This chapter explores the preparedness and initial responses to the COVID-19 crisis of two higher education institutions, Tampere University in Finland and the University of São Paulo in Brazil, using a crisis management framework. The crisis has disrupted teaching and research operations and caused unforeseen challenges to universities. While the crisis is still ongoing, and the long-term impact of the crisis cannot be assessed, this chapter focuses on the initial phase of the crisis, crisis preparedness, and response. The findings suggest that the Finnish case university applies a very systematic and centralized crisis management strategy, while the Brazilian case university has a more decentralized approach coming from its collegial mode of governance. Cross-case analysis shed light on similarities and differences in their capacity to respond to crises such as COVID-19.

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