Crisis Management and Fire Rescue Service - Research Proposal Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Crisis management and fire rescue service proposal Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Crisis management and fire rescue service proposal Introduction Crisis management is a critical organizational function. Failure to carry out a crisis management in an organization leads to losses to the stakeholders and the organization as a whole. In order to understand the concept of crisis management it is necessary to understand the basic concepts in detail. The term crisis is described as a significant threat to normal operations in an organization that lead to negative consequences if not taken care of. This proposal entails the crisis management in a fire and rescue service. In crisis management the danger is the probable damage a crisis can have in a firm, its owners or the industry. A crisis can result to three related threats in a firm. It can lead to a threat to the public safety as far as the firm is concerned, financial loss and also reputation loss. Some crisis like industrial accidents and commodity harm can result to death or serious injuries to the victims. Crises lead to financial losses by disrupting the normal activities of a firm leading to a loss of market share and lowering the purchase intentions of the buyers. A crisis poorly managed in an organization will lead to destruction of the reputation of the firm (Barton, 2001). Aims and objectives Main objective To lessen the effects of fire incident in an organization. Specific objectives To prevent destruction of property in case of a fire incident To prevent loss of life and injuries to individuals in case of a fire incident. To restore an organization to its normal operations after a fire incident. Literature review Crisis management is important in a firm since it assists in minimizing the effects of a crisis such as fire incident n an organization. Crisis management is an action planned to prevent or lessen the effect of the crisis on a firm and its shareholders. As an action crisis management is not a one phase procedure but a three phase process. The three phases are: pre-phases, crisis response and post-crisis. In the course of a fire incident crisis management the three phases to be followed include: The pre-crisis phase involves preparation and prevention of a crisis. The crisis response is when the management must essentially respond to a crisis. This involves the actual handling of a fire incident. The post-crisis phase finds for means to better prepare for a subsequent crisis and accomplishes obligations made in the crisis phase which also take follow up information into consideration (Barton, 2001). Pre-Crisis Phase Prevention involves finding a means of reducing known risks that could result into a crisis. This is a part of the firm’s risk management program. Preparation involves establishing the CMP, choosing and training the crisis management team and carrying out exercises to test the crisis management plan and crisis management team. The planning and preparation enables the crisis teams to respond quickly and to make more successful decisions.  Crisis Response The crisis response is what the management does and says once it encounters a crisis. Public relations play a vital responsibility in the crisis response by assisting in creating the messages that relayed to different publics (Moore &Lakha, 2006).  Crisis response can be divided into two parts. Initial Response The initial crisis response strategy focus on three points: be quick, be accurate, and be consistent. Being quick puts a pressure on the crisis management team to have a response ready within a short time. In case of a fire incident, the crisis management team needs to be quick, accurate and consistent in handling the incident (Haddow &Bullock, 2007). Post-Crisis Phase In the post-crisis phase, the firm is taking the business to its usual position. The crisis is no longer the main focus of the firm although it still requires some attention. Reputation repair of the firm may be launched at this point. This phase is aimed at restoring the firm to its usual operations after an incident. Significant follow up communication is required at this point and the managers promise to offer extra information in this phase. The crisis managers must achieve the objects provided in the information promises rest they risk loosing the trust of the shareholders. The firm is also required to release updates on the recovery process corrective actions, and investigations of the crisis. Crisis managers concur that the crisis is a learning experience. The firm should find ways and means of improving the prevention, preparation and response to a crisis. Methodology The crisis management in the course of a fire incident will be aided by a crisis management plan. Crisis Management Plan A crisis management plan (CMP) is a reference tool, not a design.  A CMP gives the list of the main contact information, reminders of what normally should be carried out in a crisis, and documents to be created to record the crisis response.  Although a CMP is not a step by step proposal of managing a crisis, it saves time in the course of a crisis by pre-assigning responsibilities, pre-collecting some data, and providing a reference source.  Pre-assigning roles assumes there is a selected crisis team.  The team members should be aware of the roles and responsibilities they have to play in the course of the crisis (Gustin, 2007). The CMP will assist in assigning specific roles to the crisis management team in case a fire starts. Crisis Management Team The crisis management team will directly be involved in the management of a fire incident in a firm. The crisis management team is comprised of public relations, legal, security, operations, finance, and human resources personnel. The crisis management team may however be composed of members from other from various departments depending on the kind of crisis in question. A crisis that for instance involves the computer system may require the information and technology department to be part of the team. Time is saved since duties are already assigned to particular individuals. A crisis management team should be tested since management teams or plans that are untested are of little value. This is because the management will not be sure whether an untested plan or team will be effective. It is emphasized that training is required in order for the team makes so that they can learn decision making skills which come in hardy in crisis situations. Since each crisis is unique in its own way, the crisis management is required to make appropriate decisions in every situation (Gustin, 2007). Spokesperson A major constituent of crisis team training is spokesperson training.  The firm members must be ready to update the media in the course of a crisis. Media training should be offered before a crisis strike (Gustin, 2007). Pre-draft Messages Finally, crisis leaders can create the messages that will be applied in the management of the crisis. More precisely, crisis managers come up with templates to assist in establishing the messages. Templates include reports by top management, news updates, and dark web sites.  The use of templates is highly recommended.  The templates have blank spaces where information is filled once it is got.  Public relations personnel can assist in coming up with the messages while the legal department can then endorse the messages created.  Time is saved in the course of a crisis since crucial information is basically filled and messages made accessible on a web site (Haddow &Bullock, 2007).  Communication Channels A firm may establish a separate web site for the crisis or assign a section of its section web site for the crisis. Having an active website has been found to be the only way of using the internet to manage a crisis. The site should already be in operation before a crisis happens. This calls for the crisis team to predict the types of risks that a firm can encounter and the types of information required for the web site (Haddow &Bullock, 2007). An effective communication channel ensures that the risk management team gets information concerning an incident in time for an action to be taken. Ethical considerations Ethical considerations will apply at each phase of the crisis management process. In the crisis preparation phase, the CMP is required to be updated on an annual base while the team involved in handling the incident is required to have proper training in regard to fire management. The CMP plan as well as the team involved should be tested before it gets involved in the prevention of a fire incident. The risk management team is required to create a means of obtaining feedback information concerning their operations. In case of a fire incident, the risk management team is required to provide clear information to the media to prevent a situation where the stakeholders of the firm suspect that something is being concealed by the team. After the incident has been brought under control, the risk management team is required to inform the stakeholders of the progress of the recovery process. Time scale All the phases in the crisis management will be carried out in the shortest time possible. The duration will however depend on the intensity of the incident. The time scale for the activities is as follows: Activity/phase Time Pre-crisis phase 1 week Initial response 24 hours Post crisis phase 2 weeks Bibliography Argenti, P., 2002, Crisis communication:  Lessons from 9/11.  Harvard Business Review, 80(12), 103-109 Barton, L., 2001, Crisis in organizations II (2nd Ed.). Cincinnati, OH: College Divisions South Western. Benoit, W. L.,1997,. Image repair discourse and crisis communication. Public Relations Review, 23(2), 177-180. Gustin, J.F., 2007, Disaster and Recovery Planning: A guide for Facility Managers, 4th ed, and Lilburn (Georgia) Fairmont Press Inc. Haddow, G.D., and Bullock, J., 2007, Introduction to Emergency Management 3rded, London, Butterworth Heinemann. Heath, R., 1998, Crisis Management for managers and executives, Financial Times/Prentice Hall. Moore, T and Lakha, R., (eds), 2006,, Tolly’s Handbook of Disaster and Emergency Management: Principles and practice, 3rd ed, London, Heinemann Butterwort Read More