The Effectiveness of Crisis Management Programs:  Saudi Universities’ Preparedness, Response, and Recovery During COVID-19

تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى تحديد خصائص إدارة الأزمات في الجامعات السعودية والتحديات التي تقابلها الجامعات، وكذلك التوصيات في ظل أزمة وباء كورونا المستجد   كوفيد-19.  

استخدمت هذه الدراسة التصميم النوعي، وبروتوكول التحليل الانشائي؛ بينما تعتمد على الإطار النظري السابق تعريفه في أدبيات (Zdziarsky et al. 2007)، وتخلص الدراسة إلى ترسيخ بروتوكولات الوقاية والتخفيف والاستعداد كفرص للجامعات السعودية نحو استهداف برامج إدارة أزمات فعّالة ومعاصرة.

وأخيراً، لقد تم تحديد موضوعات إدارة الأزمات في الجامعات السعودية وحصرها في ثلاثة فئات: الخصائص، التحديات والتوصيات. وبصفة خاصة، فإن خلايا الصف الاول لمصفوفة( Zdziarsky et al. 2007) والمتضمنة لـ (الوقاية – تخفيف الآثار والاستعداد)، لقد تم تحديدها على أنها تتمثل في تحديات وفرص لبرامج إدارة الأزمات للجامعات السعودية، أما خلايا الصف الثاني فتمثل التعافي والاستجابة وتعتبر ضمن خصائص الوضع الراهن بمجرد اتخاذ قرار بشأن برنامج إدارة الأزمات اللازمة.

The objective of this study is to identify characteristics, challenges, and recommendations of Saudi universities crisis management programs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  The qualitative design of this study allows for an open-ended data collection instrument that is: [1] defined by a semi-structured interview process, [2] qualified by the research questions, and [3] instructed by a thematic analysis protocol.   As opposed to a strictly inductive study where themes are determined based on a context-free data analysis, this study’s choice of the available and predefined theoretical framework developed in (Zdziarsky et al. 2007) allows qualitative analysis and theme generation to be carried out within the well-preconceived context of crisis management.  Ultimately, Saudi universities crisis management themes were generated and reported in three categories: characteristics, challenges, and recommendations.  In particular, though the first-row cells of Zdziarsky et al.’s (2007) matrix (prevention-mitigation, and preparedness) were identified as challenges and opportunities for Saudi universities crisis management programs, the second-row cells of recovery and response were status-quo characteristics once the necessary crisis management program was decided upon. 

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