In its 2019 Global Crisis Survey of senior executives from companies in 25 industries across 43 countries, PwC reported those that had successfully weathered crises took similar steps to protect themselves before and after the event. These key measures included: allocating money to address crises before they occurred, having a crisis management plan in place and testing it, gathering facts quickly and accurately, performing a root-cause analysis and following up to address its findings, and acting as a team while adhering to the company’s values.
PwC found that 79% of U.S. organizations have been through a crisis and almost all expect to deal with one in the future. While 92% of U.S. executives had a crisis response plan, only 21% reviewed and tested these plans regularly and only 15% had carried out a root-cause analysis and made post-crisis changes to their operations. By taking these steps, companies can be better prepared and gain competitive advantage, especially since, in the future, “crises will be more complex—and harder than ever to contain.”