Mitroff's teaching and research interests were in the management of organizational crises, spirituality at work, and applied epistemology (complex problem solving). He published in the fields of business policy,
Crisis management,
Corporate culture, Contemporary media, Current events,
foreign policy,
Nuclear deterrence, Organizational change,
Organizational psychology and
psychiatry,
Philosophy of science,
Public policy,
Sociology of science,
Scientific method, Spirituality in the workplace and
Strategic planning. Mitroff published over 300 articles and over 30 books. A selection: Ian Mitroff was the founder and President of Mitroff Crisis Management. Founded in 1995, this consulting firm was composed of a national network of specialists that conduct projects in crisis management. MCM developed Crisis Management Software, which is an audit program that allows the user to perform crisis audits of their organization. It can be downloaded onto a desktop and is also available in app form. MCM also offered organizations customized workshops that are tailored to the organization's needs based on their crisis audit. It is a one-day course that focuses on critical thinking; the courses that are offered are "Systems Thinking and the Error of the Third Kind," "Inquiry Systems," and "Crisis Management." These workshops are designed to help organizations better their ability to plan and prepare for crises as well as formulate plans to address crises when they occur, and how to learn from and prevent them in the future. MCM also offers an interactive board game, "Crisis Prone or Prepared," that walks the user through crisis situations before, during, and after they happen, and how to handle events as they arise. Many top companies, including Dow Chemical, American Red Cross, Hewlett Packard, Los Angeles Police Department, and Kraft General Foods, have utilized MCM's resources. Mitroff was also the creator of Mitroff's Five Stages of Crisis Management. This model is a comprehensive guide for crisis management and consists of five mechanisms, or stages. • The first is Signal Detection. This step details how organizations can prepare for and prevent crises before they occur by closely monitoring for early warning signs of a potential crisis. • The second mechanism is Probing and Prevention, or Prevention/Preparedness. The probing aspect involves actively searching for risk factors, and prevention is taking measures to reduce any potential for damage. • Damage Containment is exactly what it is named. This step teaches organizations how to properly contain damage caused by a crisis and keep it from spreading and contaminating other areas. • Recovery is the second to last step, and this stresses returning to normal operations and systems as soon as it is feasibly possible and appropriate to do so. • The last step is Learning. The crisis should be reviewed thoroughly, including how it happened and how the organization handled the crisis. Then the review should be comprehensively analyzed and critiqued so the organization can improve its crisis management skills for inevitable future crises. Ian Mitroff authored more than 25 books, but one of his most celebrated works is his book,
Managing Crises Before They Happen: What Every Executive Needs to Know about Crisis Management. It was co-authored with Gus Anagnos, and its theme is equipping organizational leaders with the right tools to better prepare for and detect crises before they happen. It begins with a detailed description of what a crisis is and the general components of an effective framework for crisis management. It then differentiates between types of crises and how to manage each one effectively. The book gives instructions and advice on how to detect early warning signs of a crisis and create and utilize crisis scenarios in order to prevent, or if inevitable, prepare for them. Unfortunately crises cannot always be avoided, so Mitroff gives guidelines for organizations to handle them when they arise. Some vital suggestions include always being honest and upfront about the situation and assuming full responsibility. The book is an excellent resource for any organizational leader looking to increase their preparedness for crisis situations and management. ==Selected publications==