The Impact of Crisis Management on Improving Institutional Performance at Palestinian Private Universities: Case Study of Al - Israa University

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the impact of crisis management effectiveness on institutional performance at Al-Israa University in Palestine. To achieve the study objectives, the descriptive analytical approach was adopted. The study population included all employees at Al-Israa University, totaling (278) employees. A stratified random sample of (190) questionnaires was distributed, of which (169) valid responses were retrieved for statistical analysis, with a response rate of (88.9%). Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Among the important findings of the study: the level of crisis management effectiveness and institutional performance were both rated highly, with relative weights of (75.52%) and (74.57%), respectively. There is a strong statistically significant positive correlation between crisis management and institutional performance. Furthermore, the results indicated that the stages of crisis management had a statistically significant effect on institutional performance, explaining approximately (80%) of the variance except for the "Preparedness and Prevention" stage, which showed no significant impact. There are significant differences in participants' responses regarding overall (crisis management and institutional performance), attributed to demographic variables such as (gender, academic qualification, job title, and years of service) favoring (females, bachelor’s degree holders, senior university leadership, and those with less than five years of experience), correspondingly. The most important recommendations of the study are: Enhancing institutional performance at the university by improving the effectiveness of crisis management, particularly in the stages of activity recovery, damage containment, learning and evaluation, and early warning signals, due to their demonstrated impact on performance. The importance of the preparedness and prevention stage should also not be overlooked. The study also recommends institutionalizing a culture of organizational learning from crises by developing a system to document lessons learned, and organizing post-crisis review workshops involving all employee categories to foster improved future responses and build more flexible and effective strategies.