The case of Sonae MC

: an internal perspective of crisis management

Abstract

This project, hereby presented in a case study format, aims to unveil some of the key internal management strategies adopted by Sonae MC to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, whilst functioning as pedagogical material for internal Crisis Management (CM).First, this report introduces the topic of organizational Crisis Management and its prominent models, with the objective of demonstrating the importance of engaging in CM. In addition, it explores the pivotal factors for managing crisis internally such as leadership, internal communication, crisis management teams and human resources. Sonae MC is the biggest private employer in Portugal and operates mainly in the food retailing market. The organization faced extreme challenges to protect its employees and sustain its operations during the pandemic. For this reason, Sonae MC represents a striking example of the effects of Covid-19 on the food retail market and, specifically, on a big company with complex operations. Thus, the case provides a description of Sonae’s successful crisis response, illustrating a real crisis scenario that contributes to elaborate on key topics of internal CM, namely, leadership and internal communication which were crucial components of Sonae Mc’s CM strategy.

Date of Award	3 May 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Ricardo Reis (Supervisor)