Title: Business continuity management in UK higher education: a case study of crisis communication in the era of social media

Authors: Martina McGuinness; Robert Marchand

Addresses: Management School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DT, UK ' Management School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DT, UK

Abstract: This study explores crisis communications in UK higher education institutions between the institution and its students. Using a case study of British universities, data is presented from interviews with university business continuity managers and student focus groups. The paper provides insights into current business continuity management practice in the higher education sector, business continuity managers' attitudes to social media as a communication tool during the incident response phase, and students' declared communication preferences.

Keywords: BCM; business continuity management; emergency communications; stakeholders; social media; higher education; universities; UK; United Kingdom; case study; crisis communications; communication tools; incident response phase; student preferences; communication preferences.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRAM.2014.062784

International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management, 2014 Vol.17 No.4, pp.291 - 310

Received: 30 Oct 2012
Accepted: 03 Sep 2013
Published online: 24 Oct 2014 *

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