Crisis management proposal 2 (1)

EFFECTIVELY HANDLING CRISES

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EFFECTIVLEY HANDLING CRISES IN AN ORGANIZATION

By: Kyzia Wint Public Relations March 17, 2017

EFFECTIVELY HANDLING CRISES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract………………………………………………………………………………page 3 Introduction……………………………………………………………………..........page 3 Common Mistakes Made in Crisis Management………………………………….....page 4 Social Media & Its Effects on Crisis Management…………………………………..page 6 Successful Crisis Management Cases………………………………………………..page 7 Unsuccessful Crisis Management Cases……………………………………………..page 7 Conclusion: One can you learn from this…………………………………………….page 8 Glossary………………………………………………………………………………page 9 References……………………………………………………………………………page 10

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ABSTRACT In Public Relations, crisis management is a very important tool that seems to be the one area that companies and organizations lack knowledge and information in. The lack of preparation and knowledge when dealing with a crisis can lead to a tarnished reputation of an organization. In this proposal I will cover the ways to prevent mistakes in crisis management by covering successful and unsuccessful crisis management cases, and ways to use social media in times of crises. This will give organizations/companies the tools to effectively handle crises.

Effectively Handling Crises in an Organization

INTRODUCTION Crises are uncontrollable and can happen at any moment, but the way you handle a crisis can determine the future of your company. Many companies lack knowledge in the department of crisis management, and when they end up facing a crisis they do not know what to do or how to handle it. By the end of this proposal I hope that companies will gain more knowledge in crisis management and will eventually be prepared to effectively handle any unfortunate crises that may occur.

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COMMON MISTAKES MADE IN CRISIS MANAGEMENT When a crisis arises it is very important for a company to be both quick and effective. Some companies make the mistake of being quick but not effective. Through panic and distress some companies make irrational decisions that could be very detrimental to their company. Having a crisis management plan and team in place eliminates a lot of problems that would arise otherwise. A lot of companies make the mistake in crisis management by either poor or no pre planning for a crisis. When establishing a company or organization it is beneficial to have a plan in place for all of the “what-ifs.” If you own a restaurant you would want to make a crisis management plan beforehand for all the problems that could occur. For example, your coffee could burn a customer’s hand; having a crisis management plan at the time of the crisis on what to do if a customer gets injured, will very beneficial. This will make the crisis management process run smooth, and cause less stress.

In the essay Contemporary Problems Related to Crisis Management in Organizations written by student M. Kuzmanova, Kuzmanova lists six mistakes businesses make in the area of crisis management.

1. Underestimating the risks related to the symptoms 2. Underestimating the damage inflicted by the crisis on the various groups of stakeholders and as a result on the organizations reputation 3. The decision-making process is slowed down, despite the unfolding crisis processes 4. Insufficient analysis of the key business process in the organization affected by the crisis 5. The organization underestimates the lessons from the acquired negative experience based on crisis-related decisions

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6. There is a lack of reserve resources which can facilitate the process of tackling the crisis, among other problems.

All in all, he is saying that the lack of preparation and underestimating your crisis can cause crisis management related problems.

A real world example of a company that underestimated their crisis and chose to be quick but not effective was the brand Samsung. In late 2016 the brand Samsung released their new phone The Note 7, but shortly after they released the phones were catching fire and blowing up. This a major safety hazard so they issued a recall on all of the Note 7’s, but a few weeks later they reissued new phones, and the new phones were also catching fire. Samsung recalled again, and then a few weeks later reissued another set of new phones. Customer’s shortly after the third reissue started to report their new phone’s blowing up, so Samsung did one final recall, and closed off all production of the Note 7’s. Because of Samsung releasing new phones in a quick manner without figuring out the source of the problem, they kept running into the same problem, which almost tarnished their reputation. When a company focuses on short term fix and not implement how it can turn into a long term fix, situations like what the company Samsung went through will occur. Being quick but effective and having crisis management plans in place is key in handling crises. There are all types of crises and negative events that can happen within your company but it is up to you to figure out what that is and have a plan of action on how you will handle and fix it before it even occurs.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND ITS EFFECTS ON CRISIS MANAGEMENT

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With the rise of social media in the 21st century, it is imperative that companies handle crises in a quick but effective manner. Social media is extremely accessible, and because of this, information tends to spread at a faster rate than before. So getting ahead of your crisis is very important, within the first moments or before your crisis even occurs. In the 4th edition of the book Crisis Communications: A Casebook Approach, Kathleen Fearn-Banks mentions that “In early 2010, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were the most utilized by crisis communicators and public relations professionals.” Social media can be used as a tool to help your company in many ways. Social media is the perfect tool for a company to quickly communicate and update their stakeholders when a crisis arise. In the beginning stages of a crisis through social media a company should be able to inform their stakeholders on the crisis and their plans on how to fix it.

During a crisis social media can be extremely beneficial, but sometimes it can hurt it as well and potentially create a crisis of its own. In the beginning stages of a crisis through social media a company should be able to inform their stakeholders on the crisis and their plans on how to fix it.

Social media is a fast way to update your stakeholders and keep them informed.

Having good management over your company’s social media accounts is very important. Social media posts can spread extremely fast so having a person you trust run your accounts is crucial.

Early in 2017 Yahoo Finance tweeted instead of “Trump wants a bigger navy” “Trump wants a nigger navy”, this was just a senseless typo, but this tweet created a lot of controversy. Although Yahoo deleted the post, the saying is true, what you put on social media is out there forever.

Yahoo issued a statement apologizing but still received negative feedback and comments on social media.

Although social media does not seem very serious it is. Editing is very important because once you post something all of your followers will see it, so double checking your posts is critical.

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One bad posting can create a whole new crisis for a company and social media is meant to help and not hurt the reputation of a company.

SUCCESSFUL CRISIS MANAGEMENT CASES In 1982, seven people died after taking the Johnson & Johnsons brand Tylenol’s extra-strength capsules. This was a huge public relations crisis because no one new how or why people were dying from this. Johnson & Johnson decided to recall and remove all of the pill bottles off the shelves, and to immediately stop all production and advertising of the product so they can investigate. They later on discovered that a civilian was going in stores and lacing the pills with cyanide, causing these deadly crises. From this Johnson & Johnson brought the product back with the first ever tamper-resistant packaging for pills. They were able to successfully renew their reputation through their crisis management strategies and here’s why: 1. They thought about their customers first, and issued a huge recall on their product.

2. They investigated the crisis until they figured out what caused it.

3. They were quick in handling the problem AND efficient by figuring out what they can do so this problem will not happen again. They did this by implementing the short term fix into a long term fix 4. They were able to make a come-back and recover their reputation by creating the first ever tamper-resistant packaging.

UNSUCCESSFUL CRISIS Although Johnson & Johnson had a successful crises story some companies were not that fortunate. In 2010 the company British Petroleum better known as BP, had experienced an

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explosion in one of their oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico and for 87 days straight, oil and methane gas was released from an uncapped well head into the ocean. This is known as one of the worst environmental disasters, eleven people were killed and 17 people were injured. Beaches were ruined, fisherman lost their jobs and sea creatures were dying. The CEO of BP said in an interview during the crisis “I’d like my life back.” The company also failed to provide the public and their stakeholders with information, and update them. This brought a lot of negative attention to the company. This where BP went wrong in their crisis management strategy: 1. They were not sensitive to all of those affected by the spill 2. The CEO was publicly and verbally insensitive about the spill 3. They did not update and keep the stakeholders informed This incident and poor handling of the crisis reflected poorly on the company and ruined their reputation.

CONCLUSION Dealing with a crisis you have two outcomes. It can either be a successful outcome or an unsuccessful one. With the right preparation, and knowledge of crises and how to handle them companies have the option on effectively overcoming their crisis at hand.

EFFECTIVELY HANDLING CRISES GLOSSARY

CEO- a chief executive officer, the highest-ranking person in a company or other institution, ultimately responsible for making managerial decisions.

Crisis- a time of intense difficulty, trouble or danger Crisis Communication- a sub-specialty of the public relations profession that is designed to protect and defend an individual, company, or organization facing a public challenge to its reputation.

Crisis Management- the process by which a business or other organization deals with a sudden emergency situation.

Organization- an organized body of people with a particular purpose, especially a business, society, association, etc.

Public Relations- the professional maintenance of a favorable public image by a company or other organization or a famous person.

Reputation- the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something.

Social Media- websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

Stakeholder- a person, group or organization that has interest or concern in an organization.

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REFERENCES Kuzmanova, M. (2016). Contemporary problems related to crisis management of organizations.

Trakia Journal of Science, 14(3), 256-261. doi:10.15547/tjs.2016.03.010 Fearn-Banks, K. (2011). Crisis Communications: A Casebook Approach (Vol. 4). New York, NY: Routledge.

Griffin, D. (2015, April). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/14/us/gulf-oil-spill-unknowns/ Case Study: The Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Crisis. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from https://www.ou.edu/deptcomm/dodjcc/groups/02C2/Johnson%20&%20Johnson.htm Griffin, T. (2017, January 6). Black Twitter Roasted Yahoo Finance After The “Nigger Navy” Typo Tweet. Retrieved March 17, 2017, from https://www.buzzfeed.com/tamerragriffin/yahoofinance-nigger-navy-typo?utm_term=.jvx7yd8ED#.rwOXkKGPY