Therefore,understanding the context helps to define the crisis and can consequently guide the actions of leaders. Marcus and Goodman (1991) identified three categories
of organizational crisis: (a) accidents, (b) scandals, and (c) product safety and
health incidents. Accidents occur unexpectedly and are discrete one-time events. Furthermore, accidents usually have identifiable victims, enabling leaders to focus their crisis containment strategy on meeting the needs of that group. Relative to other types of crises, organizations can more easily deny responsibility for an accident. Scandals, however, are disgraceful or unsubstantiated events or communications that compromise the organization’s reputation. Crises stemming from a scandal are difficult for an organization to deny