ARM 400 Chapter 9 - Part 4
A company's reputation is based on:
A collection of perceptions and opinions, past and present, that reside in the consciousness of its stakeholders.
The sole objective of the communication stage is:
To preserve or enhance stakeholder, including customer and investor, trust and confidence in the company.
The key point is that reputation exists as:
A set of ideas, and may be subject to constant change, unlike other assets whose value is more consistent and objectively defined.
If the BCP can't sufficiently restore operations, then this comes in:
A strategic redeployment plan SRP.
When a disruption strikes that negatively affects or shuts down part of an operation, this is required to manage further risks and ensure the company recovers:
A strategic redeployment plan.
The company must also determine whether:
Its technology and machinery are adequate to meet new production goals, as well as whether its supply and delivery chain can keep up.
The emergency stage starts at:
The moment of disruption.
The company should establish this at this time:
In advance, so that when a crisis occurs, it can leverage an existing relationship.
The company's leadership should set up:
A center of operations or data room.
The key to effective communication in times of disruption is:
A good relationship with the media.
Ad it must determine whether it needs:
A new marketing strategy.
Examples of disruptions and crises that may require an SRP include:
A product recall, data breach, false accusations, loss of a senior leader, a financial crisis, a natural disaster, food poisoning, or a computer virus that affects production and customers.
Accordingly, for an SRP to be wholly successful, a company must commit to having:
A strong operational, reputational, and brand foundation prior to a disruption.
It's difficult to repair something during a crisis that was:
Already broken.
Strategic Redeployment Planning SRP stage 2:
Alternative Marketing Stage.
Reputation is this type of an asset:
An intangible asset.
The team can also:
Assign individuals to lead specific parts of the plan.
This person will be the face of the company, so he or she should be able to:
Handle all types of communication, and be comfortable under pressure and in front of a camera.
So, in many respects, the foundation for a strong SRP must:
Be in place before disaster strikes.
The emergency stage may also include:
Closing and cleaning the facility, recalling products, and meeting with employees and news media to communicate the status of the emergency response.
The same can be said of:
Communicating with the media and employees.
Strategic Redeployment Planning SRP stage 4:
Communication Stage.
The communication stage has a distinct purpose, but it's important to note that:
Communication plays an important role, and is required, in every stage of the company's SRP.
It must also consider:
Consumer loyalty.
For example, if the company decides to discontinue low-priority products or services, it should:
Contact customers to determine what effect that decision would have on them, as well as evaluate what losing revenue from those products or services would mean for the company's recovery efforts.
Strategic Redeployment Planning SRP stage 3:
Contingency Production Stage.
The Communication Stage is initially referred to as:
Crisis communication.
The emergency stage is sometimes referred to as:
Disaster recovery.
Responsibilities should be doled out to:
Each team member, who should, in turn, submit regular progress reports to the team as a whole.
To achieve clarity and consistency, information released to the media should not only come from the same spokesperson but also:
Echo information shared with employees.
An SRP brings the company back from a state of disruption and crisis in these four stages:
Emergency stage. Alternative marketing stage. Contingency production stage. Communication stage.
The four stages of an SRP are:
Emergency, alternative marketing, contingency production, and communication.
And The Communication Stage continues:
Even after the company has fully recovered.
Strategic Redeployment Planning SRP objective 4: Protect reputation:
For example, by communicating with all internal and external stakeholders, controlling statements to the media, and monitoring social media channels and online reviews.
Strategic Redeployment Planning SRP objective 1: Protect people:
For example, by contacting emergency authorities, evacuating the area, and warning neighbors.
Strategic Redeployment Planning SRP objective 2: Protect physical assets:
For example, by guarding the site and organizing salvage operations.
Strategic Redeployment Planning SRP objective 3: Form a disaster recovery team:
For example, by pulling together senior leadership, legal counsel, public relations professionals, and anyone who can help assess vulnerabilities and identify potential solutions.
To create and implement an effective plan, a company must be prepared to deal with:
Four key stages of recovery.
Predisruption Conditions Needed for Success: As effective as an SRP can be at salvaging a company's reputation and brand image following a disruption, it may not always be able to:
Fully repair either.
Reputation is a vital catalyst of:
Future business growth.
An SRP determines:
How to resume operations in a way that repairs a company's reputation and ensures its recovery and survival.
To meet the objectives of both crisis and post-crisis communication, the company must:
Identify and address the concerns and expectations of all internal and external stakeholders.
However, disruptions that could've been avoided, such as those relating to product defects, require:
Immediate damage control.
Keeping employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders well-informed during a crisis has these benefits:
It not only prevents defection to competitors, but it also strengthens loyalty and helps rebuild trust in the company.
If a company doesn't have strong communications channels established prior to a crisis, chances are that:
It won't be able to build them during a crisis.
Following the emergency stage, the company must evaluate the impact of the disruption on:
Its reputation and market share.
In addition, the company must keep channels of communication open with:
Local authorities, industry associations, and large corporate customers.
If existing organizational strategies aren't still valid, then management must:
Make the necessary strategic adjustments and reorganize resources under an SRP to reestablish a strong foothold in the marketplace.
The fact that a company's reputation can change so quickly is one of the main reasons:
Managing reputation is so important.
In fact, a company with a poor reputation prior to a disruption:
May not even survive the disruption.
The analysis completed in the previous stage, the Alternative Marketing Stage, leads to the contingency production stage, which focuses on:
Minimizing downtime for the company.
For example, the company may decide to:
Only continue producing a limited number of products or services for its most important customer segments.
This stage is designed to accomplish these four objectives:
Protect people. Protect physical assets. Form a disaster recovery team. Protect reputation.
And after the company's production capabilities and reputation have been restored, crisis communication becomes known as:
Post-crisis communication.
In this Alternative Marketing stage, no course of action to save the core business or resources should be ruled out, including:
Pulling out of a market or business, without taking the time for careful research and analysis.
In this center of operations or data room:
Reliable data and business intelligence information are available for testing various scenarios.
During major disruptions or crises, business continuity plans BCPs may not sufficiently:
Restore operations to ensure the company's recovery or survival.
The concerns and expectations of all internal and external stakeholders, can include these concerns:
Safety and security of all stakeholders, including employees. Transparency in all of management's decisions. Clarity and consistency in communications. Perceived lack of trust in management and the company.
It's important to monitor the internet, including online searches and social media channels, to:
See what the media and general public are saying about the company. This information can be invaluable when determining what course of action to take next.
A single spokesperson should be selected to:
Speak to all media outlets.
In instances where the current operational strategy can't be maintained and a new strategy is needed, the company must consider:
Substitutions for the current products or services, what resources are needed, and, ultimately, how to restore desired goals and outcomes.
The disaster recovery team can:
Tap into the leaders of the departments affected by the disruption, to gain their insights regarding whether the contingency plan has any holes or risks that need to be addressed.
This ensures that:
The company puts out a consistent message.
The emergency stage constitutes:
The company's immediate response.
The SRP plan protects these things:
The company, its stakeholders, its reputation, and its physical assets.
This is where this team plays a key role:
The disaster recovery team.
The Communication Stage actually begins in this stage:
The emergency stage, when the disruption first occurs.
Strategic Redeployment Planning SRP stage 1:
The emergency stage.
Protecting people should always be:
The first priority.
An SRP is designed to:
To allow a company to survive and maintain operations following a crisis.
Not every disruption poses an immediate threat to a company's reputation. For example:
Unavoidable incidents caused by a natural disaster, widespread power outages, or a global financial crisis won't damage a company's reputation unless they are handled poorly in the days and weeks after they occur.
In times when BCPs fall short, management must determine:
Whether existing organizational strategies are still valid.
Other considerations during this stage include:
Whether quality can be maintained, and costs can be kept within reasonable limits.
Consumer loyalty deals with these questions:
Will customers remain loyal during the crisis, or will they seek substitute products or services. Will suppliers and subcontractors work with the company during this interval. Will competitors use the company's disruption as an opportunity to increase their market share or capture the affected company's current suppliers.
