Define Crisis Management
What is a Crisis?
Breakdown in a system that creates shared stress
What is Reputation Management?
Reputation: evaluation stakeholders make about an organization
An evaluation of organization based on direct and indirect interactions
Based on how stakeholders assess met (Or unmet) expectations
Threat to relationship = threat to reputation
Must address primary and secondary stakeholders
Any crisis will inflict some reputation damage
What is Risk Management?
is the process of identifying, assessing and controlling threats to an organization's capital and earnings.
What does it take to develop a Crisis Communication Plan?
Value, Components, Crisis Appendix
List all of the CCP Components?
Confidentiality Statement (R)
Rehearsal Dates (D)
Introduction (R)
Acknowledgment (D)
CMT Contact List (C)
Incident Report Form (D)
CMT Communication Strategy Worksheet (D)
Stakeholder Contact Worksheet (D)
Secondary Contact List (C)
Centralized External Communication (R)
Proprietary Information (R)
Technical Jargon Writing (R)
Crisis Control Center Designation (R)
What is a disaster when it comes to Crisis Management?
Events that are sudden, seriously disrupt routines of systems, require new courses of action to cope with the disruption, and pose a danger to values and social goals
What are the 4 Crisis Factors?
Prevention, Preparation, Response, Revision
What are two factors that drive risk-aversion decisions?
Cost and Crisis Prevention
Based upon what it takes to develop a comm plan, what do they all do?
Value
Orgs perform better when managers plan before acting
Value of CCP is as a reference tool, not a rigid plan
CCP helps reduce response time, create an organized response, reduces chaos/stress
Components
Documentation (D)
Contact information (C)
Reminders (R)
Crisis Appendix
Includes pre-collected information, templates, press kit, past crisis knowledge
What are the 3 main points in Crisis Dimensions? What do they do?
1. Perceived Salience
2. Immediacy
3. Uncertainty
Perceived salience
The greater the possible loss (impact) or probability of loss (likelihood), the greater the perceived salience
Perceived salience factors: trust, dread, proximity, susceptibility, control
Immediacy
The time pressure involved with the crisis
How quickly the crisis will hit
Degree of stakeholder pressure to take action
Uncertainty
The amount of ambiguity associated with a problem
What are the differences between a Crisis vs. Paracrisis
Crisis: creates some specific communicative demand for crisis managers
Paracrisis:
Situations where crisis managers must manage a crisis risk in full view of its stakeholders
Does not require activation of the crisis team
Does not disrupt the organization
Specific type of crisis warning sign
Empowered by visibility (think social media)
What are two things that Response does with being involved in Crisis Factors?
Application of preparation components
Very public
What are three important facts about Risk Management?
Attempts to reduce vulnerabilities faced by an organization (Smallwood, 1995)
Every organization faces a variety of risk factors
Internal rather than external focus
What are the 6 steps for Crisis Preparation?
1. Diagnosing vulnerabilities
2. Assessing crisis types
3. Selecting and training crisis management team
4. Selecting and training a spokesperson
5. Developing a crisis communication plan (CCP)
6. Reviewing the crisis communication system
What is the Form of Crisis Response?
Form Response:
Respond quickly
Contact external stakeholders quickly (the “golden hour”)
Primary risk is potential for inaccuracies
If you don’t get information to the media, someone else will
Speak with one voice
Coordinate efforts of official spokespersons; discourage unofficial spokespersons
Consistency is key to credibility
Transparency
Be available to the media
Be willing to disclose information
Be honest
Understand that full disclosure rarely happens
What do people need to know?
What is Crisis Management?
designed to ward off or reduce threats by providing guidance to properly handle crisis
How does Revision help with the Crisis Factors?
Evaluation of crisis response in simulated and real crisis
What does Issues Management do?
Issue: Problem whose resolution can impact the organization
proactive attempt to have issue decided in a way favorable to the organization
Classic model is Jones and Chase (1979)
Issue identification
Analysis
Change strategy
Action program
evaluation
Can involve changing the organization (ex. MCDonald’s)
What is Boyd's OODA Loop?
Observe, Orient, Decide, Act
What is the Strategy of Crisis Response?
Strategy Response:
Objectives
Target audience
Two broad target audiences: victims (typically primary stakeholders) and non-victims
Public messages are designed for non-victims
Communication channels
Find the channels and platforms that will reach your target audience
Advertising and websites allow crisis managers to directly state the crisis response (traditional approach)
Social media if: (1) crisis is transpiring on social media and/or (2) that’s where you can effectively reach your target
Remember social media can create an expectation for interaction
Immediate feedback
Social media monitoring is essential
What is an organizational crisis? Is it perceptual? Does it threaten relationships?
The perceived violation of salient stakeholder expectations that can create negative outcomes for stakeholders and/or other organizations. Yes, it is perceptual and it does threatens relationships.
What are the differences between Prevention and Preparation?
Prevention:
Unseen by the Public
Preparation:
Includes the Crisis Comm. Plan
Diagnosing Crisis Vulnerabilities
Selecting and training crisis management team/spokespersons
Refining crisis communication system
What is Coombs' three stage approach? What do the 3 stages do?
Precrisis
Signal detection
Prevention
Crisis preparation
Crisis Event
Crisis recognition
Crisis containment
Postcrisis
Make the organization better prepared
Make sure stakeholders are left with positive impression
Ensure crisis is truly over
What are the differences between Mitigation vs. Prevention? How does resistance work with this?
Mitigation lessens the effects and responds to red flags.
Where as Prevention has a hindrance; keeping something from occurring.
Resistance
Take actions to eliminate threat
Take actions to reduce likelihood of threat becoming a crisis
Holistic view of issues management, risk management, reputation management
What are 3 important ideas for Content of a Crisis Response? Explain?
Instructing information (physical harm)
Tell stakeholders how to protect themselves physically in the crisis
Satisfies the needs of the stakeholders and crisis team
Considers how the crisis affects business operations (business continuity)
Adjusting information (psychological well-being)
Stakeholders need to know the what, when, where, why and how of the crisis
Corrective action reassures stakeholders that their safety is a priority
Reputation management
Image repair theory