مدیریت بحران در صنعت گردشگری استرالیا : آمادگی، پرسنل و ضمیمه ها

Since the pilots’ strike of 1989, the Australian tourism industry has experienced a series of ‘shocks’ or crises which have included the 1991 Gulf War, the Asian economic crisis in 1997, the dotcom crash of 2000, the collapse of the HIH Insurance Company, the World Trade Centre attacks and the demise of Ansett Airlines in 2001, the Bali bombings in 2002 and the Iraq War and the outbreak of the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic in 2003. In 2002, a research project was carried out in a range of sectors of the Australian tourism industry to investigate the impact of the collapse of the HIH Insurance Company, the World Trade Centre attacks and the demise of Ansett Airlines on these organisations and the range of responses adopted to these events. This paper describes the preparedness of organisations to respond to these events; the personnel or human resource (HR) strategies implemented and the postscript, the organisational learning which had occurred. Interview findings indicate that there was little preparation for such events, a widespread reluctance to retrench staff, and limited organisational learning had taken place.

Since the pilots’ strike of 1989, the Australian tourism industry has faced a series of crises, which have included the Gulf War in 1991, the Asian economic crisis in 1997, the dotcom crash of 2000, the collapse of the HIH Insurance Company, the World Trade Centre attacks and the demise of Ansett Airlines in 2001, the Bali bombings in 2002 and the Iraq War and the outbreak of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) epidemic in 2003. In 2002, a research project was carried out among a number of sectors of the Australian tourism industry to investigate a variety of issues associated with the collapse of the HIH Insurance Company, a major Australian insurance company, the World Trade Centre attacks and the demise of Ansett Airlines, Australia's second largest airline. Issues explored included identification of the factors influencing the impact of these events, the relative impact of these three events on these organisations, and their short- and medium-term responses. The study also highlighted aspects of the broader operating environment, such as role of organisational policies in guiding responses to these events, and compared the events of 2001 with other ‘shocks’ experienced by the tourism industry. This paper, drawn from the broader study, focuses specifically on the preparedness of organisations to respond to these events, in terms of the role of policies in guiding their responses; the personnel or human resource (HR) strategies implemented, and the postscript, the extent of organisational learning which had occurred.

The events of 2001 considered in this study display the characteristics of crises, in that they presented sudden challenges which had tested the ability of organisations in the tourism industry to cope (Faulkner, 2001). The lack of preparedness for such events was demonstrated by the widespread absence of policies to guide organisational responses, confirming the observations of Henderson (1999), that while there was a need for crisis management planning, none had been done. The need to support personnel in such times by the provision of reliable information, reported by Heath (1998), and the importance of workforce flexibility in areas such as work-time, mentioned by Buultjens and Howard (2001), have also been confirmed. In contrast to the comments of Kovoor-Misra and Nathan (2000) and Roux-Dufort (2000), there was evidence that organisational learning had taken place, which confirmed the observation of Faulkner (2001) that such events can have positive consequences. These findings have a number of implications for the Australian tourism industry. Most importantly, it must be recognised that organisations are now operating in an increasingly volatile environment and it is imperative that good networks are developed and maintained so that accurate information can be gained on which appropriate responses to any crisis can be planned. It is vital that organisations become flexible in their approach to their operations, one aspect of such flexibility being with respect to staffing. In this study, work-time flexibility has been shown to be particularly important means whereby staff could be retained, as there was a widespread reluctance to retrench staff, who would be needed once the industry had recovered. It is also critical that lessons learnt during such times are not lost, but become part of the ‘corporate memory’, such that they can guide future decision-making.