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Obviously, any corporation hopes not to
face "situations causing a significant business disruption which
stimulates extensive media coverage" (crisis). The public
scrutiny that is a result from this media coverage often affects the
normal operations of the company and can have a (negative) financial,
political, legal and governmental impact. Substantial value destruction is
to be feared of, especially when the crisis is not handled well in the
perception of the media / public opinion. Crisis management deals
with giving the right crisis response (precautionary, structural and
ad-hoc).
Some generic help and tips on
crisis management:
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Prepare contingency plans in
advance (crisis management team and members can be formed at very
short notice, rehearsing of crises of various kinds)
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Immediately and
clearly announce internally that the the only persons to speak about
the crisis to the outside world are the crisis team members)
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Move quickly
(the first hours after the crisis first breaks are extremely important,
because the media often build upon the information in the first hours)
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Use crisis
management consultants (advice by objectivity of PR consultants is
important, bring in specialist corporate image expertise)
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Give accurate
and correct information (trying to manipulate information will
seriously backfire if it is discovered, also internally!)
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When deciding upon
actions, consider not only the short-term losses, but focus also on
the long term effects.
Executives at all levels of the organization are
employed to manage crises and often do so on a daily basis. Their skills
are really tested when they have to manage significant crises that have
the potential to disrupt the organization's value creation process, income
sources, operating expenses, stock price, competitive position and ongoing
business.
The most effective crisis management occurs when potential crises are
detected and dealt with quickly--before they can impact the organization's
business. In those instances they never come to the attention of the
organization's key stakeholders or the general public via the news media.
In instances where the crisis already has erupted, or it is inevitable the
crisis will impact the organization's key stakeholders, a business
continuity plan is helpful to minimize the disruption and damage.
Developing such a plan can seem like a daunting task, but in actuality it
is a common-sense document. It involves identifying those functions and
processes that are critical to the business, then designing the
operational and communications contingency plans to deal with the
potential failure of one or more of them and how key stakeholders will
react when they find out.
Corporations with business continuity plans for responding to likely
disruptions will be in a better position to minimize the business impact
and financial damage. However, their executives find the process of
developing these plans has an indirect benefit. Their organizations are
more sensitive to possible crisis situations that could disrupt the
business and affect its operating expenses, profits and overall growth. As
a result their managers respond more rapidly and effectively to head them
off.
Book: Laurence Barton - Crisis in Organizations II -
Book: Steven Fink - Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable -
Compare with crisis management:
Root Cause Analysis |
Force Field Analysis |
Brainstorming |
Theory of
Constraints | Scenario Planning |
Game Theory |
Real Options
More communication management
models
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