Guidelines for dealing with a crisisPresentation by: Angela Lazarevska

Definition

The characteristics of GOOD crisis management are:• Open and clear in what the company is/ was

doing;• Open communications and pro active response.

The characteristics of BAD crisis management are:• Secretive;• Slow to response, and • Denying crisis.

Case study Nimber1:

Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103

• As revenge for the bombing of a Berlin nightclub where two U.S. personnel were killed, President Ronald Reagan ordered the bombing of Libya's capital Tripoli and the Libyan city of Benghazi in 1986.

• The two men whom investigators believe are the bombers were in Libya. Though the investigators were once confident that these two men were the bombers, there proved to be many holes in the evidence.

• On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 people on board as well as 11 on the ground.

• Bombing shattered America's sense of safety and security.

• The U.S. and the U.K. were angry that Qaddafi would not turn over the wanted men, so they approached the United Nation's Security Council for help.

Case study Number2:

Exxon Valdez oil spill

On March 24, 1989, a tanker belonging to the Exxon Corporation ran aground in the Prince William Sound in Alaska.

• The Exxon Valdez spilled millions of gallons of unpolished oil into the waters off Valdez, killing thousands of fish, fowl, and sea otters.

• The company did not appoint a public relations manager to its management team until 1993, 4 years after the incident.

• Exxon established its media center in Valdez, a location too small and too remote to handle the onslaught of media attention.

• The company acted defensively in its response to its publics, even laying blame, at times, on other groups such as the Coast Guard.

Case study Number3:

Ferry disaster, Belgium

"Herald of Free Enterprise is a funny name given that it was the pursuit of profit at the cost of safety that caused the accident.“

• Despite a calm sea and a clear view, the British ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized (overturned) on March 6, 1987 at ten past eight in the evening. The accident happened just off the Belgian coast, near the harbour of Zeebrugge from where the ferry had left.

• Belgian rescue workers arrived quickly and started saving the passengers with ships and helicopters. That night 408 people were saved and 50 dead bodies were taken from the Herald of Free Enterprise. In total the death toll would be nearly 200.

• The investigation concluded that the Townsend Thoresen board was "infected with sloppiness"

Case study Number4:

Chernobyl Power Plant

• April 26, 1986, a test was scheduled at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant to test a method of keeping the reactors properly cooled in the event of a power grid failure. If the test had gone as planned, the risk to the plant was very small.

• By 1986, the plant had been running for two years without the implementation of a method to keep the cooling pumps running continuously following an emergency shutdown.

• Power generator nearby unexpectedly shut down, necessitating the need for the Chernobyl plant to delay the test and continue producing power.

• Pripyat, a city nearby the power plant, was not immediately evacuated.

• Remarkably, numerous species have been reported to have adapted to their environment and have developed increased tolerance of radiation, making it possible for them to live with the radiation that is still prevalent in the soil and plants around the plant.

Crisis were not managed well!Material and immaterial effects from large-scale. Lots of people died, or had severe injuries.Reputation is lost!

Guidelines for dealing with a crisis

STEP BY STEP

• 1. Ensure that monitoring systems are efficient

• 2. Encourage customers to complain

• 3. Deal with complaints1, 2, 3…

• 4. Take failures seriously

• 5. Listen to customer views

• 6. Concede (accept) responsibility where necessary and appropriate

4, 5, 6…

• 7. Communicate quickly and effectively

• 8. Compensate customers fairly

7, 8.

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME!