Endless natural disasters, terrorist activities, accidents, and internal and external sabotage serve as ongoing reminders of the importance of crisis decision-making.

Effective crisis decision-making has become an increasingly important aspect of modern business management. A crisis can threaten an organization's reputation, financial stability, and survival. It can harm the health and well-being of its employees and consumers, the communities it serves and in which it operates, and the environment.

Good decisions during a crisis can solidify an organization’s favorable standing, as with Johnson & Johnson and the Tylenol poisonings in 1982. Unfortunately, one reason J&J is cited so often is that there are so few examples of excellent crisis management. It’s easier to find examples of disastrous crisis management, ranging from the Exxon Valdez oil spill to Sony/BMG's current public relations crisis with CD digital rights management.

Private-sector crisis preparedness focuses on individual corporations and their strategies for managing supply-chain disruptions, tarnished brands, or financial scandals. Crisis preparedness links risk management, understanding of internal and external interdependencies, business continuity, security, and crisis response and recovery with crisis decision-making and training.

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