Crisis Management as a Strategic Option for Enhancing Competitiveness: The Mediating Role of Organizational Resilience

Ahmed khudhair Abbas

doi:10.63540/kijme.v13i48.4757

Authors

Ahmed khudhair Abbas University of Kerbala https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7285-7603

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63540/kijme.v13i48.4757

Keywords:

Crisis Management, Strategic Management, Cash Reserve Ratio, Competitiveness

Abstract

This study examines the function of crisis management as a strategic mechanism in the promotion of organizational resilience and competitiveness. Unlike the majority of the preceding research which typically treats crisis management as a reaction to an unexpected event, the current study views it as a unique capability and a sustainable strategic resource that will provide an ongoing competitive advantage. The research followed a descriptive-analytical applied methodology, and a 30-question survey was distributed to 100 managers and specialists in a wave of tourism companies of Karbala and Babylon and 79 of the responses were usable. Using a five- Likert scale, the survey measured the dimensions of crisis management, organizational resilience and competitiveness. SPSS was utilized for the descriptive and normality statistics and SmartPLS was used for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate the hypotheses. The study revealed that organizational resilience has a mediating effect between crisis management and competitiveness. These results endorse the validity of the three hypotheses and conclude that crisis management impacts competitiveness both directly and obliquely, with resilience as a critical mediating factor.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Ahmed khudhair Abbas, University of Kerbala

Ahmed Khudhair Abbas is a faculty member at the University of Karbala.

References

A. Harika, G. Balan, H. P. Thethi, A. Rana, K. V. Rajkumar, and M. A. Al-Allak, “Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence for disaster response and crisis management,” in 2024 International Conference on Communication, Computer Sciences and Engineering (IC3SE), IEEE,, pp. 1237–1243, 2024.

C. Chiwisa, “The Role of Leadership in Crisis Management: A Literature Review,” J. Hum. Resour. Leadersh., vol. 9, pp. 48–65, Aug. 2024.

D. Carbon, “Linking water stress and measures of crisis management-A systematic review of emergency drinking water management in Germany,” J. Environ. Manage., vol. 359, p. 120901, 2024.

E. Karinshak, “Simulations in human‐AI crisis management systems,” J. Contingencies Cris. Manag., vol. 32, no. 1, p. e12525, 2024.

H. Huang, Y.-Q. Li, W.-Q. Ruan, S.-N. Zhang, and Y. Zhou, “Applying the right remedy? Crisis management reporting on different destination resilience under the internal crisis events,” Curr. Issues Tour., vol. 28, no. 12, pp. 2001–2020, 2025.

H. T. Otal, E. Stern, and M. A. Canbaz, “Llm-assisted crisis management: Building advanced llm platforms for effective emergency response and public collaboration,” in 2024 IEEE Conference on Artificial Intelligence (CAI), IEEE, 2024, pp. 851–859.

H. Talebi and S. Samadianfard, “Integration of machine learning and remote sensing for drought index prediction: A framework for water resource crisis management,” Earth Sci. Informatics, vol. 17, no. 5, pp. 4949–4968, 2024.

J. Edström, A. Greig, and C. Skinner, “Patriarchal (dis) orders: Backlash as crisis management,” Signs J. Women Cult. Soc., vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 277–309, 2024.

J.-P. Peltola, E. Lindfors, and E. Luukka, “Exploring crisis management measures taken by school leaders at the unpredictable crisis–case COVID-19,” J. Educ. Chang., vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 727–743, 2024.

K. C. Mizrak, “Crisis management and risk mitigation: Strategies for effective response and resilience,” Trends, challenges, Pract. Contemp. Strateg. Manag., pp. 254–278, 2024.

L. C. Herrera, T. Gjøsæter, T. A. Majchrzak, and D. Thapa, “Signals of Transition in Support Systems: A Study of the use of Social Media Analytics in Crisis Management,” ACM Trans. Soc. Comput., vol. 8, no. 1–2, pp. 1–44, 2025.

M. Celestin and S. Sujatha, “Assessing the role of social media in fostering customer relationships, marketing, and crisis management,” Int. J. Interdiscip. Res. Arts Humanit., vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 121–127, 2024.

M. Hosen, C. Y. Liew, A. Lim, I. Hameed, and H. M. Rehman, “A new mechanism for crisis management success,” J. Contingencies Cris. Manag., vol. 32, no. 2, p. e12569, 2024.

M. M. Ajith, A. A. Lux, T. Bentley, and M. Striepe, “Adaptive crisis management at the operational level: Responses to COVID-19 in the Australian resources sector,” J. Manag. Organ., vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 1909–1933, 2025.

O. Arikawe, M. O. Edwards-Fapohunda, and P. Waite, “Strategies for Student Related Crisis Management in The Learning Environment in Further Education Colleges in UK,” Iconic Res. Eng. Journals, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 576–586, 2024.

O. S. Soyege et al., “Public health crisis management and emergency preparedness: Strengthening healthcare infrastructure against pandemics and bioterrorism threats,” J. Front. Multidiscip. Res., vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 52–68, 2024.

S. B. Solati Dehkordi, A. Sanayei, and A. Safari, “System Management of Human-Made Crises: Analysis of the Use of Internet of Things in Justice,” Emerg. Manag., vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 1–16, 2024.

S. Opatska, W. Johansen, and A. Gordon, “Business crisis management in wartime: Insights from Ukraine,” J. Contingencies Cris. Manag., vol. 32, no. 1, p. e12513, 2024.

X. Gao, J. Jaggi, and H. Yan, “Internal auditors and crisis management: a post-crisis outcome evaluation,” J. Account. Organ. Chang., 2024.

Y. L. Wu, B. Shao, A. Newman, and G. Schwarz, “Crisis leadership: A review and future research agenda,” Leadersh. Q., vol. 32, no. 6, p. 101518, 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2021.101518.

Y. Wang, F. Wu, and F. Zhang, “State building in crisis management: Reflections on statecraft from the Shanghai lockdown,” Int. J. Urban Reg. Res., vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 126–141, 2025.

Z. Barrett and R. Shipway, “Crisis management response strategies of small-scale sport event organizations to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Event Manag., vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 441–459, 2024.