The SAGE Library in Business and Management brings together reference collections containing the most influential and field-defining articles, both classical and contemporary, in key areas of inquiry and niche research interests in business and management.

Each multivolume set represents a cross-section of the essential published works collated from the foremost publications in the field by an editor or editorial team of renowned international stature. Each major work includes a full introduction, presenting a rationale for the selection, a discussion of the content within the context of the field and an overview of the discipline's past, present and likely future.

This series is designed to be a 'gold standard' for university libraries throughout the world with a programme or interest in business and management studies.

Our world is replete with crises. The landmarks of the new millennium bear the names of unprecedented adversity: 9/11, the Madrid and London bombings, the Boxing Day Tsunami, SARS and avian flu, to name only a few. Crises are threats against the core values or life-sustaining functions of a social system and require urgent and immediate remedial action. Crises are "inconceivable threats come true".

Governments and organizations must be prepared to meet these threats. They cannot afford to ignore crisis management requisites or deal with them in a superfluous, mostly symbolic fashion. This major work provides a map towards effective crisis management starting with an introductory essay by the editor explaining the reasoning behind the selection, defining key concepts and introducing the key themes around which the major work set is organiszed.

The collection is organized into three parts, each part dealing with a specific theme. Part I is devoted to understanding the causes and dynamics of modern crises. Part II collects together key articles discussing the core challenges of crisis management, reporting empirical findings and theoretical milestones. Part III focuses on the consequences of crises and crisis management.