ABSTRACT
Crisis management exercises are proactive events which are held to strengthen the crisis management capability of participants from various levels of an organization. Much is written about the role of leaders in crises, and the way leaders respond and react to a crisis is often used as a yardstick to measure their leadership qualities. Effective crisis management involves more than just leaders, though. Exercises are used to identify possible improvements to plans and to develop necessary individual and collaborative skills. They may involve senior management, but also personnel on the operational and tactical level of the organization. The value of conducting exercises is considered high (Rosenthal, Boin & Comfort 2001; Lagadec 1997), and the general assumption is that crisis management exercises provide arenas for learning and knowledge sharing.
