| CHINA BUSINESS PRACTITIONERS' CORNER AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT IN THE CARE-FREE CITY OF MACAU Shuk Fan Chung and Siew Huat Kong Issue 30 (Vol. 15, No. 2), December 2005, pp. 133-148. It is certainly a challenge to emphasize crisis-preparedness in a supposedly care- and crisis-free city. In Macau, people are more likely to invoke divine assistance in order to secure the peace for the ��Blessed land of the lotus�� rather than working on a practical plan to prepare for the unexpected. It is again this backdrop that a gaming company is trying to establish its crisis management practices, which it realizes it must undertake as crises, in one form or another, will ultimately strike. The future belongs to those who are prepared, so it believes. Our study uncovered that this company is already making efforts to develop its crisis management plan, with part of it being implemented already. In this process, this organization perceived that human-related factors as well as an organizational structure were the two most challenging areas that it has to overcome, if it is to attain a higher level of ��crisis-preparedness��. What is being done in this company could well become the benchmark for not only the gaming sector but other sectors in the Macau economy as well. As it goes about achieving this, its lessons will undoubtedly be good reference material for other organizations in this city. |