Learning orientation. The prior crisis management phases largely address
leadership responsibilities and requisite competencies at the outset and during a
crisis. As we have discussed, effective crisis management skills in these prior
stages can bring an organization back to at least a precrisis level. Unfortunately,
there is often a tendency for leaders to stop crisis management activity at the
business recovery phase. Yet some scholars (e.g., Mitroff, 1988; Wooten &
James, 2004) suggested that exceptional crisis management also includes postcrisis activity in the form of learning and reflection. As Brockner & James
(2008) pointed out, crises are more apt to be seen as sources of opportunity,
rather than threats, when organizational decision makers adopt a learning orientation and use prior experience, or the experience of others, to develop new routines and behaviors that ultimately change the way the organization operates.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, crisis can be a catalyst that produces individual and organizational learning (Sitikin, 1992). The best leaders recognize this
and are purposeful and skillful in finding the learning opportunities inherent in
many crisis situations. As Cron and colleagues (2005) found, individuals with a
learning orientation elicit more adaptive responses to adverse conditions, and are
described as being less easily discouraged by challenges and setbacks. These
characteristics may influence whether leaders will engage in reflection and
learning following a crisis and, if so, can potentially promote the innovative and
creative problem solving with respect to the crisis management.