Crisis Command: Strategies for Managing Corporate Crises

Is your organisation equipped with the necessary tools to respond quickly and effectively to any type of crises? A lack of a clear defined strategy can have far-reaching repercussions on revenue, incoming work and reputation. Ark Group's new Crisis Command report is a practical, how-to guide, packed with key strategies and realistic advice to help you prepare for and manage organisational crises. It provides valuable guidance on how to take command, how to communicate, how to work as a team facing unprecedented pressure and scrutiny, particularly from stakeholders, and how to emerge stronger. key case studies and contributions from researchers and expert practitioners around the world will also provide you with proven solutions and mechanisms used to respond to crises, overcome disaster and protect your firm. Areas covered: Examining the risks facing your firm in the current business climate; Evaluating the likelihood and severity of disruption; Establishing an appropriate crisis management plan; Refining and strengthening the main components of your plan; Regulatory imperatives; Internal factors to consider in effective crisis management planning; External factors to consider in effective crisis management planning; Overcoming the barriers to effective crisis management; Embedding a crisis communication plan into the culture of your firm; Testing and monitoring the plan to ensure ongoing resilience; Ensuring your plan is in line with business strategy; Communication strategies in the event of disruption; and Managing reputational risk; reducing damage and handling the press. Featured case studies: Singapore Airlines (2000); Mercury Energy, Auckland (2007); Arnott's biscuits, Australia (1997); Sizzler restaurants food poisoning scare, Brisbane (2006); Domino's Pizza, North Carolina (2009); and Woolworths supermarket (2006).

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Introduction What constitutes a crisis? An opportunity in a crisis? Crisis learning Costs of a crisis Power of stakeholders and public expectations Company financial losses from crises Corporate social responsibility (CSR) The move towards crisis preparation Features of crises Types of crises A framework for crisis management The future of crises Learning leadership Crisis command - collaboration and conflict resolution Q&A: views from the frontline Chapter 2: Handling the media The media - friend or foe? Media and organisational agendas Preparation and planning Managing perceptions The spokesperson's role - a guide Media conferences and interviews Backgrounders The organisation's website and the impact of social media Emotion and credibility versus logic and reasoning Q&A: views from the frontline How the media deal with crisis events Controlling the story line Chapter 3: Putting crisis management on the corporate agenda Management influential in crisis planning Team approach Corporate barriers to communication Crisis planning in dysfunctional organisations Persuading senior management to plan for a crisis Legal responsibility to plan for crises Possible impact on the financial bottom line Linking crisis preparation to corporate strategic planning Chapter 4: Building a crisis radar The RACE [radar, action, contain and evaluate] approach to issues management Crisis issues radar Responding to conflict Dealing with protests Issues triage - prioritising Impact and severity Plan a response Implement the plan Evaluate the overall response Tactics for responding to activists and lobby and pressure groups Responding to NIMBY or pressure groups The evolving web Case study: Mercury Energy's 72-hour media meltdown Case study: Domino's Pizza antics create a hot issue Case study: Woolworths supermarket giant versus Australian town Chapter 5: Leadership in developing a crisis response plan and implementation team Leadership for preparation Critical elements of a plan Crisis plan integration Auditing and review Testing organisational response Testing the plan Planning an exercise Exercise management Exercise debriefing and gap analysis Q&A: views from the frontline Exercise plan checklist External moderation Chapter 6: Crisis communication Basic principles of effective crisis communication Crisis communication priorities Communication planning The internet's role in crisis communication How public relations practitioners should use the internet Call centres - a crisis asset Switchboard operators and reception Ethics in crisis communication Case study: Singapore Airlines follows the 'put people first' principle Chapter 7: Working with other professionals and agencies Public safety and health Insurance The court of law versus the court of public opinion The crisis of court proceedings Human resources Police and other regulators Chapter 8: How to protect corporate reputation in a crisis Corporate reputation Enhancing reputation - matching levels of responsibility with levels of response Shielding reputation in a crisis Extortions pose extreme threat Case study: Arnott's - the case of the poisoned biscuits Case study: Sizzler restaurants - rat poison in the salad bar Q&A: views from the frontline Chapter 9: Human factors in a crisis Crisis and disaster myths Crisis leadership Disaster warnings - the right words Getting people to comply Using a mobile phone to verify information Problem solving and teamwork Previous experiences influence present behaviour Group influences Help for survivors Chapter summary Chapter 10: Learning lessons from a crisis Capturing the crisis lessons What is the current situation? Where does the organisation want to be - its vision? Goodwill, stakeholders and leadership for survival Scenario responses - putting crisis command to the test Index

About the Author :
Hamish McLean Grad Dip Arts (Dist), MA (Hons) After more than 10 years working as an editor and senior reporter for metropolitan and regional newspapers, Hamish ventured into the discipline of public relations where he worked at senior levels in police, emergency services and corrections for 10 years before starting his own agency, Maddison PR (http://www.maddisongroup.com). He currently consults to corporations mainly in the legal, law enforcement, health, aviation and technology sectors, and provides specialised risk communication and crisis management workshops for senior executives and corporate boards. His experience includes the asylum-seeker program on Nauru, managing significant international issues within the aviation industry and providing risk communication planning and crisis response for multinational organisations dealing with complex threats. He lectures in crisis communication at Bond University. Mary Power PhD (Griffith), LLM (Bond), MEd (Illinois), BA, Dip Ed, BEd (Melb)Mary researches, consults and teaches in areas relating to crisis management, conflict resolution and mediation, business communication and the politics of apologies. Her current interests are in conflict resolution in the building industry, prevention and management of crises, and communication and new technology with particular interests in public relations' use of the internet and mobile phone communication and avatars in relation to deaf people's communication. At Bond University Mary currently teaches attitudes, persuasion, leadership and conformity, communication theory, interpersonal communication, and corporate and community conflict resolution.