CRISIS MANAGEMENT: MCDONALD’S DISTRIBUTION CENTER 24 HOURS RECOVERY FROM THE 2018 FIRE INCIDENT IN THAILAND

Abstract

Fire is the main hazard present in all areas. It is an unpredictable incident that nobody is clueless about. The main causes of fire have many reasons such as static electricity, overheating, human error, environmental atmosphere, and failure of electrical parts in machines. Most horrible fire incident starts with only a small blaze and quickly spreads into a disastrous situation. Fire impacts property, people, and the environment causing death, damage, and business interruption. It does not only cause a huge amount of damage to property and stock but also can have a massive impact on a business's ability to continue to operate, causing significant logistical difficulties as well as the cost of replacing stock that has been destroyed. This paper aims to explore how the logistics provider company handles the fire incident in McDonald’s Distribution Center where they had just completed the construction 4 months ago. It is interesting to learn how they could resume the operation in less than 24 hours. Not only having a good business continuity plan but also a strong relationship with stakeholders, leadership, and team unity helps the company remain better positioned to recover from the business interruption, property damage, financial impact, and loss of life. The paper aims to explore what happened on that particular day and what mindset, strategy, and solution the management team of the logistics provider company has developed to gain business continuation.