Apr Flashcards For Accreditation 2012-Crisis Communication & Management

Front 1

Steps in Crisis Communication Management

Back 1

1. Identify the team
2. Create the plan
3. Keep the plan current
4. In the event of crisis, determine the kind

Front 2

What are the types of crisis?

Back 2

Two main categories: violent or nonviolent

Front 3

What is a violent crisis?

Back 3

Violent crises involve a cataclysmic loss of life and/or property.

Front 4

What is a nonviolent crisis?

Back 4

Nonviolent crises are often financial, but not always.

Some crises are on-going, lasting for months or even years.

Front 5

Steps of information dissemination:

Back 5

1. Inform employees and your internal audience first.
2. Demonstrate concern and communicate what the organization is doing or planning to do to solve the problem.
3. Anyone who works for the organization is likely to become a source, whether intentionally or not. Be sure to caution employees against becoming spokespeople, even inadvertently, and remind them to route any media contacts to your media relations department.
4. Keep employees informed so they don't resort to speculation that generates rumors.
5. Rumors can sometimes create more damage than the initial crisis.

Front 6

As the crisis unfolds

Back 6

1. Make adjustments to policies and strategies as needed to arrest the crisis;
2. Seek public support as needed;
3. Make changes in policies and strategies as needed to speed recovery from the effects of the crisis;
4. Seek to re-establish the operation of the organization to the level it had before the crisis, or even better, as soon as possible.
5. Set clear expectations and timelines for updates. Stick to them, even if the update is that there is no change.

Front 7

Post crisis

Back 7

Evaluate and update the crisis management/communication plan.

Front 8

What are the different types of crises?

Back 8

Immediate
Emerging
Sustained

Front 9

What is an immediate crisis?

Back 9

Immediate crises are often the natural disaster or major emergency type, such as earthquakes, fires, crimes, or accidents.

There is often little opportunity for specific research and planning.

However a general plan can often be in place and implemented to effectively reduce damage and enhance a situation.

Front 10

What is an emerging crisis?

Back 10

Emerging crises are those that allow more time for analysis and specific planning.

These may include employee dissatisfaction, opposition by various groups, budget reductions, or customer migration from a company.

Often these situations can be anticipated and minimized at early stages. Public relations leaders should inform other managers of situations that are not at the full crisis stage yet, but if left untreated could become major problems.

Front 11

What is a sustained crisis?

Back 11

Sustained crises involve situations that won’t go away and may linger for years.

Dealing with rumors is a prime example. Especially in today’s archived society, an organizational rumor (even if untrue) is virtually impossible to erase from the news outlet databases and other locations searchable
through the Internet. Again, the best solution for these negative situations is to stop them early whenever possible.

Front 12

Broom also suggests that preparations address key steps outlined below by Crisis Management Expert Jim
Lukaszewski

Back 12

1. Identify what can go wrong and become highly visible.
2. Assign priorities on which vulnerabilities are most urgent.
3. Draft questions, answers and resolutions for potential scenarios.
4. Focus on what to do and say during the first critical hours of a crisis.
5. Develop a strategy to contain and counteract, not react and respond (Broom, 2009, EPR, pp. 314-
315).

Front 13

Seitel (2011) reports that being prepared is the key to effective crisis management. Seitel cites four paramount
issues to consider in crisis planning. What are they?

Back 13

• Define the risk for each potentially impacted audience or public.
• Describe the actions that will mitigate each risk defined.
• Identify the cause of the risk; and
• Demonstrate responsible management action.

Front 14

Describe the public relations planning process

Back 14

Public relations employs a planning process that is deliberate,
performance-based,
in the public interest and
involves two-way communications
and ethical practices.

Front 15

What are Porter's 5 Forces?

Back 15

Porter’s 5 Forces is a tool that helps assess where power and weaknesses lie and assumes that there are five important forces that affect competition:
supplier power,
buyer power,
competitive rivalry,
threat of substitution and
threat of new entry.

Front 16

What are cause and effect diagrams?

Back 16

The Cause and Effect Diagrams, sometimes called Fishbone Diagrams, help managers analyze a
particular problem by thinking through the reasons a problem exists.

Front 17

What is SWOT analysis?

Back 17

SWOT Analysis helps a company understand its Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
Organizations use SWOT analysis for business planning, strategic planning, competitor evaluation, marketing, business and product development, and research reports.

Front 18

Articulate the components of SWOT

Back 18

Strengths: Attributes of the organization that are helpful to achieving the objective.


Weaknesses: Attributes of the organization that are harmful to achieving the objective.


Opportunities: External conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective.


Threats: External conditions that are harmful to achieving the objective.

Front 19

What is drill down for problem solving?

Back 19

Drill down for problem solving gives planners a visual image of a problem by breaking the problem into
progressively smaller parts.

By examining factors that contribute to the problem, information relating to the problem and questions raised by the problem, communication experts can identify best solutions to respond to the many parts of a problem.

Front 20

How is the drill down for problem solving technique employed?

Back 20

To employ this technique, write a problem statement on the left side of a page. In the next “column,” list
items that relate to the problem. For each item, break down the factor using knowledge you have; in some
cases, you may need to research to understand more about the item. Next, break down each element of the
new item with additional detail and information. When finished, your matrix should have the following
structure.

Front 21

Cause and effect diagrams

Back 21

Helps managers analyze a particular problem by thinking through the reasons a problem exists. Also known as Fishbone Diagrams.

Front 22

Diversity

Back 22

Differences among people within a group, stemming from variations in factors such as age,
gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual preference, education, etc.

Front 23

Environmental scanning

Back 23

Careful monitoring of an organization’s internal and external environments for detecting early signs of opportunities and threats that may influence its current and future plans.

In comparison, “surveillance” is confined to a specific objective or a narrow sector.

Front 24

Drill-down technique

Back 24

A problem-solving approach that gives planners a visual image of a problem by breaking the problem into progressively smaller parts.

By examining factors that contribute to the problem, information relating to the problem and questions raised by the problem, communication experts can identify best solutions to respond to the many parts of a problem.

Front 25

Line management function

Back 25

In an organizational structure, line management functions are often limited to product- and profit-producing functions that increase the bottom line such as: engineering, production and marketing.

Senior public relations positions should fall within this function area to help set the course and direction of products and services, programs and initiatives.

Front 26

Managing diversity

Back 26

Achieved when a business recognizes the strengths and specific needs/preferences of its diverse publics and employees and chooses strategies based on these strengths and perspectives.

Front 27

Porter’s five forces

Back 27

This decision-making tool helps to assess where power and weaknesses lie and assumes that there are five important forces that affect competition: supplier power, buyer power, competitive rivalry, threat of substitution and threat of new entry.

Front 28

Staff management function

Back 28

Staff management functions provide advice and counsel to those in line management positions.

Front 29

SWOT analysis

Back 29

Helps a company understand its Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Organizations use SWOT analysis for business planning, strategic planning, competitor evaluation,
marketing, business and product development, and research reports.