Crisis Management

After today's discussion on crisis management, I realised that PR practitioners are at the helm of strategising and implementing effective communication messages should a crisis arise. It was also demonstrated that the key messages which an organisation sends out to the public can combart the crisis or if mishandled can have a detrimental impact on the reputation of an organisations.

A definition extracted by Wilcox and Cameron: 2006 (p258) from the Pacific Telesis manual on crisis communication states that a crisis is ‘an extraordinary event or series of events that adversely affects the integrity of the product, the reputation or financial stability of the organization, or the health and well being of employees, the community, or the public at large.

In a crisis, Lubbe and Puth (1994, p.220) warn that the media should never be seen as opposition or a threat but rather as a channel through which the story is told. As a result, most crisis require a thought through media strategy. Tench and Yeomans ( 2006, p403) mention that when an organization does not take control of a crisis situation and fails to communicate immediately, the media will go to a whole range of sources to get the information they need. Hoffman (2001) states that a spokesperson might need to have a clear understanding of the audience being addressed through the media. The authors warn that the once limited media market has become global and highly sophisticated. The impact that the internet has on crisis management today is enormous and very effective in putting a message out, Tench and Yeomans (2006, p404).

Within the South African context; PR specialists such as Evan Bloom, MD of Crisis Communications Consultancy says that the vast majority of South African companies have no crisis plan in place and the few that do generally have a static document that does not cover all the bases. He continues to note that these companies may have crisis management components in place, but they typically don't have a holistic approach to crises. Some focus on emergency response, while others concentrate on continuity or reputation. He recommends for their integration and the entire response must be guided.