Issues Management

A process by which organizations identify issues in the stakeholder environment, analyze

and prioritize those issues in terms of their relevance to the organization, plan responses to the issues, and then evaluate and monitor

the results.

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Issues Management: Conventional Approach

Conventional Approach

•Narrowly focused.

•Issues fall within the domain of public policy or public affairs management.

•Issues have a public policy/public affairs orientation.

•Any trend, event, controversy, or public development that might affect the corporation.

•Issues originate in social, political, regulatory, or judicial environments.

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Issues Management: Strategic Management Approach

Strategic Management Approach•Broadly inclusive.

•Is typically the responsibility of senior line management or strategic management staff.

•Issues identification is more important than it is in the conventional approach.

•Issues management is seen as an approach to the anticipation and management of external/internal challenges to the company strategies, plans, and assumptions.

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Strategic Issue Management

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Issues

Issue•A matter that is in dispute between parties.

•The dispute evokes debate, controversy, or differences of opinion.

The “portfolio approach” of issues management helps firms to prioritize and focus resources on the most important issues.

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Emerging Issues

Characteristics of an emerging issue

Terms of the debate are not clearly defined

Issue deals with matters of conflicting values and interest

Automatic resolution is not available

Issue is often stated in value-laden terms

Trade-offs are inherent

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Issues Management Process

Basic Assumptions

•Issues can be identified earlier, more completely, and more reliably.

•Early anticipation:• Widens the range of options.

• Permits study and understanding of the full range of issues.

• Permits organization to develop a positive orientation towards the issues.

•Organization will have earlier identification of the stakeholders.

•Organization will be able to supply information to influential publics earlier and more positively, creating better understanding.

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Identification of Issues (continued)

Leading forces as predictors of social change

•Events

•Authorities/advocates

•Literature

•Organizations

•Political jurisdictions

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Analysis of Issues

• Who (which stakeholder) is affected by the issue?

• Who has an interest in the issue?• Who is in a position to exert influence?• Who has expressed opinions on the issue?• Who ought to care about the issue?

To help with issue analysis:• Who started the ball rolling? (Historical view)• Who is now involved? (Contemporary view)• Who will get involved? (Future view)

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Ranking or Prioritization of Issues

Two essential questions

1.1. How likely is the issue to affect the How likely is the issue to affect the organization?organization?

2.2. How much impact will the issue have?How much impact will the issue have?

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Crisis Management

To manage a crisis, one first must understand that crisesOccur abruptlyCannot always be anticipatedMay not occur within a specific issue category

Good issues management is a form of pre-crisis planning and can help stave off crises.

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Crisis Management

We are in the era of the mega-crisis

•Enron, WorldCom, Arthur Andersen, Tyco, and others accused of financial scandals and malfeasance.

•Firestone and Ford were implicated in massive tire recalls due to faulty tires.

•Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme defrauded thousands of investors out of billions of dollars.

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The Nature of Crises

Crisis definitions

•An extreme event that may threaten your very existence. At the very least, it causes substantial injuries, deaths, and financial costs, as well as serious damage to your reputation.

•An organizational crisis is a low-probability, high-impact event that threatens the viability of the organization and is characterized by ambiguity of cause, effect, and means of resolution, as well as by a belief that decisions must be made swiftly.

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Crisis Management

Rules of crisis management:

1.Don’t wait

2.Don’t run from the truth

3.Don’t hide

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Successful Crisis Management

• Being prepared for a crisis helps companies get their acts together and respond more quickly, with less damage.

• Being prepared for one type of crisis provides valuable learning for when other types of crises strike.

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