Managing Crisis Situations - Coursework Example

Crisis Management CJA/585 April XX, Crisis Management No matter how good a person’s leadership or interpersonal skills are, there is no doubt that sooner or later situations may emerge that will reflect upon things to be taking turn in the wrong direction. A person needs to possess skills that work in more than just an ideal environment. In other terms, individuals should possess multi tasking abilities. Although, it may theoretically be straightforward enough to display leadership and strong interpersonal skills, the true test of these skills emerge when things go wrong and the individual is under some crisis (Simms, 2000). It is in these situations that the need for strong crisis management arises. Acquiring the right skills to counter any situation is imperative to any organization or individual’s success in a professional environment. Crises can arise in a number of different ways, and there can be many ways of dealing such situations. Whatever the manifestation may be, the basic element of any crisis remains the same. A crisis is described as, ‘--any natural, accidental or intentional event that severely affects people, property, and the environment’ (Taylor, 2004) and this impact can be both physical and otherwise. For example, consider a situation of physical crisis that may arise in a food factory. These situations may include contaminated food products, products shipped after expiration date, manufacturing errors, misplaced labels or any other such problems associated with the food product they wish to sell. Such examples have taken place countless times, for example, the Sudan ten food color crisis in Europe (2004) or the crisis in Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, USA (1969). Each time, the company faces damages that are difficult to amend; this affects the reputation by getting blacklisted as a dangerous and risky food manufacturing organization. This is something that can arise with almost any corporation, but the problem the food industry faces is that it has direct contact with human health, and so any type of risk is considered a serious issue. Such cases are important to tackle the crisis with a twofold focus: First, the company must exercise urgent damage control, so that there is no lasting damage. Even the smallest health risk somebody encounters will be highly critical, as the medical results can be unfathomable. Second, the company must rebuild its reputation as a trusted and safe corporation. To do the first, the company should not try to hide their mistake but rather should embrace it and publicize it explaining their concern for the public’s safety (Doeg, 2005). This is likely to make the public trust in the company’s future claims as well, by trusting their honesty. Third, this ensures that a bare minimum number of people come into damaging contact with the food item and so there is likely to be less of a health risk. When the products are retrieved from the market, the company can work on reassessing its manufacturing plants or the source of the crisis and getting it approved by an outside agency. Establishing this, the company can work on rebuilding this reputation and allowing the public to know the measures that were used to counter the effects of damage and the measures that were implemented for prevention of future risk. Crises do not always have to arise from human error, however. Even physical situations can result in crisis for corporations, who have to deal with them to prevent extensive physical damage and human loss. Consider the crisis management situations that arise in response to natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods or, Tsunamis. In these cases, prevention is the best solution. A natural disaster results in large amounts of damage, which can take weeks if not months to come out of. The damage can be reduced through implementing preventative measures in advance. For example, all employees in a corporation should have basic first aid training courses given to them. That way, even if a physical disaster does arise, there will at least be minimal direct damage to human life. However, if first aid training is not provided, the best thing to do is evacuate the corporation environment as soon as possible, and call for first aid help from outside professionals. Once the disaster situation has been averted, another crisis emerges in restoring the environment back to its former productivity levels. This is achieved by altering any five-year plan the company may have, or else formulating one, so that effects are taken into consideration. Of course this is not a direct solution but crisis management involves more than just on-spot control (Simms, 2004). Another crises situation that corporations often face is that of legal troubles and disputes, such as when facing a personal or business lawsuit. It is the most devastating things that can happen to a corporation, not only because of the multimillion dollars that it may cost the company but also because of the insufferable damage the corporation will face, often times irreparably. Of course legal disputes are difficult to manage and lay out a crisis management framework for (Barton, 2004) because of the complicated legal intricacies. There are two things that a person must focus on when deal with legal crises – A way to limit monetary damage to the company, and a way to prevent damage to the company’s reputation (Bryan, 1997). The same rules apply to a personal legal dispute, even if it is not on a corporate level. To limit monetary damage it is naturally best to settle the dispute outside court but should such a situation arise where the company may need to declare bankruptcy, then financial legal advice needs to be considered. To prevent reputation damage, it is again best to settle but if a company is sure of its innocence and can afford the legal battle, there is no reason not to take the matter to a court. Examples of legal crisis management include the Hemet Valley Hospital District case in which the hospital had been sued for a wrongful death but was acquitted later for all the charges or the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company where the company had been sued for an oil spill in Alaska. Legal situations can be difficult to avert and deal with; particularly because of the large financial toll it takes on companies. If it is handled with legal dexterity and supported by PR managements after the crises has averted, then possibility exists to come back from the long term damages from the disaster (Keating, 2000). Companies can also face crises from their employees, whether on a singular personal level or on a collective corporate level. Taylor (2004) describes a crisis conflict paradigm as characterized by the following four points: At least two or more persons, a conflict of opinion or perspective between them, strong feelings about those conflicting opinions and a possible negative outcome. This framework can extend to more than just two individuals, and in this case it can be the employees versus the higher authorities, or it can be two groups within a corporation. These situations arise most frequently, and although they are generally on quite a small and manageable level, the situations can sometimes go out of hand and escalate to a larger level. The latter case is considered a crisis, and thus requires crisis management – For example, the Gulf Agency Company Case (Cretu & Alvarez, 2010) where there was extensive political unrest and turmoil, all arising from employee conflict within the corporation. Dealing with these situations requires quick but thorough action. All parties should feel appeased, and heard with the agreement of compromise but not necessarily sacrifice. This can be difficult to manage but the only way to do so can be through communication. To make both parties believe in esteem and importance, and have their conflicting views understood. Most cases have lack of satisfaction with the status quo the company is currently employing. Employee benefits and an open feedback environment can help reduce these situations but should they arise, allowing each person to have his/her voice heard and addressing can help move the situation forward (Barton, 1993). Finally, crisis management is an extensive need to salvage the public image of corporations or individuals. Public Relation employees often have to deal with situations in where they have to restore the lost reputation of a client or to minimize or erase the effects of a situation that threatens to have lasting damage if not controlled. There are an infinite number of cases involving the need for public representatives to speak on behalf of their clients, and prevent the negative blows that may otherwise result to their reputation. For example, employees can taint the reputation of a corporation by involving in personal legal scandals, or by tainting the trust of clients by involving the company in financial fraud, embezzlement, or other economic trust issues. These cases are best to manage the resulting crisis by differentiating between that personal employee and the company. Of course this is in the scenario that the employee is indeed responsible. If not, it is best to display solidarity and a united front while explaining the misunderstanding and working on clarifying it. Public representation can help save a company or individual from the largest of crises provided that quick and sustainable action plan is implemented. This can be attained with initial action being a quick response, and sustainable effort put into working the company’s image out to a positive direction and dealing with the situation that resulted in need for crisis management in the first place (Patterson, 1993). Therefore, it can be stated that although fair-weather skills like leadership and communication are essential for progress and achievement, it is the skill of crisis management that allows these other skills to be possible. One can travel so far down the road of progress before facing a road bump, and it is here that quick thinking and cool temperaments needs to be observed. A team leader without the skill of crisis management and conflict resolution is unlikely to get very far with his or her team without disintegrating in front of his or her very eyes. More so, although there are many types of situations that can arise in a crisis, the basic skills required to deal with them remain the same and hence needs consideration upon the issue well in advance should such a situation ever arise. Whether it is personal or physical crisis, the right skills in a leader can avert any disaster that may otherwise result. The problem is not the crisis that takes place, but the lack of a valid response that may arise and hence should be the subject of focus. Reference List Barton, L. (1993). Crisis in Organizations: Managing and Communicating in the Heat of Chaos. South Western Publishing. Bryan, J. (1997). The Coming Revolution in Issues Management: Elevate and Simplify. Communication World.  Cretu , Paula Madalina and Alvarez, Jonathan Puentes (2010). Managing Organizational Crises in the Light of Political Unrest: The “Gulf Agency Company” Egypt Case. Linköping, Sweden. Doeg, C. (2005). Crisis management in the food and drinks industry: A practical approach. London: Chapman & Hall. Keating, L. (2000). Proactive Approach Minimizes Damage to Image. Atlanta Business Chronicle.  Patterson, B. (1993). Crises Impact on Reputation Management. Public Relations Journal.  Simms, J. (2000). Controlling a Crisis. Marketing, Penguin Group (USA). Taylor, M. (2004). Managing Crisis Situations: A Framework for Understanding Confrontation And Acting in Interpersonal Crisis Situations New Jersey: Career Press. Read More