Crisis Management

Obviously, any company hopes not to countenance "situations causing a major business disruption which arouses extensive media coverage" (crisis). The public assessment that is a consequence from this media coverage frequently affects the usual operations of the company and can have a (negative) financial, legal, political and governmental impact. Extensive value destruction is to be feared of, particularly when the crisis is not managed well in the view of the media / public opinion. Crisis management handles with giving the right crisis response.

Some generic help and hints on crisis management

1. Prepare emergency plans beforehand (crisis management team and members can be created at very short period of time, rehearsing of crises of several types)

2. Instantly and clearly announce internally that the only persons to talk about the crisis to the external world are the crisis team members)

3. Move rapidly 

4. Use crisis management advisors (advice by objectivity of PR advisors is significant)

5. Give precise and right information (remember that trying to influence information will critically backfire if it is revealed, also internally!)

6. When deciding upon events and actions, take not only the short-term losses, but center also on long term effects.

Managers at all levels of the organization are worked to manage crises and often do so on a regular basis. Their skills are really checked when they have to deal with significant crises that have the potential to disturb the organization's value creation process, operating expenses, income sources, competitive position, stock price and ongoing business.

The effective crisis management takes place when potential crises are investigated and dealt with rapidly - before they can affect the organization's business. In those cases they never come to the notice of the organization's key stakeholders or the common public through the news media. 

Creating a Business Continuity Plan

In cases where the crisis already has exploded, or it is predictable the crisis will affect the organization's key stakeholders, a business continuity plan is useful to lessen the damage and disruption. Designing such a plan can seem as a daunting task, but in reality it is a common-sense task. It includes finding those functions and procedures that are important to the business, then developing the operational and communications emergency plans to deal with the potential failure of one or most of them and how key stakeholders will act when they find it out. A significant element that is at times overlooked is to examine the Business Continuity Plan.

Corporations with business continuity plans will be in a superior position to reduce the business impact and financial harm. Most of that, executives may discover that the process of developing these plans also has a roundabout advantage. Their organizations are highly sensitive to probable crisis conditions that could disturb the business and affect its profits, operating expenses and overall growth. Consequently their managers react more rapidly and efficiently to head them off.