Irrespective of how well-developed a crisis plan and how effectively it is implemented, if a company fails to effectively communicate the measures taken, stakeholders may still perceive the organization as unconcerned or uncaring. Thus, crisis management is both a question of the stakeholders' perceptions and a matter of recovery.
Organizations that have developed over time solid relationships with their stakeholders and a strong brand have higher chances of recovering after a crisis. However, brand image comprises various elements such as performance, governance, social policies, and ethics all of which fluctuate and hinge on the perceptions of diverse constituencies such as employees, consumers, investors, or public opinion who react vis-à-vis brands (Vernier, 2008).
Building relationships with stakeholders and emphasizing good will increase the chances of successful crisis management. Today, the crisis management strategies need to involve two elements that could prove to be challenging: the new media or the citizen journalism and the environment. Communities in which corporations operate expect them to be environmental friendly and thus, the former need to incorporate environmental issues into their organizational lore. Concern for the environment cannot occur in a vacuum, but rather it should be "a logical extension of an enterprise-wide culture of environmental management and stewardship that factor into an organization's overall corporate reputation and brand identity" (Oltmanns, 2008). If corporations include concern for the environment only at the moment when they are compelled by circumstances to face a crisis, they risk being perceived as insincere and disingenuous (Oltmanns, 2008). In order to integrate environmental issues into their lore, organizations should demonstrate environmental leadership (be committed to sound environmental management practices) and establish credible environmental partnerships (take active roles in the agenda and programs of environmental organizations) -- (Oltmanns, 2008).
Another factor of challenge but also of opportunity is the internet. Today's Web 2.0 changed the way organizations respond to crisis by limiting their time for preparation and by transforming disgruntled and angry voices into "experts" writing on blogs, whose credibility may not be questioned while their identity is cloaked (Bridgeman, 2008). In order to transform the challenge of the new media and of the citizen journalism into an opportunity in times of crisis, organizations should be ready to change their Q&A type of response from a decade ago into an online dialogue. Effective crisis communication in the Web 2.0 era requires that organizations apportion time and resources into engaging in dialogue with stakeholders, disgruntled consumers, but also with total strangers, supporters or detractors, etc. By engaging in dialogue with various constituencies, organizations allow them to take part in the crisis management process which, in turn renders the organizations as "caring" and "open" and may attract new consumers. Yet, it is important to note that, in times of crisis, managers from various corporate departments should be willing to engage in online dialogues and thus be prepared to regard the Web 2.0 as a medium that provides conversation and not debate (Oltmanns, 2008).
The importance that Web 2.0 and the environment play in the crisis management response should be analyzed using various case studies that could compare organizational responses from the perspective of the SCCT (Situational Crisis Communication Theory, Coombs-2002) or the Theory of Image Restoration Discourse (Benoit, 1995)and by having as units of analysis the online interaction between the organization's representatives and its stakeholders. Such a content analysis could determine the effectiveness of the crisis management response and add on the existing crisis management literature.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Ulmer, R.R., Sellnow, T.L., & Seeger, M.W. (2007). Effective crisis communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications
Unique moments in the history of an organization that can create high levels of uncertainty and threaten an organization's high-priority goals, crises, if managed through effective communication skills, can create opportunities of renewal (Ulmer, Sellnow, & Seeger, 2009).
However, most of the crisis managers tend to focus on the financial and emotional distress that crises may engender instead of concentrating on the positive changes that effective crisis management can bring about. Sitkin (1996) argued that failure for example, is essential in the learning process of an organization. Yet, not all failures are conducive to effective risk management- rganizations learn best from intelligent failures, which have the following characteristics: they result from carefully planned actions, are modest in scale, are responded to with alacrity, and take place in domains that are so familiar as to permit efficient learning. Consequently, after each crisis, or during small failures that take place in the process of risk management, organizations have the opportunity to collect information and to critically analyze it, thus contributing through their results and experience to the organizational memory.. Additionally, vicarious learning also contributes to the organizational experience and expertise- the concept refers to acquiring information about crises that struck similar organization in the past.
Though it may sound contradictory, an organization that does not engage in an unlearning process, cannot successfully engage in crisis management that leads to renewal. Specifically, since organizations exist in an environment that is changing incessantly, they have to continuously adapt to the expectations that are extant in the macrosystem. Therefore, strategies and tactics that may have worked effectivelz in past crises, may not be effective in future ones. Being willing "to unlearn" obsolete responses to crises can thus be conducive to renewal.
It is important to point out that organizations that did not set strong ethical standards and did not develop mutual beneficial relationships with their stakeholders prior to the crisis, may find it hard to frame the crisis in such a way so that they can transform it into an opportunity. Moreover, for the opportunity of renewal to arise, the crisis response should go beyond shifting the blame or escaping blame. (e.g., the effective response in the case of the plant fire at Malden Mills).
The crisis management literature emphasizes the importance of a clear message that the spokesperson should deliver. Yet, the authors suggest that, until the circumstances of the event are unbeknowst to the management, the response should entail elements of uncertainty so that a later response can be adapted as new information comes to surface. The use of ambiguity in crisis responses is ethical as long as it contributes to a better understanding of the event by allowing for several interpretations and views until more pieces of information about who/what caused the tragic event come to light.
For an organization to face opportunity of renewal, it also needs to deliver a crisis response that balances the technological-centered approach with the dialogue-centered approach, thus opting to both listen to the voices of the stakeholders and provide scientific and reliable details.
Moving beyond the negative aspects of a crisis is a laborious process whose onset is traced in the values of the company, its relationships with its primary and secondary stakeholders but also in its leadership (authoritarian, democratic, laissez-fair, or contingent). Lastly, there are seven major potential positive results that a crisis can lead to(Meyers & Holusha, 1986):
1. Heroes are born.
2. Change is accelerated.
3. Latent problems are faced.
4. People are changed (a crisis shakes the system of values/beliefs)
5. New strategies evolve (organizational memory).
6. Early warning systems develop.
7. New competitive advantages appear.
However, most of the crisis managers tend to focus on the financial and emotional distress that crises may engender instead of concentrating on the positive changes that effective crisis management can bring about. Sitkin (1996) argued that failure for example, is essential in the learning process of an organization. Yet, not all failures are conducive to effective risk management- rganizations learn best from intelligent failures, which have the following characteristics: they result from carefully planned actions, are modest in scale, are responded to with alacrity, and take place in domains that are so familiar as to permit efficient learning. Consequently, after each crisis, or during small failures that take place in the process of risk management, organizations have the opportunity to collect information and to critically analyze it, thus contributing through their results and experience to the organizational memory.. Additionally, vicarious learning also contributes to the organizational experience and expertise- the concept refers to acquiring information about crises that struck similar organization in the past.
Though it may sound contradictory, an organization that does not engage in an unlearning process, cannot successfully engage in crisis management that leads to renewal. Specifically, since organizations exist in an environment that is changing incessantly, they have to continuously adapt to the expectations that are extant in the macrosystem. Therefore, strategies and tactics that may have worked effectivelz in past crises, may not be effective in future ones. Being willing "to unlearn" obsolete responses to crises can thus be conducive to renewal.
It is important to point out that organizations that did not set strong ethical standards and did not develop mutual beneficial relationships with their stakeholders prior to the crisis, may find it hard to frame the crisis in such a way so that they can transform it into an opportunity. Moreover, for the opportunity of renewal to arise, the crisis response should go beyond shifting the blame or escaping blame. (e.g., the effective response in the case of the plant fire at Malden Mills).
The crisis management literature emphasizes the importance of a clear message that the spokesperson should deliver. Yet, the authors suggest that, until the circumstances of the event are unbeknowst to the management, the response should entail elements of uncertainty so that a later response can be adapted as new information comes to surface. The use of ambiguity in crisis responses is ethical as long as it contributes to a better understanding of the event by allowing for several interpretations and views until more pieces of information about who/what caused the tragic event come to light.
For an organization to face opportunity of renewal, it also needs to deliver a crisis response that balances the technological-centered approach with the dialogue-centered approach, thus opting to both listen to the voices of the stakeholders and provide scientific and reliable details.
Moving beyond the negative aspects of a crisis is a laborious process whose onset is traced in the values of the company, its relationships with its primary and secondary stakeholders but also in its leadership (authoritarian, democratic, laissez-fair, or contingent). Lastly, there are seven major potential positive results that a crisis can lead to(Meyers & Holusha, 1986):
1. Heroes are born.
2. Change is accelerated.
3. Latent problems are faced.
4. People are changed (a crisis shakes the system of values/beliefs)
5. New strategies evolve (organizational memory).
6. Early warning systems develop.
7. New competitive advantages appear.
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