Crisis Management

Question 1

What is crisis management

Answer 1

Crisis management is a systematic process by which an organization attempts to effectively identify potential crisis that an organization may encounter and plan how to manage them in such a way to minimize the effects of the crisis

Question 2

What are the different types of crisis?

Answer 2

Preventable, unpreventable, external, internal, intentional, unintentional

Performance, disaster, attack, moral

Sudden and smoldering

Question 3

What is the difference between past crises and present crises

Answer 3

Past:
Threat, urgency, and uncertainty

Severe; accident

Present:
Dismantling of key references

Series of systematic implosions

To be expected in dynamic and complex ecosystems

Disruptive events

Question 4

Examples of crises

Answer 4

COVID-19 pandemic (2020)

Volkswagen (2015)

BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill (2010)

Hurricane Katrina August 2005

9/11 terrorist attack

Tylenol 1982

Question 5

Tynlenol 1982 case study

Answer 5

Tylenol was manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, the US leading painkiller. Cyanide was introduced to packets of Tylenol.
Six people died.
All stock were recalled immediately.
The product re-launched in tamper proof, containers and heavy advertising featured the new packaging rather than simply stating Tylenol was safe.
The incident was costly, but marketshare quickly regained.

Question 6

What are examples of sudden crisis

Answer 6

Product tampering
Sabotage
Plant explosion
Natural disaster
Terrorist attack
Workplace violence
Hostile takeover
Executive kidnapping
Environmental spill
Technology disruption

Question 7

What are examples of smoldering crisis

Answer 7

Product defects
Bribery
Sexual harassment
Scandals/rumors
Workplace safety
Consumer activism
Mismanagement
Whistleblowing
Class action lawsuits
Labor disputes

Question 8

Features of a crisis

Answer 8

Involve a wide range of stakeholders

Time pressures ➡️ urgent response

Crisis usually results from a surprise to an organization

High degree of ambiguity

Significant threat to an organization strategic goals

Question 9

What are the phases of a crisis

Answer 9

Signal detection

Preparation/prevention

Containment/damage control

Business recovery

Learning

Question 10

What is signal detection

Answer 10

Vulnerable areas, small warnings = crisis

Ignore situation/practices/systems = crisis

Question 11

What is preparation/prevention

Answer 11

Crisis management plan in place
Resource allocation
Culture of readiness

Question 12

What is containment/damage control

Answer 12

Damage limitation strategy
Reduce negative impact
How is crisis information controlled?
Stakeholders most affected
Consider the golden hour of crisis response

Question 13

What is business recovery

Answer 13

Short term and long-term recovery plans

Business recovery strategy

Communication of end results of this phase

Question 14

What is learning

Answer 14

What the organization learned

Were there any behavior changes

Has organization developed a “memory” so as to prevent future crisis

Communicate to the public

Restore confidence in your company

Question 15

What is the impact of social media?

Answer 15

Blurring boundaries – personal vs professional

Develop a company-wide social media policy

Social media as a crisis monitoring tool

“Response – ability” of social media ➡️ develop a framework for response

Social media crisis team “war room”

Develop a social media crisis tool kit (e.g. preapproved, templates for tweets, posts)

Ensure that employees are prepared in advance – NB consistent message

Establish the appropriate tone for situation/context at hand

Ensure that all social media platforms are under the umbrella of crisis communications

Honesty and transparency