Issues and Communication Management - Essay Example

ISSUES AND COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Instructor xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date Crises response Crises are occurrences that happen without the knowledge of individuals and therefore there is need to come up with many ways to manage them. A crisis can be defined as an occurrence that requires not only decisive but also immediate action from various stakeholders (Manoj and Baker, 2007). A crisis is an intense as well as critical issue that widely threatens the existence of a given organization in terms of their operations, values and ways. In order for organization to have effective and efficient crisis responses there is need for all stakeholders to be involved whereby communication between them need to be enhanced (Hahn, Moon and Zhang 2008). This paper focuses on discussing appropriate responses to various crises namely; natural disaster (hurricane/Tsunami/Earthquake), terrorist attack, volcanic ash cloud and death in resort. In the past two decades occurrences of large scale natural disaster such as hurricane Katrina, earth quake and tsunami has attracted great public attention thus igniting interest of global businesses due to their effects. With the recent hurricane and tsunami companies have endured huge losses whereby business contracts have been broken due to the fact business environments become unfavorable,. Both large-scale and small-scale businesses handle the effects of natural disaster differently but they adopted the same methods of adaptation (Hahn, Moon and Zhang, 2008). When responding on natural disaster there are various stakeholders involved. These stakeholders include; government agencies, UN agencies, Non-governmental organizations and Civil Service organizations. In natural disasters such as hurricane, earth quake and tsunami, one element of crisis response that is important to large scale disaster is that of network management and information flow (Hale, 1997). In responding to natural disasters, management of information flow is crucial since it enhances decision making which is largely bounded by time urgency and information may significantly become outdated as the condition for the crises changes. Additionally, decision makers during natural disaster with key focus on the business community faces challenges that are associated with information overload which arises from destruction due to the natural disaster (Hale, 1997). To cope with crises there is need to have coordination between the responsible stakeholders so as to ensure business have effective operation as well as communication perspective. It is important for organizations to efficiently and coordinates the whole response process through allowing updated crisis information to flow horizontally and vertically in a rapid manner (Day, Junglas and Silva, 2009). Communication plays an important role in the smooth operation of given organizations. Nevertheless, natural disaster disrupts communication in organization thus affecting organizational design, supply chains and its social network (Marcus and Nichols, 1999). Social network is important in natural disaster crisis response situation due to the fact that responding organization are not single operations but with various organizations that contribute to crises and issue management different (Day, Junglas and Silva, 2009). The social network comprising of the various stakeholders need to be assembled as well as coordinated. In both issue and crisis situation, it is quite evident that there are no need for time consuming processes and therefore stakeholders need to look upon existing ties as well as establishing new and efficient ties (Chopra and Sodhi, 2004). In today global business environment, terrorist attacks have become rampant disaster happening day in day out. Terrorist attacks are seen to come in different sizes and shapes. For instance, an attack can be termed as small scale in that it impacts a small area whereas it can be of large-scale due to the fact that it impacts a larger area. The September 11 2001 terrorist attacks have directly impacts on businesses not only in USA but also throughout the globe (Cloud and King, 2001). From an organizational economic perspective, multinational organizations have incurred increased business costs due to the international terrorism. Today, most of the organizations have been engaged in fixed cost which heavily upgrades their physical security. Terrorists’ attacks have affected the transport sectors whereby businessmen travel with difficulty in that it becomes difficult to obtain visas for professional who require traveling to the USA to enhance service delivery (Cloud and King, 2001). Such obstacles that are in relation to terrorism attacks have increased organization expenses negatively affecting the business operations. With increased threat of global terrorism, many businesses are engaged in identify key stakeholders that will ensure an effective crisis management. With the quest on global war on terror numerous stakeholders have come together to come up to come up with various strategies that will ensure effective crisis and issue management. The government plays an important role in ensuring that businesses in its nations are not comprised by terrorism attacks. Working with the government are other UN bodies that ensure that humanitarian aid as well as to ensure that livelihood are not affected to ensure economic stability. Security consultants play an important role in crises and issue management especially on terrorism attacks. Security consultants do not only advice on how to deal with terror attack but rather provide multinational organizations with detailed analysis of both politics and economics. These security consultants deepen international managers on understanding both existing and emerging terrorists’ attacks to business operations. These consultants plays an important role in advising global managers on how to conduct accurate and precise terrorism risks modeling which in turn ensure there are in a position to make informed and important business decisions. Based on business operations, global supply chains are the most affected by terrorists’ attacks. Global supply chains are not only affected by security threats displayed by terrorisms attacks but also from disruption or delay of international sources. The government has been in the forefront of imposing shipping laws after the 11th September with intent of managing crises and issue related to terrorists’ attacks although these policies have created unintended complexities and costs for global business. Global businesses have adopted various crisis responses towards terrorist attacks so as to ensure that their operation and performance are not affected. Organizations across the globe have developed a crisis plan that enables them to effectively respond to unexpected terrorism attack disaster. Human resource departments have been in the fore front in orchestrating the crisis plans. Human resource department has an important role in effectively facilitating the implementation of the drawn crisis response plans (Ryans and Shanklin, 1980). Organizations have ensured that departments have strong relationships so as to ensure that crisis responses are effective. Crisis plan are carried out at departmental level so as to ensure their efficiency and effectiveness. Terrorism attacks response can either be short term or long term. Short term entails using immediate actions to contain the present situation (Government Accounting Office 2004). Multinational companies use the acronym H.R.S.A.F.E.T.Y which stands for human contact, records, space, alternative plan, family, evacuation, tracking and yell. Based on long term strategies, organizations uses the acronym are R.E.S.P.E.C.T which stand for response, economy, security, psychology, employee rights, community and toll (Government Accounting Office 2004). Volcanic ash cloud is another crisis that affects business operation and their communication. Although volcanic ash cloud is a rare occurrences it is very challenging especially after witnessing the effects of the 2010 volcanic ash cloud. Evidently, with all fights in and out the United Kingdom grounded; the number of global customers affected was high translating to lower profits for most global organizations. As seen in the previous disasters, there is also a need to have effective communication between the stakeholders in order to relay information and avoid further business interruption, potential deaths and delay in the aviation industry. Indeed, communication will be effective if all the stakeholders are involved in order to give timely, accurate and consistent data to every stakeholder. The stakeholders that are involved in such a disaster include, for instance in case of the UK crisis, EUROCONTROL, European Commission, ACI EUROPE, the unions and AEA, the European Aviation Safety agency and the EACCCC. The European Aviation Crisis Communication Cell (EACCC) that solely responsible in leading communication between decision-makers and stakeholders and in addition, in case of escalating situation take the matter to the highest decision organ among all the stakeholders. The ACI EUROPE provides information on the issue in the members’ airports and giving the latest information to the members of the executive so as to access the crucial information and understand the extent of the disaster in order to give a way forward and right management (European Union 2011). Of important to note is that in the UK situation, as there are different stakeholders involved especially from the European Union, information flow should be well considered. This is attributed to the fact that effective flow of information may be hindered by different barriers such as language differences in viewpoint and perception, use of unfamiliar, overcomplicated and jargon terms and inconsistency (ParisTech Review 2011). Therefore, this calls for harmonized approach on the issue at hand. The approach including harmonizing the stakeholders guidelines in order to provide an effective guideline that will allow free communication networks without stepping into each other’s territories on the wrong way. This is attributed to the fact that for communication to flow among different stakeholders there is a need to have a common platform that will indeed eliminate any barrier that will hinder flow of information. Basically, the stakeholders should consider both vertical and horizontal flow of information in order to relay it to every stakeholder in all levels (EuropeanUnion 2011). Another stakeholder that is important in such a disaster is the state. The government is expected to have firsthand information and take as it is in charge of security of a country and its people. It is obvious that collaboration between the government and the aviation industry need to be established in order for the government to have a consistent response and approach to such a disaster and a similar one that may have effects on the aviation industry. Still, the countries affected should work with various international bodies that connect the m with other countries. For instance, the UK crisis affected the third world countries that are mainly subjected to visa restrictions during their transit or stay in the affected countries. As such, there is a need to communicate to the affected travelers which may be done through their embassies. Essentially, embassies of various countries also play a role in containing the situation through directing their countrymen on the situation and updating them on the management of the crisis (ParisTech Review 2011). Given that the crisis mainly is connected to weather and climate, the meteorological department forms part of the crucial stakeholders. It is obvious that the department is well vast with the weather forecasting weather system and as such play a significant role in advising the other stakeholders on the way forward on the issue. Some countries have realized the role of the department in volcanic crisis in the industry and have established advisory center in the airports that coordinate with the meteorological departments. For instance in the United Kingdom, the volcanic Ash Advisory Centers was established in order to ensure that risk detection is made accurately and timely so as to prevent avoidable negative consequences. However, of most importance is how the information will be taken to the other stakeholders. At this point, effective communication is significant to various stakeholders so as to ensure that there are well informed in case of any arising issue from the meteorological department that is likely to affect the aviation industry. This calls for creation of communication channels that will not only ensure that correct information reaches the stakeholders but also it is accurate and timely (Stephens et al 2011). It is with no doubt that resorts are expected to provide pleasure to people. However, it is not a surprise for incident and accidents that may lead to death to occur. For instance, there was an accident that occurred in Egypt involving hot air balloon. However, what is important in such incidents is the way communication is directed to the relevant stakeholders and the appropriate actions taken. Various stakeholders that are involved in such crises include the state government, tourism industry and regulators, civil society organizations and the owners of the resort. The state government has a role in ensuring that the safety of the citizens is maintained despite their where they are located. In the case of Egypt, most of the people who were involved were from different countries and therefore, government interference would result to effective communication to the affected countries through their embassies. As such, effective communication channels should be considered (Ulmer & Sellnow 2000). In this situation, the horizontal flow information, as this involves people of similar level. This kind of communication will be effective if the involved countries shave created good international relations therefore, avoiding any hindrance to communication (Baron 2002). The tourism industry, civil society organizations and the regulators play a crucial role in the issues related to tourism. Indeed, they are expected to ensure that the basic requirements in a particular resort are met in order to avoid occurrences of accident involving tourists. Therefore, effective communication is needed in order for these stakeholders to have accurate information on the resort. Of most importance is in case of a crisis. The tourism industry and the regulators are involved as they are expected to report accurately to the state government of the incident. In addition, they are supposed to evaluate the extent of the crisis and whether the resort has the needed tools and effective measures that are necessary in the management of the crisis. As such good communication channel need to be considered in relaying the information to these stakeholders (Karl 2001). The owners of the resort are expected to be obtaining information on the running of the resort regularly. This is attributed to the fact that they need to be abreast of the happenings in order to take the required measures to avoid potential accidents which may result to death. As this is an organization, effective communication between the managers and the proprietors should be effective. (Provan & Milward 2001) Indeed, crises have continued to occur across the globe. These include natural disaster, terrorism, volcanic cloud ash and death in various resorts. However, of most importance is how various stakeholders connected to the particular crisis, play their roles. In the process of ensuring appropriate actions are taken, effective communications between the stakeholders is very significant. Not only will it ensure the situation is controlled but will also create good relationships among the stakeholders and this will be crucial in preventing an occurrence of the same or different crises. It is important to note that in the flow of information one cannot rule out the significant use of technology to harmonize and ensure effective flow of information. Technology will play a role in relaying the information to every stakeholder not only in a way that will be fully understood but also timely. 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