Crisis management is an important aspect of public relations. One of the jobs of a PR practitioner would be to manage and address crises.
A crisis can be defined as an extremely uncertain event to which the causes and effects are unknown. However, it is usually a major occurrence and may lead to negative outcomes for the organisation, its reputation, the industry, the public and even society as a whole. In a nutshell, it is something which poses a great threat to the company or organisation. Crises can be divided into several broad categories placed along an X and Y axis: 
External economic attacks: - Extortion - Bribery - Boycotts - Hostile takeovers Megadamage: - Environmental accidents Psycho: - Terrorism - Copycats - On-site/off-site sabotage - Kidnappings - Sexual harassment - Rumors External information attacks: - Copyright infringement - Loss of information - Counterfeiting - Rumors Breaks: - Recalls - Defects - Breakdowns - Operational errors - Poor security Crises also have a life cycle of sorts which can be divided into four main stages. At each stage, the form and level of management required to handle the crisis differs. Phase One: DETECTION If a crisis can be detected at an early stage or at best, identified before it even develops, it can easily be prevented. If a potential major crisis is stopped at this phase of its development, chances are that it won't even grow big enough to be classified as a "crisis" per say. Phase Two: PREVENTION Once a crisis has been identified in Phase One, measures can be implemented to prevent the crisis altogether. If the crisis is imminent, steps can be taken to minimize any damage that the crisis might bring. Phase Three: CONTAINMENT This is the most intense stage of the crisis where management is the most important. The crisis is already happening. Prevention is already impossible. The task of the PR team is not to handle the crisis as best as they can while minimizing damage caused by the issue. Phase Four: DAMAGE CONTAINMENT The aftermath. Damage has already been done. The only thing left to do is to prevent the damage from spreading even further. This is where all the legal procedures take place, after the actual crisis itself. The PR team will need to tread carefully when handing the media, government inquiry and such. Phase Five: RESOLUTION This is when the media concludes and publishes the entire story. The who, what,when, where and how are released to the public. If the PR team has screwed up the first four phases, there is nothing much that can be done here.
Hi Syaz,
ReplyDeleteThis chapter is refreshing as crisis management has never been discussed in the previous chapters. Crisis management is a significant part of public relations as the name itself suggests; maintaining good relationship with the public.
Of all the phases described in crisis management, I feel that containment and damage containment are the most difficult stages. Perhaps I can bring about more clarity regarding the difference between the two. Containment, as you said, is the most intense stage of a crisis. It involves dealing with the media coverage of the crisis. This is when the company involved has to decide what information to disclose to the media. Damage containment on the other hand is the aftermath of media coverage and at this point of time, PR practitioners have to be prepared to respond in an appropriate manner.
I feel that PR practitioners specializing in crisis management have the worst jobs as when crisis hits, it’s really stressful and mind-boggling. Not sure whether I would ever want to be caught in the middle of the organization, the media, and the public.
Hey Joane,
ReplyDeleteYes, I would definitely have to agree with you that a PR practitioner specializing in crisis management has one hell of a tough job.
He or she will have to be able to perform and think rationally under high-stress conditions and react quickly within a short amount of time.
Again, I think this is something that cannot be achieved simply by studying and training. Experience plays a very important part in determining how a PR practitioner will fare in such extreme situations.
However, I feel that even if a practitioner does not specialize in crisis management, he or she will still need to learn how to adapt to and handle crises. After all, crises usually occur when it is least expected. While preparation and prevention is good, I feel that handling the crisis itself is the most important aspect of the PR practitioner's job.