Perspectives from New Zealand small firms: crisis management and the impact of the Canterbury earthquakes

In the light of recent crisis and disasters, government agencies nationally as well as internationally are increasingly concerned with understanding to what extent businesses are making provisions to increase their resilience. The specific objectives for this study are: to assess the extent and nature of crisis experience in small firms; to identify planning and preparedness mechanisms and to assess how small firms have adapted; to assess the impact of Canterbury earthquakes on small firms’ operations inside and outside the ‘impact zone’; to assess the awareness of potential threats to business continuity planning for future events.