ABSTRACT
Probably the most common external threat which companies have to face periodically is economic recession. This was the view of the chief executives who completed the survey. Many of them specifically mentioned the problem of economic recession as the major vulnerability they had to face. There were clear differences between different sectors as would be expected. In sectors where the environment was changing relatively slowly, such as in the primary production area, the major potential external threat came from external regulation and trades union problems. In sectors that were subject to rapid environmental change, such as the electronics, oil and retail industries there were different views on where the most likely future crises might come from. In the electronics sector, for example, the threat of changes in technology, hostile takeover and investor relations were highest on the list of expected external threats. In the oil and chemical sector the main perceived threats were the issue of regulation and problems with the media. In the retail and foods sector the problem of consumer terrorism or product tampering was highest on the list of possible crises. In this chapter we will outline the problem of coping with economic recession and highlight the differences between the UK and US systems for coping with firms that are faced with critical failure. We refer briefly to the question of hostile takeovers which for some firms may be an alternative to receivership. We then begin to look at some specific examples of externally generated crisis which reflect the concerns of the chief executives in the survey. Some can be seen as sudden unexpected crises, others as longer term creeping crises. In some cases firms may be seen as victims, in others thay may be seen as positively inducing crisis by their actions. The cases provide an understanding of the variety and complexity of external crisis.
