Public Relations in a Crisis - Essay Example

PUBLIC RELATIONS IN HANDLING A CRISIS al Affiliation Public Relations in a Crisis: Frozen berries hepatitis A scare Introduction Frozen berries hepatitis A scare quickly escalated in major Australian towns after the health department highlighted the pandemic (ABC News, 2015). The scare was because of nine individuals from Victoria, Queensland, and South Wales tested positive for the virus after consuming 1kg packs of the contaminated berries (ABC News, 2015). The Nanna’s mixed berries were a product of Patties Food Inc. The companys CEO, Mr. Steven Chaur handled the crisis calmly by issuing a recall order for all the berries and Creative Gourmet berry packets. The approach was a precautionary measure that was based on the interests of the public. The strategy was applied because there was no confirmed link between Hepatitis A and the consumption of the berries that were packaged and shipped from China and Chile (CNN, 2015). Communication has a vital role in crisis management and especially crisis in matters of health and death as faced by Patties Food Company (Duhé, 2012). The press may perpetrate the method or social platforms to ensure data is evenly collected and relayed. As a soon as the crisis initiated, the company through its CEO and its legal departments had a press conference to engage in indirect communication with its consumers to ensure that there is less panic. One of the roles is to identify and clarify the situation at hand and ensure customer satisfaction (Fall, 2005). Additionally, the communication also helps the organization in determining its role in the society as a post-crisis approach (Cobley, 2006). Management is also an impact of communication where the firm through comprehension of the public ideas and perceptions of the crisis. Crisis Definition A crisis is defined as any predicament that affects the normal flow of business either in the internal or external environments (Linda, 2007). Remarkably, some crises threaten the existence of the organization as revealed in Nanna’s crisis. A crisis easily escalates due to the coverage and scrutiny of the matter by the media. Social and press media platforms have been known to spread information before it has been verified by the required sources. Subsequently, modern organization crises have a higher response rate due to enhanced technological connectivity. Crises taint an organization’s public image that may have hazardous consequences such as market exit (Alvintzi and Eder, 2010). There are seven types of organizational crises that include natural, technological, confrontational, malevolence, skewed management failure, deception, and those of management misconduct. Based on the crisis, there are implications such as legal, political, financial and government impacts. For instance, Nanna’s crisis has financial implications since it had to recall the products and repay customers that had already purchased the berries. Consequently, the company’s share price has dropped as soon as the press reported the crisis. A crisis has a five-stage lifecycle that includes detection, preparation, containment, recovery and evaluation (Gilpin and Murphy, 2008). Detection of the crisis occurs through hints from the consumption of the firm’s products (Linda, 2007). For instance, Nanna’s crisis was detected after nine Australians were diagnosed with Hepatitis A after consuming the mixed berries. Preparation includes the collection of information about the crisis that is used to contain the issue (Linda, 2007). Containment involves the use of the gathered data to verify whether the claims are true (Glickman, 2009). Most cases include verification by governing bodies such as health departments. If the claims were wrong, then the organization has to recover from the crisis and ensure that the company’s public image has not been tarnished. Moreover, the firm was supposed to implement new ways of gaining consumer confidence and satisfaction such as rebranding or changing the name of the products. Evaluation is the last stage that includes the monitoring of the crisis to observe whether the adopted strategies have worked as planned. The customer retention rate is also used to evaluate the recovery process. Analysis and evaluation of the crisis management approach employed by Nanna’s Nanna’s embraced a crisis management plan that included the publicity model and a business continuity contingency strategy. Firstly, was to ensure that it does not alter the customer satisfaction rate by asking for a recall of the already distributed products for a cash refund. The tactic was effective in that most there most of the products were taken off the supermarkets and malls in case the test resulted positive. Notably, the firm specified that Nannas’ berry supplier was not the same as that of Creative Gourmet. The claim ensured continuity of the business in case there Hepatitis scare was true. The company played the ‘blame game, making sure that it had declared to the public the source of the berries. Additionally, it also claimed that the processing and packaging of the fruits were done in respective countries and that their main role was to distribute the products in the country. The technique would shift the consumers fury to the suppliers in China and Chile. Patties Foods ensured that the public was aware of its mutual responsibility with the health department to confirm whether there was a link between the berries and the disease. Such an approach also ‘bought’ customer loyalty showing that even if the test results were positive, it was not the company’s fault. Theoretical basis behind crisis management in Nanna’s crisis The structural-functional theory was adopted by the Nanna’s crisis. The approach includes the use of information networks in the company’s communication structure (Oliver, 2010). After the crisis, the company responded rapidly through a series of representatives from the corporate structure as a counter measure. The company ensured that information had been collected in advance to prevent contradictions after the issue was presented to the mass media. The theory is also used a technique to gather data from employees about the crisis and ideas on how to eliminate the issue. Nanna’s used its social media pages to answer questions and provide any results of the Hepatitis scare. The theory was also embraced in the chain of command that was involved with the suppliers. The hypothesis was helpful in making the consumers believe that the suppliers were the cause of the contamination. Additionally, the health and food department was also at fault for not ensuring random and stern checks on the imports especially food products. A view of the companys Facebook pages showed that the company was vigilant in providing information and apologies from different positions in the corporate structure. Nanna’s actions in terms of communication theories Patties Food Company vigilantly involved in communication as a strategy to diffuse the crisis. One of the adopted theories was the Expectancy Violation Theory. The hypothesis works on the notion that human beings change behaviors while interacting (Linda, 2007). The impacts of the communication module depend on the individual perception of the situation at hand. For instance, Nanna’s was understood the situation and was aimed at changing the consumers conception of the Hepatitis scare. The firm used communication as a tool to assist in making the customers understand that the berries had not yet been linked to the disease. On the other hand, excellence theory is revealed in the process by which the company handled the crisis. The theory operates on the principles of public relations and its positive impacts on the organizations public image (Hearit, 2005). Nanna’s utilized the theory to maintain its relations with its customers even after the crisis. The firms public relations department was actively involved in defending the companys public image after the crisis through continuous postings in social media pages and answering clients questions. Role of public relations in organizational reputation management Public relations have major contributions to the reputation of an organization (Hayes, Hendrix, and Kumar, 2013). The technique is used to analyze and anticipate the firms external environment. PR’s planning and management has been used as a contingency plan for any crisis that may occur. The approach ensures that there is a strong bond between the consumer-firm affiliations. Communication is part of the relationships foundation since it constantly keeps the public updated in case of any issue (Glickman, 2009). Nanna’s, for example, presented the role of public relations in saving the firm’s reputation through the urgent and constant press releases to clarify to the consumers that there was no need to worry until the lab results proved otherwise. The main aim of the department was to inform the public, shareholders, mass media and persuade them to maintain the same mutual relationship with the company despite the crisis. Relationship between public relations and reputation management ‘Public relations’ is an approach that deals with the spread of information between and individual and the organization (Hayes, Hendrix, and Kumar, 2013). The practice has a major role in crisis management due to the management of information. The right approach style must be taken into consideration by a firm to handle a crisis based on the significance of the crisis. Firstly is to make the consumers understand the crisis and take the necessary precautions. Nanna’s used their public relations skills to deal peacefully with the Hepatitis A crisis. Importantly, the success of crisis management depends on the public relations technique that has been used. Reputation management, on the other hand, is an approach to controlling the companys public image due to internal and external reasons (Regester, Larkin, and Regester, 2008). A firms reputation is directly related to the sales and profits; hence, is regarded to as a competition strategy. Both public relations and reputational management operate under the same principle that includes communication between the firm and the external environment. Other firms such as Pepsi and Johnson and Johnson that were also involved in various crises have used the public relations technique. Conclusion Nanna’s approach in dealing with the Hepatitis scare is considered as successful due to the utilization of communication and public relations to prevent the spread of information. Despite critics claiming that the recall of the products was to prevent the presence of any evidence to lawyers, the crisis management was strategically handled (The Guardian, 2015). However, future suppliers are supposed to be vetted for health and cleanliness states to prevent more crises and ensure customer loyalty. Reference List ABC News, (2015). Fourth frozen berry product recalled in hepatitis A scare. [online] Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-17/fourth-frozen-berry-product-recalled-in-hepatitis-a-scare/6126272 [Accessed 28 May 2015]. Alvintzi, P. and Eder, H. (2010). Crisis management. New York: Nova Science Publishers. 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