Reference no: EM132195901

Overview

This project is the creation of a crisis management plan (CMP).

A CMP is a living document that is updated regularly as society, technology, culture, and organizations change. For example, in 1990, K-12 schools and universities would not have listed "school shootings" at the top of the list of possible threats to their organizations, if they considered school shootings at all.

In 1999, Columbine High School experienced the worst high school shooting in U.S. history, and everything changed. Today, any educational institution that does not have a CMP that includes training for prevention, preparation, response, recovery, and mitigation of school shootings would be considered negligent in their responsibilities to their internal and external stakeholders.

To address crises, emergencies, and other threatening incidents, a CMP should be developed. This plan is created and updated by the crisis management team. The CMP typically lists the possible threats to an organization, the procedures to be implemented in the event of a crisis, and the internal and external stakeholders who are key to successful crisis management.

If you are pursuing a career in crisis leadership, crisis management, crisis communication, emergency preparedness, or related fields, the development of a CMP is a necessary and vital skill. Therefore, for this project, you will develop a CMP for a chosen real-world organization that does not currently have one in place.

Your CMP will include an analysis of the threat(s) to the organization, recommendations of appropriate strategies to respond to the threat(s), and a plan for the organization to resume operations after the potential crisis.

In addition, your CMP will include an explanation of how the plan will be evaluated, should the potential crisis occur.

In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:

Develop crisis management plans for leading organizations in crisis preparation and response through the application of best practices of crisis management

Assess the roles and functions of crisis management teams for their importance in the development and implementation of crisis management plans

Determine appropriate strategies and tactics that can be used to prepare for, prevent, or mitigate crises by analyzing possible threats to organizations

Evaluate the communication needs of internal and external stakeholders by applying crisis communication principles to engage stakeholders before, during, and after crisis

Synthesize theory and research in emergency preparedness and crisis management, leadership, and communication for developing, maintaining, and evaluating crisis management plans

Prompt

The crisis management plan should answer the following prompt: Imagine that you are a member of a crisis management team charged with developing a crisis management plan for a potential crisis.

You must select an organization that does not currently have a CMP in place and determine the potential threat(s) to the organization and appropriate strategies to respond to the threat(s). Then, you will develop a plan for the organization to respond to the potential crisis and to resume operations after the crisis. In addition, you will describe how the CMP will be evaluated, should the potential crisis occur.

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

Introduction: Explain why the CMP is important for the organization. What potential crisis is this plan in response to?

Schedule: Describe the planned schedule for practicing the CMP. Your schedule should be based on current best practices in crisis management.

Crisis Control Center: Describe the location of the crisis control center In other words, where will the crisis management team rehearse for crises and gather when a crisis hits? Ensure that the location you select is equipped with the communications technology necessary to communicate with all stakeholders during a crisis.

Crisis Management Team

Members: Identify the crisis management team members. What role(s) and function(s) will each team member fulfill?

Development: Assess the importance of the crisis management team in the development of the CMP.

Implementation: Assess the importance of the crisis management team in the implementation of the CMP.

Risk Assessment

Threat: Analyze the threat to the organization. What is the probability of the threat occurring? What impact will the threat have if it does occur? Support your analysis with academic and professional references.

Preparation and Prevention: What strategies and tactics could the organization employ to prepare for or prevent a potential crisis that arises from the threats?

Mitigation: What strategies and tactics could the organization employ to mitigate a crisis that arises from the threat after it has occurred?

Incident

Procedures: Develop a plan to be implemented during a crisis, if a critical incident was to occur. In other words, what procedures should be put in place during a crisis that happens as a result of the threat to the organization? Be sure to support your plan with best practices in crisis management.

Contingencies: Using current research in emergency preparedness and crisis management to inform your response, describe the contingencies that might occur as a result of the crisis. How can your crisis management plan account for these?

Crisis Communication

Spokesperson: Identify the key spokesperson who will communicate with all stakeholders in the event of a crisis. Why was this person chosen? Use crisis communication principles to support your explanation of why the key spokesperson was chosen.

Stakeholders: Identify the primary stakeholders who are not part of the crisis management team. How will the crisis management team communicate with these stakeholders before, during, and after the crisis? Which crisis communication principles support your explanation?

Procedures: How are the communication needs of internal and external stakeholders different in the crisis? How will you engage both groups? Describe the procedures you will use to communicate with both groups.

Business Resumption: Outline the steps you recommend to help the organization resume normal operations after the crisis. Your recommendations should be based on current best practices in crisis management.

Evaluation

Maintenance: How will you maintain the crisis management plan before it is implemented? What processes can you put in place to ensure that the plan remains current? Support your response with academic and professional references.

Implementation: How will you evaluate the crisis management plan if it needs to be implemented in a crisis? What criteria will you use to determine its effectiveness? Support your response with academic and professional references.