed by
their products; detailed symptoms of E. 3 coli poisoning; and explained what
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consumers should do with any affected products. Odwalla then developed -
through the help of consultants - effective thermal processes that would not
harm the products' flavors when production resumed. All of these steps were
communicated through close relations with the media and through full-page
newspaper ads.

Mattel
Mattel Inc., the toy maker, has been plagued with more than 28 product
recalls and in Summer of 2007, amongst problems with exports from China,
faced two product recall in two weeks. The company "did everything it could
to get its message out, earning high marks from consumers and retailers.
Though upset by the situation, they were appreciative of the company's
response. At Mattel, just after the 7 a.m. recall announcement by federal
officials, a public relations staff of 16 was set to call reporters at the 40
biggest media outlets. They told each to check their e-mail for a news release
outlining the recalls, invited them to a teleconference call with executives and
scheduled TV appearances or phone conversations with Mattel's chief
executive. The Mattel CEO Robert Eckert did 14 TV interviews on a Tuesday
in August and about 20 calls with individual reporters. By the week's end,
Mattel had responded to more than 300 media inquiries in the U.S. alone.

Pepsi
The Pepsi Corporation faced a crisis in 1993 which started with claims of
syringes being found in cans of diet Pepsi. Pepsi urged stores not to remove
the product from shelves while it had the cans and the situation investigated.
This led to an arrest, which Pepsi made public and then followed with their
first video news release, showing the production process to demonstrate that
such tampering was impossible within their factories. A second video news
release displayed the man arrested. A third video news release showed
surveillance from a convenience store where a woman was caught replicating
the tampering incident. The company simultaneously publicly worked with
the FDA during the crisis. The corporation was completely open with the
public throughout, and every employee of Pepsi was kept aware of the details.
This made public communications effective throughout the crisis. After the
crisis had been resolved, the corporation
3 ran a series of special campaigns
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designed to thank the public for standing by the corporation, along with
coupons for further compensation. This case served as a design for how to
handle other crisis situations.

EXAMPLES OF UNSUCESSFUL CRISISMANAGEMENT

Bhopal
The Bhopal disaster in which poor communication before, during, and after
the crisis cost thousands of lives, illustrates the importance of incorporating
cross-cultural communication in crisis management plans. According to
American University’s Trade Environmental Database Case Studies (1997),
local residents were not sure how to react to warnings of potential threats
from the Union Carbide plant. Operating manuals printed only in English is
an extreme example of mismanagement but indicative of systemic barriers to
information diffusion. According to Union Carbide’s own chronology of the
incident (2006), a day after the crisis Union Carbide’s upper management
arrived in India but was unable to assist in the relief efforts because they were
placed under house arrest by the Indian government. Symbolic intervention
can be counter productive; a crisis management strategy can help upper
management make more calculated decisions in how they should respond to
disaster scenarios. The Bhopal incident illustrates the difficulty in consistently
applying management standards to multi-national operations and the blame
shifting that often results from the lack of a clear management plan.

Ford and Firestone Tire and Rubber Company

The Ford-Firestone Tire and Rubber Company dispute transpired in August
2000. In response to claims that their 15-inch
3 Wilderness AT, radial ATX and
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ATX II tire treads were separating from the tire core—leading to grisly,
spectacular crashes—Bridgestone/Firestone recalled 6.5 million tires. These
tires were mostly used on the Ford Explorer, the world's top-selling sport
utility vehicle (SUV).

The two companies’ committed three major blunders early on, say crisis
experts. First, they blamed consumers for not inflating their tires properly.
Then they blamed each other for faulty tires and faulty vehicle design. Then
they said very little about what they were doing to solve a problem that had
caused more than 100 deaths—until they got called to Washington to testify
before Congress.

Exxon
On March 24, 1989, a tanker belonging to the Exxon Corporation ran aground
in the Prince William Sound in Alaska. The Exxon Valdez spilled millions of
gallons of crude oil into the waters off Valdez, killing thousands of fish, fowl,
and sea otters. Hundreds of miles of coastline were polluted and salmon
spawning runs disrupted; numerous fishermen, especially Native Americans,
lost their livelihoods. Exxon, by contrast, did not react quickly in terms of
dealing with the media and the public; the CEO, Lawrence Rawl, did not
become an active part of the public relations effort and actually shunned
public involvement; the company had neither a communication plan nor a
communication team in place to handle the event—in fact, the company did
not appoint a public relations manager to its management team until 1993, 4
years after the incident; Exxon established its media center in Valdez, a
location too small and too remote to handle the onslaught of media attention;
and the company acted defensively in its response to its publics, even laying
blame, at times, on other groups such as the Coast Guard. These responses
also happened within days of the incident.

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 Government of India
Ministry of Agricultu re
(Department of Agriculture &
Cooperation)
Drought Management Division

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Periodicity of occurrence of Drought in various parts of the country.

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1. Evolving a CMP….
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 Crisis Management Plan refers to the actionable programme,
which is pressed into action in the event of a crisis situation to
minimise damages to life, property and environment.

Being prepared to respond to a Crisis situation, helps in reducing

the time taken to mobilize resources for an effective response. It also
helps us to maintain cordial relations among stakeholders, enabling us
to return to normal business operations more quickly. The goal of
crisis management is to facilitate over all management of the crisis
situation to minimize adverse impact on the community at
large, maintaining individual and sovereign credibility, and
controlling and strengthening the Government’s credibility with the
public.

CMP helps us to develop preventive measures in a time framed

manner and provides for continuous improvement in managing crisis
situation. CMP ensures factual and timely communication of what
needs to be done under a specific circumstance to all the stake holders
to minimise the losses.

The crisis recovery model based upon past experiences, on

identified priorities and trigger-points with appropriate response matrix
viz. contingency

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action plans of different agencies could be known as Crisis
Management Plan (CMP). The identified priorities of CMP is to clarify
the goals and in defining the roles and responsibilities of various
responders (Ministries / Departments, Organisations and individuals)
involved in crisis management, and putting together a
communication process for quickly notifying the Public in the event of a
crisis.

The Plan outlined in this document does not replace the

emergency procedures or contingency action plans already drawn by
different agencies, but has been developed to address crisis that have
the potential for a much greater impact on the Nation. Despite the
fact that care has been taken to include all aspects of crisis
management in the document, it cannot be negated that still there
may be occasions when an entirely new and unforeseen crisis
situation could arise during the same type of crisis. Thus, it is
necessary that the team of officers included in the Crisis Management
Group (CMG) evolve a strategy to handle such unforeseen situations
which can later be included as a part of the
CMP as a continuing
process.

This Crisis Management Plan (CMP) is part of overall

spectrum of
Drought Management Plan but is restricted to the
management interventions required during the time of Crisis.

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


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2. Drought – a Crisis

Generally, drought is not considered as a crisis of urgent

nature but considered as a management issue.
Drought is a natural, recurring
climatic feature which stems from the lack of rainfall over an extended
period of time (i.e. a season or several years resulting in severe
shortage of water resources). It occurs almost in all climatic
regions of the world. Drought is a normal phenomenon in arid
zone areas, a common phenomenon in semi- arid zone areas and a
rare to very rare phenomenon in dry humid and humid areas. It is
a natural disaster, which can be anticipated and also expected on
the basis of rainfall pattern, temperature etc. In a large country like
India having many agro- climatic zones, though drought cannot be
prevented totally, its impact on the community at large can be
minimized. The documents on drought management during droughts of
1987 and 2002 are testimony to this fact.

Drought connotes a situation of water shortage for human,

cattle and agriculture consumption resulting in economic losses,
primarily in agriculture sector. Drought is classified as
Meteorological, Hydrological and Agricultural. Unlike the
Hydrological and Agricultural droughts, the Meteorological
Drought, which connotes specific rainfall reduction below -19%
of normal rainfall, may not necessarily have any serious impact if
the departure from normal is not significant and the rainfall is
sufficient enough to sustain the soil
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 In India, drought essentially occurs due to failure of south-west
monsoon (June – September). Areas affected by drought needs to
wait till the
next monsoon, as more than 73% of annual rainfall in the country is
received during the SW Monsoon season.

The available data on rainfall indicate on drought perspective

that –

 16% of the Country’s total area is drought prone and annually

about
50 million people in the country are exposed to the crisis of
drought;
 A total of 68% of sown area is subject to drought in varying
degrees;
 35% of area receives rainfall between 750-mm - 1125-mm
and is
drought prone;
 Most of drought prone areas lie in the arid (19.6%), semi-
arid(37%) and sub-humid(21%) areas of the country that
occupy 77.6% of its total land area of 329 million hectares.
 Annual Average Rainfall is 1160 mm in India. However,
85% is concentrated in 100-120 days (SW Monsoon)
 33%of area receives less than 750-mm rainfall and is
chronically
drought prone;
 21% area receives less than 750 mm rainfall (large area of
Peninsular and Rajasthan)
 Rainfall is erratic in 4 out4of 10 years.
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 Irrigation Potential is 140 Million Ha (76 MHa Surface + 64
MHa
Groundwater)

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  Depletion of Ground water and limitation of surface water
imply that not all net sown area is amenable to irrigation.
 Per Capita Water availability is steadily declining due to
increase in population, rapid industrialization, urbanization,
cropping intensity and declining ground water level. Problems
are likely to aggravate.
 Net Result – Inevitability of Drought in Some Part or
Other.

The mechanism for anticipating and managing droughts

necessarily differs from similar arrangements concerning other
disasters, natural calamities (like earthquakes, floods, cloudbursts,
tsunami etc) or man-made disasters, for the following reasons:

(i) Slow onset and prolonged course of droughts as against

the other disasters, which have rapid onset, and a limited
duration; and
(ii) Early warning indicators in case of droughts are
necessarily ambiguous because they may or may not
culminate in a full-blown drought.

The Government of India in 2002 decided to retain the

issue of management of drought with the Department of Agriculture
and Cooperation when it was decided to transfer the management of
all other type of natural and man-made disasters with the Ministry of
Home Affairs. Unlike other natural disasters its onset is slow but has a
very serious impact on the economy due to its intensity and longer
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duration over a period of time.

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4
State Government’s primary responsibil ity:

The primary responsibility of managing drought (or any other

natural disasters) is of the respective State Governments. The
role of the Central Government is to supplement the efforts of the
State Government in effective management of disasters and
provide additional resources (food grains / financial assistance etc.)
to combat the situation.

The risk management plan having early warning indicators in

case of drought are ambiguous, as they may or may not culminate
into a full-blown drought. In such situations the relief based
management approach has to be launched to contain the impact of
drought. Thus, it is to be understood that besides having a general
risk management plan for handling drought with long- term and short-
term approaches, we need to have a Crisis Management Plan (CMP)
to deal with drought situation by the Central Government and the
State Governments to minimize its impact.

Early indicators of Droughts…

The following constitute ‘early warning indicators’:

For Kharif (sowing June to August)

i) Delay in onset of South-West Monsoon.
ii) Long ‘break’ activity of South-West
Monsoon. iii) Insufficient rains during the
month of July. 4
5
 iv) Rise in Price of fodder.
v) Absence of rising trend in Reservoir Levels.
vi) Drying up sources of Rural Drinking Water Supply.
vii) Declining trend in progress of sowing over successive
weeks compared to corresponding figures for “normal years”.

For Rabi (sowing November to January)

i) Deficiency in closing figures for South-West Monsoon (30th
September).
ii) Serious depletion in level of Ground Water compared to figures
for
“normal years’.
iii) Fall in the level of Reservoirs compared to figures of the
corresponding period in the ‘normal years’ – indication of
poor recharge following SW Monsoon.
iv) Indication of marked soil moisture
stress. v) Rise in price of fodder.
vi) Increased deployment of water through tankers
(For Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry the crucial period is North
East Monsoon – October to December)

Other Seasons
For areas like Gujarat, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada and
North Interior Karnataka the crucial period is March / April when
due to chronic hydrological drought, many areas develop acute scarcity
of Drinking Water.

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6
 For specific states and particular crops there are particular times
in a year when progress of rains is of special significance e.g. February
rains in Kerala for plantation crops.

3. Crisis Management Framework

It is the framework of crisis analysis aimed at
identification of fundamental aspects of Crisis situation (Phases of
crisis, magnitude, outcome of crisis (impact), trigger mechanism and
strategic response matrix).

Level Phases Vulnerabilit Outcom Identifie Strategic Response

of y e d Matrix
Crisi Magnitud of Trigge /
s e the r Action
1. (area
Zero Crisi
Nil mechanis
Nil  Developing and
. Strengthening
Normal

drought
(Rainfall is preparedness
above +19%  assessing food and
to - water
19%
cumulatively
requirements
for
and resources,
more than 4
weeks  constant

monitoring drought-
period
related
through out characteristics
the  Drawing up of
season )

4
7
2. 1- Incipien CAP (Crop  Preparation of updated
2 t.
Forecast of (Sudde CAP Contingency Crop Plan and
late n its
onset of (Water propagation through
acceleration ) effective
monsoon of CAP agro-advisory services
demand
coupled with of (Health  Propagation of short-term
employ- )
continuing ment. water conservation
water crisis ) measures,
and water-
heat wave. budgeting,
(Apr -  Proper health advisories
Jun) and ensuring
(Rainfall availability of
forecast emergency medical
is services
expected  Continuation of ongoing
to be less alternative
than the employment
normal generation programmes in
rainfall and drought affected / prone
below - areas, through NREGA as
19% and a part of supplementary
the deficit employment
Aler

continues and as a social safety

net support under NREGA
t

for more  Monitoring over

than 2-3 exploitation of ground
weeks & water for non-
Soil agricultural and non-
moisture drinking purposes
level is (i.e. industrial /
unsustainab commercial /
le) entertainment purposes)
Advisory
Note:
(The ULBs may be
directed to
control the extraction of
water)
 Energising the
Identified
alternative sources for
4 the requirement of
8
 water, food, fodder and
power.
 Meeting of Crisis
Management Group (CMG)
to review and revitalise
the role of concerned
machineries.

4
9
3. 3- Moderat CAP  Effective role of Extension
4 e (Crop) machinery and realising
Delayed CAP the
onset of (Water) objectives of Contingency
monsoon. CAP Crop
Deficit (Health Plan.
Rainfall for ) CAP  Operationalising short-
more than (Food
two weeks. term
& PD)
Acute water conservation
measures
water crisis. by municipal and
district agencies,
(May – water-budgeting by
Mid irrigation and Drinking
July) Water Department.
Advisory
(Rainfall is Note:
less than Identify alternative sources
the when
normal the town is in “Warning”
rainfall and period
below and the supply of water
- may be
19% and restricted to 70 lpcd
the deficit instead of 135
continuesfor lpcd
more than  Judicial use of drinking
3 – water (restricted supply of
6 weeks & water for basic
Soil requirement and
moisture, alternative non-potable
GW water for other purposes)
& SW level  Meeting of CMG to review
is the action initiated by
lower line
Departments and affected
State Governments and
than taking
previo decision for movement of
us water and fodder from
4. 5- Severe CAP  Referring the issue to
7 (Crop) NCMC
Deficit or CAP for taking up with Cabinet
No rainfall (Water) for
during the CAP taking certain vital
(Cattle decisions like deferment /
sowing Care) rescheduling
period. Mid- CAP /fresh loan, movement of
season (Health) water and fodder through
withdrawal CAP railways, additional
of monsoon. (EGP) allocation of food grains,
Dry spell for CAP establishing
more than 4 (Food cattle camps,
weeks. Deficit & PD) alternative employment
rainfall in the generation
range of - programmes,
20% to -40%. enhancing PDS
Wilting of allocations, import
Crops due of food grains to meet the
to shortage gap between demand and
of supply, checking up of
water and inflation etc.
continuing Advisory
heat wave Note:
conditions. In the ‘Emergency’ period,
(JUL –SEP) water
may be supplied at 40
(Rainfall is lpcd and
less than non-potable water
the may be
normal supplemented for
rainfall and other uses.
below
 Early release of
-
instalments under CRF and
25% and
ensuring that the State
the deficit
Governments utilise it for
continue for
initial emergency measures.
more than
– 6 weeks  Enabling employment
& Soil under NREGA as a
moisture, part of
GW & supplementary
SW employment and
5 7- Extreme CAP  Decision by Cabinet for
10 (Water) Constitution of
Acute (Potential Disaster)
(FULLY CAP
Early BLOWN
GoM / Task Force under the
withdrawal DROUGHT) (Cattle chairmanship of a Union
Care) Minister of Cabinet rank to take
of monsoon. CAP decisions during acute crisis
Midseason (Social  Monitoring of drought affected
withdrawal.. Sector) States individually by each
Severe CAP designated area officer in
deficit of (Energy the Department
cumulative Sector) about ongoing relief
annual CAP measures.
rainfall. (Health)  Weekly CMG meeting and
Severe soil CAP monitoring the progress of
moisture (Food drought relief measures
deficit. & PD)  Review of visit by Area Officers to
No CAP the deficit rainfall States.
(Labou  Strict Water conservation
rainfall for r measures and monitoring the
more than & release of canal water for
4-6 weeks irrigation
Emplo
in sown  Constitution of Central Team to
y
visit to drought declared States.
ment)
 Assessment of damages and
area,
estimation of losses for release
resulting
of funds from NCCF
in
 Special assistance to farmers /
crop
damage dairy /
Severe poultry / fishery
shortage sector
in  Enabling employment under
availability NREGA
of GW and as a part of
SW. supplementary
(JUL–OCT) employment and as a social
(Rainfall is safety net support
less than  Revitalising the ongoing
the normal programmes for vulnerable
rainfall and sections of society
below -  Preventive measures for loss of
25% and human
the deficit /cattle life on account of
continue
potential
6 >10- Mitigate CAP (Water)  Rescheduling of farm loans
0 d CAP  Early release of input
Recovery (Post Disaster)
subsidy
(OCT–JUN) (Cattle Care)  Payment of losses in time to
CAP (Energy the beneficiaries i.e. agri-
Normal Sector) insurance, NCCF / CRF
rainfall in CAP (Health) benefits etc.
Rabi and CAP  Adequate availability of
(Employment seeds for sowing in next
subsequen
Guarantee season
t seasons.
Programmes)  Monitoring of the
Easing of ongoing relief
CAP (Food
soil measures and
& PD)
moisture CAP (Labour taking necessary course
stress & correction
situation Employment)  Simultaneous
Farming documentation
/Rural  Monitoring of the climate
communit and ensuring
y’s
livelihood alternative arrangements
requireme against relapse of the
drought.
nts
Returning
 CAP – Contingency Action
Plan

Note: Contingency Action Plans (SOP) (in respect of Crop, Water,

Cattle Care, Health, Energy Sector, Food and livelihood Security) – (To be
prepared by concerned Central Government Ministries / Departments)
Specific Attention to Water User Groups:

Water User Groups Potential Actions

Public Water Suppliers
Municipal Waste Discharges
Agriculture
Industry (Infrastructure, Food
processing including beverages,
others(heavy industry, mining)
Power Production (Hydro electric)
Recreation (Parks, fountains etc.)
 Leak Repair
 Non-Essential Water use restrictions
 Pressure Reduction
 Voluntary Water Conservation
 Mandatory Water Conservation
 Emergency Source Enhancement
 Interconnection
 Major User Restriction
 Emergency Rate Structures
 Source Blending

4. Strategic Activity Planner

Activity Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May
DROUGHT PREPAREDNESS
Reviewing CMP
Monitoring
Rainfall
Temperature
Surface water
Normal Area Vs
level
Sown area
Assessment
Drinking water
availability
Irrigation water
availability
Soil Moisture
Fodder availability
Food grains
availability
Energy
Sector
requirement
Inputs and Seed
availability
Water Conservation measures
Check dams /
Water sheds
Activity Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May
Rain Water
Harvesting
Ground Water
Recharge
Protection of
aquatic resources
for aquaculture
DROUGHT REPORTING
Early Warning System (EWS)
Forecast of
Contingency
Cropping
Forecast of Crop
Loss
Forecast of Water
Deficiency
Forecast of Food
insecurity
Forecast of
Cattle feed
deficit
Declaration of
Drought
Estimation
Unsown area
Crop Loss due
to drought
Potential
Water deficit
For
irrigation
For drinking
Fodder
requirement,
availability,
additional
demand
Loss to AH/
Fisheries
Loss to Energy
Sector (fuel and
hydroelectricity)
Activity Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May
DROUGHT
Propagation of
Forecast through
Extension
Services
Propagation of
contingency
cropping
Promotion of agro
forestry
Issue of Agro
advisories
Issue of General
advisories
CRF release
Alternative
employment
Food Security to
vulnerable
Sections
Food grain
requirement of
farming
community
Processing of
request for
additional
financial
Water and Fodder
movement
Energy
Sector
requirement
(Import /
Indigenous
procurement from
outside
Cattle &the State)
animal
welfare (Vet.)
Cattle camp
Encouraging of
community
welfare
organizations for
mitigation efforts
and monitoring of
5. Agencies responsible for Identified Activities
Activity Primary Secondar Tertiary
Reviewing CMP y
Monitoring DAC MHA / NDMA NCMC
Rainfall IMD State Dept. of Agriculture
s and
Temperature IMD State DAC
Surface water level IMD s
State DAC
Ground Water level IMD s
State DAC
Monitoring of Drought s
State DAC
Agricultural Drought Research s
Unit,
IMD Pune /
Assessment
Drinking water State DWS & DAC
availability s MoWR (CGWB)
Irrigation State MoWR DAC
water s
availability
Soil Moisture State NRSA / IMD / DAC
s MoWR
(Irrigation
Fodder, cattle feed and State DoWing)
AH&D DAC
poultry feed availability s
Food grains availability State D/o F&PD DAC
Energy Sector s
State M/o Power / DAC
requirement s PNG
Inputs and Seed State
availability s DAC (Seeds
& NRM
Water Conservation Div)
measures
Check dams / State DAC / RD (LR) / DAC
Water sheds s MoWR
Deficit irrigation, State MoWR DAC
Sprinkler and drip s (Irrigation
irrigation, reuse of Wing)
irrigation water, use
of water of
suboptimal quality
Rain Water Harvesting State MoWR / CGWB DAC
& s
Activity Primary Secondar Tertiary
Ground Water State y CGWB MoWR
Recharge in sanction
Adjustment s
State CWC MoWR
water /Water Pricing s
Monitoring of Water ULB / Public DAC
levels in Headworks Implementin Health
such as Jackwells and g Agency Engineering
Tubewells Department
/ State
Government
Judicial use of available ULB / Stat MoWR
water Department e
in- charge of Governmen
Planning of naturally O&M
State ICAR /
drought restraint crops s Directorate DAC (Crops Division)
with less water of
consumption Extensio
and n
duration
Water Supply system State CWC MoWR
for s
drought prone areas for
arranged supply of
water to commercial
and industrial
activities
having low
Reduction in State CWC MoWR
conveyance s
loss, evaporation
from soil surface,
renovation and
percolation of tanks,
Early Warning
System
(EWS)
Forecast of State ICAR / DAC DAC
Contingency s (Extn.)
Cropping of Crop Loss
Forecast State ICAR / DAC DAC
s (Extn.)
Forecast of Water State MoWR / DWS DAC
Deficiency s
Forecast of Food State D/o Food & PD DAC
Insecurity s
Forecast of Cattle feed State D/o AHD DAC
deficit s
Activity Primary Secondar Tertiary
Declaration of State y
Drought
Estimation s
Normal Area Vs sown State DAC
area s
Unsown area State DAC
Crop Loss due to s
State DAC
drought
Loss to Animal s
State DoAHD&F
Husbandry & Fisheries s
Sector
Potential Water deficit
For irrigation State MoWR DAC
For drinking s
State DWS DAC
Fodder / cattle feed / s
State DoAHD&F DAC
poultry feed s
requirement,
availability, additional
Loss to Energy Sector State Power / PNG DAC
Drought Mitigation s
Propagation of States DAC
Forecast through
Extn. Services
Propagation of States ICAR DAC
contingency
cropping
Propagation of States M/o E&F DAC
agro forestry
Issue of Agro advisories States DAC
Issue of States DAC
General
advisories
CRF release M/o Finance States
Alternative States D/o Rural DAC
employment Development
Food Security to States M/o WCD / SJ &
vulnerable Sections E / RD DAC
Food grain requirement States D/o FPD DAC
of farming community
Request for additional States DAC HLC / Finance
financial assistance
from
NCCF etc.
Water and Fodder States Railways DAC
movement
Packaged / Bottled States D/o DWS, WCD, DAC
water SJ&E, RD
Activity Primary Secondar Tertiary
Energy Sector States y
Power / PNG DAC
requirement
Cattle & animal welfare States DoAHD DAC
(Vet.)
Cattle camp States DoAHD DAC
Monitoring and States Panchayati Raj DAC
encouraging of NGOs /
VOs
Taking over of the States CGWB MoWR
exploratory wells
in drought prone
areas
Adoption of traditional States CWC MoWR
methods of water
storage
and completion of
6. Crisis Management
Group

There shall be a Crisis Management Group (CMG) for Drought

Management as is defined in the Crisis Management Plan (National) to
deal with various phases of drought. The composition of the CMG for
Drought is at. Joint Secretary (Drought Management), the nodal
officer nominated by the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation
to coordinate with NCMC will be the Member-Secretary of CMG.
CMG under the Chairmanship of Additional Secretary & Central
Drought Relief Commissioner would periodically review the drought
preparedness, take appropriate decisions and report
the developments to the Agriculture Secretary and to National
Crisis Management Committee (NCMC). The issues to be
decided by the Cabinet would be referred to NCMC for further
necessary action by the Cabinet Secretariat.

At State level, a similar set up as envisaged for the Centre shall be

made to review the crisis of drought.

At District level, the District Magistrate / Collector would be the head

of the
Crisis Management Group to deal the issue at sub-district / block /
Taluk level.

7. Nodal
Officers

Besides State Relief Commissioners and State Agriculture

Secretaries, line Departments / Ministries/ offices / agencies of
the Central Government, responsible for different sets of activity
connected with crisis management of drought shall nominate an
officer not below the rank of Director or equivalent in the
Government of India. The list of nodal officers containing their
name, designation, telephone (office / residence), FAX, e-mail,
mobile number and address shall be maintained in the Drought
Monitoring Cell (Control Room) of the Department of Agriculture &
Cooperation, Government of India and got updated every month.
At District level, the District Magistrate / Collector would be the nodal
officer of the drought affected district, who will be co-opted in the
drought management spectrum at the time of acute crisis in their
district.
Conclusio
n

The aim of the CMP (Drought) is to help all stake holders to be

more prepared and less vulnerable to drought. It will also
result in a timely and effective response by government
agencies to reduce impacts during a drought crisis. The strategic
activity planner and identification of agencies responsible for
managing the crisis is aimed at demarcation of the duties of
respective personnel in the identified activity.

This plan enables the officials who are responsible to focus

their efforts on emerging crisis situations, which may require a
unique response. As much as decisions taken in advance of a
Crisis would make the remaining decisions are taken easily and go
through the Crisis. However, existence of a
National level mechanism and a holistic and integrated drought
management plan would reduce the focus of the Crisis
Management Plan (CMP) towards relief and rehabilitation in the
event of fully blown drought.

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CHAPTER- 5

CONCLUSION

64
 CONCLUSION

The strategic activity planner and identification of agencies responsible

for managing the crisis is aimed at demarcation of the duties respective

personnel in the identified activity.

The officials who are responsible to focus

efforts on emerging crisis situation which may require a unique response.

As much as decisions taken in advance of a crisis would make the

remaining decisions are taken easily and go through the crisis.

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 BIBLOGRAPHY

www.google.com
www.wikipedia.com
www.indiangov.com
www.businessweek.com

Reference:
The business continuity journal (author: GILLIES CRICHTON)

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