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@article{208377,
        author = {Sanjay Vishwanath Khande and Dr. Avinash Kakade and Dr. Kirankumar P. Johare},
        title = {From Examination Crisis to Institutional Resilience: Digital Transformation, Stakeholder Management, And Strategic Decision-Making in the NEET-UG 2026 Crisis},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {no},
        pages = {37-48},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=208377},
        abstract = {India's NEET-UG 2026 examination crisis exposed critical vulnerabilities in public-sector crisis management. Operational disruptions and localized paper leaks on May 3, 2026, overwhelmed traditional bureaucratic response mechanisms as decentralized digital communication outpaced official information flows, culminating in the cancellation of the examination, a federal criminal investigation, sustained student mobilizations at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar, and a full national re-examination. This study examines how public testing agencies manage high-stakes operational crises under conditions of rapid digital information escalation. Adopting an abductive, qualitative single-case design, we analyze the National Testing Agency's handling of the crisis through three triangulated documentary streams: official administrative records, statutory investigative statements, and public digital archives. Thematic analysis identifies four interlocking vulnerabilities (delayed anomaly recognition, a verification vacuum, engagement asymmetry, and an absent learning loop) that converge on a single master vulnerability: chronological lag, the interval between internal detection and transparent public disclosure. 
From these empirically derived vulnerabilities we develop the CRISP framework (Crisis Recognition, Risk Intelligence, Stakeholder Engagement, and Preparedness), a continuous capability loop in which digital governance capability functions as the connective mechanism rather than a back-office support function. The study makes three contributions: it extends the fusion view of digital strategy from the firm to crisis-governed public institutions; it specifies a digitally enabled micro-foundation for capability-based conceptualizations of organizational resilience; and it translates dynamic-capabilities theory into an operational blueprint for examination governance, specifying the organizational loci, decision rights, activation triggers, and performance indicators through which each capability can be institutionalized. Rival explanations for disclosure delay, including legal constraints arising from the concurrent criminal investigation, are explicitly examined.},
        keywords = {Organizational Resilience; Crisis Management; Digital Transformation; Strategic Decision-Making; Dynamic Capabilities; Stakeholder Management; Public Administration.},
        month = {September},
        }