Prof. Azmawani Abd Rahman

Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Speech title：Risk Communication Strategies for Crisis Readiness, Response and Recovery: The Case of Higher Learning Institution

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic, which swept every corner of the world has surpassed health and fatality consequences to drag the global economy down to devastating points. In the context of the institution, communicating risk in the face of a crisis is pertinent not only to the health and safety of the impacted stakeholders, but as effort to ensure business continuity, minimize operations disruption, and to safeguard institution from any potential reputational damage. Previous researches have outlined that disaster and emergency situation will give rise to all sort of risks. Disaster can spawn crises due to the unpredictable event or an unforeseeable consequence of some event. Based on the data collected from the higher education institutions, this paper outlines the importance of effective risk communication from the perspective of risk management and crisis communication challenges. Based on the findings, risk communication constraints are identified, best practices are outlined and suggestions for improvement are offered. Effective risk communication is pertinent during crisis as it assists readiness, response, recovery and promote institutional resiliency.

Brief biography:

Professor Dr. Azmawani Abd Rahman is a Professor at the School of Business and Economics Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). She holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of South Alabama (United States) and a Ph.D. in Operations and Technology Management from Aston University, United Kingdom. She is currently the Director of Corporate Strategy and Relation at UPM, where she was responsible for various university main functions such as public and media relation, risk management, university rankings and ratings, and university strategic directions and key performances. Prior to that, she was a Deputy Director at UPM Research Management Centre, Head of Department and Deputy Dean at the Faculty of Economics and Management, UPM. Her research interest is in the area of Strategic Operations and Technology Management, Business Excellence and Performance. Azmawani actively collaborates with the industry through her involvement as an advisor, assessor, consultant, and trainer. She has made more than 60 appearances in the mainstream media (newspaper, television, radio) through her writings and expert comments. She can be contacted at azar@upm.edu.my