This paper describes an empirical study that examines the relationship between the type of external environment in which a firm operates and the repertoire of strategic responses the firm develops to cope with crises. The findings suggest that an executive's propensiry to adopt a particular strategic posture depends on his perceptions of how well his firm can control its environment and onthe costs of introducing change into the organization. 0143-2095/84/030 199-15$O I. 50

Using a sample of 160 sole proprietors and controlling for other determinants of performance, we hypothesize and find support for the view that gender is not a significant direct explanation of financial performance differences among small accounting practices. The control variables we employ are practice characteristics, motivations, and individual owner characteristics. Our results indicate that although financial performance appears to be significantly different for females' and males' sole proprietorships, these performance differences are explained by several variables other than gender directly. At the same time we find that gender moderates the effects of other practice and personal characteristics on financial performance. One of the more interesting results is that women with a stronger motivation to establish a public practice to balance work and family experienced more positive financial outcomes, while for men the same motivation reduced financial performance.

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This article explores some key environmental and organizational characteristics that may influence the type of crisis management system that an emergent crisis type activates. It provides a typology of crises and the decision system attributes that may reduce their negative consequences or amplify their positive consequences. It explores the “fit” of alternative crisis management decision processes with some specific crisis types. It also explores some of the immediate consequences of crisis decision making. The fifth section deals with the longer term consequences of the crisis as a function of the decision processes and the types of crisis the system has faced.

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