Organizational Crisis

• A major unpredictable event that has the potential to severely damage the organization’s reputation among employees, stockholders, and the general public

Organizational Crisis

• Natural disasters• Malevolence• Technical breakdowns• Human Error• Environmental Damage• Misdeeds• Violence• Rumors

Organizational Crisis

• More Frequent and Serious

– Globalization has created complex webs of financing, manufacturing, and distribution

– Consumer and environmental groups carefully scrutinize business and government

– 24 hour Media/Internet• Bad news travels fast!

“Reputation is like fine china; fragile and easily broken”

- Benjamin Franklin

“If you lose money for the firm, I will be very understanding. If you lose reputation for the company, I will be ruthless.”

- Warren Buffet

Crisis Communication

• What the organization says to its employees, the media, the community, customers, suppliers, stockholders and creditors during and after the crisis

Crisis Communication

• Goals

– Protect affected groups

– Restore the organization’s image

Crisis Management and Communication

• Crisis Team

– Pre crisis planning

– Coordinates crisis management during the actual emergency

– Oversees crisis communication with various groups

Crisis Communication Strategies

Denial

– Organization does not acknowledge wrongful act or denies that a wrongful act occurred

– Simple Denial– Shifting the Blame

Evading Responsibility

– Organization attempts to avoid or diminish responsibility for the crisis

– Provocation– Defeasibility– Accident– Good Intentions

Crisis Communication Strategies

Reducing Offensiveness

– Organization tries to reduce degree of harm experienced by affected group.

– Bolstering– Minimization– Differentiation– Transcendence– Attack the Accuser– Compensation

Corrective Action

– Organization vows to correct the problem that created the crisis

• Restoration• Prevention

Mortification

- Organization admits responsibility for the crisis and asks for forgiveness

Effective Crisis Communication

• Use multiple strategies in concert with one another

• Support all strategies with strong reasoning and evidence

• Exercise visible leadership from the highest executives

• Identify target audiences and select strategies accordingly

Tylenol - 1982

Exxon Valdez - 1989

Effective Crisis Communication

Control– Determine goals and

develop agenda• Who is your specific

target audience(s)?

– Assert your agenda!

Confidence– Enter as an equal and

enthusiastic participant

Credibility– Ensure audience

believes your message

Effective Crisis Communication

Message Points– Concise thoughts, ideas, arguments and

impressions that you most want to leave with your audience

– Must be provable assertions that you can back up with facts

– Look to goals of your interview to formulate your message points

Structuring your presentation

• Introduction• Narrative (use strategies)• Use more strategies • Conclusion

Handling Questions

Answers should be clear and concise - free of organizational jargon- explain technical information in simple

language/use analogies

Don’t know the answers…- avoid “no comment”- don’t make things up - indicate that you will get the answers ASAP

Handling Questions

Be prepared for difficult, complicated questions- Ask questioner to clarify or you can restate- multipart questions, answer most favorable first - “If you dread it, you will get it”

Correct and challenge questions based on erroneous information

Multiple choice questions - make sure options are fair - don’t feel constrained