Integrating Crisis into the Organizational Lifecycle throughTransitional Networks

The focus of this paper is on how business leaders use communication to build transitional networks in order to successfully evolve through crisis. Chaos theory and network theory are employed as complementary bases for understanding communication and the resulting social ordering following crisis. These theories are applied on a variety of levels (network, individual, and link), broadening the scope and explanatory power of transitional networks. A review of existing literature on temporary networks is used to tie the ideas of transitional networks and network theory and frames the development of theoretical propositions for use in future research. This paper posits crisis as an opportunity for a turning point in the organizational lifecycle, and builds understanding of how the relationships that organizational leaders forge before, during, and after a crisis affect an organization’s ability to successfully evolve, thus recasting the concept of crisis management to one of crisis integration. Crisis communication, network organizing, chaos theory