by Larry Sharp

This article is for BAM practitioners and those who support them in their work. It’s about what to do when something really bad happens and how to mitigate it happening in the first place

I have been visiting, observing, asking questions, providing help, and writing stories about BAM companies for 20 years. It has been stretching, humbling, enlightening and a total privilege.

The hardest part of it all has been to watch businesses struggle and eventually fail.

The best part has been to see businesses struggle with challenges and for any number of reasons overcome and continue to push on.

Harold Kushner grappled with the subject of When Bad Things Happen to Good People in his 1981 bestselling book with the same title. That is not my purpose here except to affirm that they do.

But how many times have you heard comments like: “They should have known better” or, “Didn’t they get training on that before coming overseas?” or, “Who was the business leader when things were getting rough?” or, “They should have capitalized it with double the amount” etc..

As the supervisor of crisis preparedness and crisis management in a mission agency I experienced numerous crises develop, many with pleasant endings, but also many with really bad endings. I often asked myself and God, “Why?”

While we think of businesses for the glory of God in impoverished and unreached areas, the following categories are critical in processing this subject before, during and after a crisis.

Preparation with Quality Training

If you studied business in the last quarter century you likely heard of the Rumsfeld Matrix which helps us process four quadrants ranging from the known knowns to the unknown unknowns. Business includes the life-long process of trying to understand what we know and learn what we do not know. In the case of being prepared for the unknown crises ahead we need to start with facts or variables that we’re aware of and understand. They form the basis of our knowledge and provide a solid foundation for decision making.

Most startups are owned and managed by intelligent, gifted, skilled and entrepreneurial enthusiasts who may have given minimal thought to crisis issues. The good news is that there are professionals who help prepare us for the uncertainties ahead. For this step I suggest hiring a consulting firm such Crisis Consulting International, Concilium Global, or see courses at the Crisis Training Center.

The net result will be a good understanding of the cultural, economic, political and demographic facts, assumptions and variables that you “know”. This will be assembled into a policy manual or at least a statement which forms the foundation of future actions.

It will include a clear understanding and consequent statement of why you are doing business in that context. It will help you answer questions such as:

• How do you create value for the community?
• If God owns the business, what does that mean?
• Who do you really serve and why?
• If the secret police show up one night with a search warrant, do you have to hide anything?
• Can you prove you are a real business?
• Do you follow your stated values?

A good consultant on this subject will likely role play various scenarios while helping the business wrestle with the “known unknowns” which are things you know exist but don’t fully understand.  These things will need to be investigated further—things like tax laws, visa requirements for expats, property ownership regulations, export-import laws, international money transfers and such.  This will take time but will be proven worth the effort.

Mark Russell discovered four characteristics of BAM companies in Southeast Asia that were producing positive ministry and business result.[1] High performers had:

• A focus on being a blessing in their community and in all business areas
• An openness regarding their purpose and identity (they were “real”)
• Partnership with existing local churches and ministries
• High cultural adaptation

A business with these or similar characteristics has good foundations to tackle potential dangers ahead.

Example

The COVID-19 crisis of 2020 brought ruination to many BAM companies. Tims Bakery in Asia was not totally blindsided because they had taken many of the steps listed above. Stan, the owner, called over 40 managers from three countries (many were not believers) and reminded them that this company belonged to God, who was the chairman.  They prayed and listened to God in three languages. God spoke saying “pivot” and the did just that, opening wholly new product outlets. Tims Bakery thrived because of God’s grace and quick thoughtful pivoting during COVID.[2]

Prevention by Mitigating Risk

Situational awareness is an important component of safety. Training helps business leadership to grow in their awareness of danger around them. There are risk assessment tools which help to identify risks and analyze them in terms of probability and impact. One tool that I used is called the Strategic Risk Forecast.

Once an understanding of risks exists (awareness), steps can be taken to avoid it (i.e. mitigate the risk). This may involve a policy on the subject or simply a general warning. Risk mitigation may range from the broad general things to micro actions of individuals.

Typical risks in the types of countries where BAM practitioners work include possibilities like natural disasters, government overreach, anti-foreigner oppression, economic downturn, kidnapping, loss of product markets. Risk types will likely vary depending on whether the practitioners involved are expats, nationals or a mixture.

Once the highest risks are identified, it is important next to develop contingency plans which will include the likes of a:

• Contingency file of all items of importance in the event of a crisis
• Strategy for communication (who needs to know what when?)
• Basic disaster supplies listed and maintained
• Strategy steps for identifying trigger points and subsequent action steps
• Evacuation plans including rendezvous points and travel routes
• Sources of emergency funds

Example

My youngest daughter worked for a large multinational as a country-wide HR director. She received exhaustive training including simulations, videos, exercises and feedback loops. They had a contingency file which listed trigger points and action steps. One day, in the interior of Sudan when they were arrested and told they were being deported, the training proved vital to their ability to overcome and survive the unfair and illegal treatment.

Planning for Crisis Management

Every crisis needs to be managed and if decisions and plans have been made ahead of time, the management of a crisis will be more efficient and effective. A Crisis Management Team (CMT) should be formed in the prevention stage and once the crisis occurs the CMT should be activated.

The role of the CMT is to assess and understand the crisis, clearly defining the problem and making a plan to respond. The team should identify a communication hub which will follow the procedures established beforehand. This team will coordinate all internal and external communication and implement the communication strategy outlined in the crisis management plan. This will include timely and transparent communication with employees, customers, suppliers, and the media.

There are good internet materials to document management procedures including communication strategies.[3]  I cannot overstress the importance of well-developed and comprehensive communication. Key trust issues reside with communication with all stakeholders which should be determined by the CMT immediately. I have found that upwards of 80% of the information shared is just what common courtesy demanded, and it kept the rumors and gossip to a minimum. Silence is the worst possible thing in emergency times.

Your crisis response team should include members with diverse skills from across the organization, such as senior crisis management teams, public relations, legal advisors, and operations personnel, to provide comprehensive coverage of all aspects of a crisis. Within this group, a crisis manager will be nominated to lead the execution of the crisis management plan, including the organization’s public response to the event.[3]

Depending on the extent and length of time, there may be a need for CMT positions to be further defined such as: leader, finance authority, communications director, compliance officer, HT manager, IT manager, legal counsel, etc..

Example

When the disastrous Haiti earthquake struck in January 2010, my organization had 18 people in the country. I was very thankful that we had a plan and that I had been in country two times for training. Things didn’t work perfectly but certainly much better than if we had never given it a thought ahead of time.  After the initial actions, I called Crisis Consulting International which had personnel with earthquake experience. I subsequently signed a contract for one of their people to fly to Haiti, do an assessment and return within a week with an action plan for us. One is never prepared for a crisis like that, but I felt we were a little ahead of the game because of prior action.

Partners in Crisis Resolution

Just as there are resources on the internet and elsewhere, so too are there likely to be personnel resources which will be handy and willing in a crisis. There is no need to shoulder the burden alone.

Whether managing a crisis from the location or an office in another country, or both, consider the need for language and culture experts, those in political positions, legal and financial experts, pastors, media leaders, those with experience in the issue faced, and other crisis managers.[4]

Examples

A couple of stories help reinforce the importance of partners in crisis resolution:

Two-year-old Evan fell from a 6th story window to the pavement below and was in a Kiev, Ukraine hospital when I got the call. He was unconscious and doctors knew they did not have the necessary medical resources locally. What should we do? I soon knew I had to medivac him to a better hospital in Europe and we settled on Vienna, but how? I turned to my CFO, Phil who had a robust business career and contacts. This resulted in hiring a medically equipped leer jet in Moscow to fly to Kiev, pick him up and get him to Vienna. I could never have come up with or executed the plan by myself.

Ben was the financial manager for the construction of a water dam in Asia but was arrested in the Asian country where he worked and was held without due process in a pathetic rustic jail cell.  I had never faced this before, so I had to seek help from others and continuously keep myself updated on what was going on and get various viewpoints. I received advice ranging from sending in a Rambo-like mercenary group to get him out, to having all-night prayer meetings and waiting on God. Ben did not see the light of day for five months and information and viewpoints for me came from news reports, state department officials, a Virginia senator, the pastor of his home church, a crisis manager in the country in Asia, a politician on site, and the USA Ambassador to the country.  I was glad to have perspectives and help from so many sources, even though it was frustrating at times. After much work from those with expertise in areas far beyond mine, he was released five months later.

 

There are many other components to being prepared for crisis, managing it effectively and eventually recovering. It is important that the business, any related organization, and everyone be debriefed with the goal of caring for them and maximizing next steps. Critical incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) is a post-trauma debriefing for individuals. The business leadership needs debriefing to not only care for them but also restabilize the business. There are organizations and individual operatives with experience to help each person and the business to recover.[5]

 

 

 

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Footnotes

[1] Russell, Mark L. The Missional Entrepreneur (Birmingham, AL: New Hope Publishers, 2010).

[2] See a more complete story in Sharp, Larry. Missions Disrupted: From Professional Missionaries to Missional Professionals (Peabody MA:  Hendrickson Publishers, 2022).

[3] See for example, https://mention.com/en/blog/business-crisis-management/

[4] See, https://businessasmission.com/five-essential-reminders-if-you-are-managing-a-crisis/

[5] See, https://missionexus.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2017-Crisis-Management-       White-Paper-Formatted.pdf

 

Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash