Management personae (personal issues, mistakes made, separation from the company)
Industrial accident, incl. IT system damages (caused by technical malfunction, people mistake or both)
Third-party malicious actions (unethical competition, hackers’ attack, robbery, “putting on a show”…)
Customer’s or partner’s dissatisfaction From the environment (natural, socio-political incl.
protests) M&A
crisis
Media
Institutions
Employees
Political powers
Public attention
distractionAccident
Syndicates
Lobbies
Competitors
NGO
Crisis inf.
Media
Institutions
Employees
Partners Society
Syndicates
Customers
NGO (incl. industry organizations)
The crisis prevention plans are usually industry specific but all of them include:- Definition (it is a communication crisis if it has or
could have an impact over the reputation).- The crisis could be classified according to the impact
expected (emphasis on loss of life): small, middle or big (additional classifications exist for example A, B, C, D-crisis)
- The teams involved and the positions to be informed- Core point: Action scenarios depending on the type of
crisis- Information flows and whistle-blowing should be part
of the prevention, too
Small Medium Big
PR/Communications manager (incl. Internal communications)
Manager in charge for the field of operation where crisis occurs
IT Legal +
Compliance
PR/Communications manager (incl. Internal communications)
Manager in charge for the field of operation where crisis occurs
Middle Management IT Legal + Compliance Employees
representative
PR/Communications manager (incl. Internal communications)
Production director / operational manager
C-Management (incl. Speaker)
IT Legal + Compliance Employees representative Risk manager
Positions marked in black are in charge of the coordination and team leadership
Point of crisis: whistle-blow system (procedure for early recognition of issues and information forwarding)
Crisis team (constant information sharing and coordination)
Information about the crisis must be given to:- GM/CEO/C-Management Board- Risk management if not involved- Mother company- Institutions (depending on the crisis)
It is not always that we can foresee all possible threats to our organization but the reactions in situations that are not included in our crisis plan are often based on the planned ones:- Definition: if reputation risk exists or there is a need of
statement we should treat the situation as crisis or issue
- Crisis team is gathered depending on the expected impact
- When possible: templates of statements are used, ready-to-use actions are implemented
- Involvement of media and involvement of external partners
Schedule for public statements and interviews (internal and external audiences)
External consultant in specific situations (for example with expertise for social media)
Q&A for the management Prevention and training, regular revision and re-
briefing regarding the issue management procedures within the organization
Involvement of external partners Reputation management before any crisis occurs Development of healthy media environment and
support of the journalists’ expertise improvement