Issue & Crisis Final
Culture
"The collective mental programming of the people in an environment. Culture is not a characteristic of individuals; it encompasses a number of people who were conditioned by the same education and life experience" -- Hofstede
Important Issues for Spokesperson - Appearing Pleasant on Camera
- Being pleasant on camera reflects a set of delivery skills that can help the spokesperson achieve a number of important crisis objectives - The CMT must show concern and control during a crisis - Communication style influences how the content of the message is interpreted - Spokesperson should maximize the style elements that cultivate the perceptions of COMPASSION - Compassion is developed through the attentive and friendly style elements; attentive styles reflect empathy and listening; being friendly suggests that a person is confirming and giving positive recognition to others - The style elements mean a person is behaving in a confident and business like manner; the dominant style facilitates the perception that the spokesperson is in control of the situation (ex. CEO is spokesperson) - Spokespersons must learn to maintain consistent eye contact with the audience, use hand gestures to emphasize points, vary their voices to avoid a monotone delivery, change facial expressions, avoid using filler words 2) Answering questions effectively 3) Presenting crisis information clearly 4) Handling difficult questions
Lessons
- Crisis managers must resist ethnocentric tendencies as they cope with stakeholders in different cultures, unfamiliar media systems and online usage patterns, and different legal concerns.
Implications of high power distance
- The implications of high power distance are clear for the Coca-Cola tainting crisis. - It was Coca-Cola's CEO's absence, in both comment and presence, that directly affronted the high power distance nations during this crisis. - Coke was not condemned so much for the tainting situation, but was criticized because the company remained silent for over a week after the first illnesses. - Two cultural variables, uncertainty avoidance and power distance, are important cultural frameworks that help explain the disconnect between Coca- Cola's communication before, during, and after the crisis and the international publics' response to this crisis.
Spokesperson recommendations
- stay within the scope of your responsibility - tell the truth - follow up on issues - expect criticism
The crisis management life cycle
---> Proactive phase---> strategic phase ----> REACTIVE phase ----> recovery phase ----
Important Issues for Spokesperson
1) Appearing pleasant on camera 2) Answering questions effectively 3) Presenting crisis information clearly 4) Handling difficult questions
Reduction of offensiveness
1) Bolstering - A corporation may use bolstering to strengthen the audience's positive feelings towards itself, in order to offset the negative feelings connected with the wrongful act Ex. Lotte chairman promising reform 2) Minimization - Trying to minimize feelings associated with the wrongful act Ex. After Valdez oil spill, Exxon officials tried to downplay the extent of the damage 3) Differentiation - (Disassociation): An organization may try to disassociate itself from a negative act by blaming an individual worker or a subcontractor - This is an attempt at "separating some fact, sentiment, object, or relationship from some larger context in which the audience presently views that attribute" Ex. Domino employee, FedEx employee 4) Relabeling - By changing its name to replace a negative label Ex. Namyang Dairy changed company logo 5) Transcendence - It attempts to place the act in a more favorable context Ex. A company that experiments on animals could claim the benefits to humans 6) Attack the accuser - Those accused of wrong-doing may decide to attack their accusers Ex. Lilian sanitary pads; lillian accused the ngo 7) Compensation - The final form of reducing offensiveness - If it is acceptable to the victim, the firm's image should be improved Ex. Oxy RB compensated victims and provide 10 billion won to humanitarian fund
Spokespersons' two concerns:
1) Content concerns - Spokesperson must disseminate accurate information being presented 2) Delivery concerns - Poor delivery skills can prevent a message from being received accurately - Spokesperson must be skilled at presenting messages to the media
Value of stealing thunder
1) Credibility - Revealing negative information about oneself may violate an audience's expectancies, thus raising credibility levels that may lead to enhanced persuasiveness. 2) Severity - Due to the unexpected nature of an organization's self- disclosure, the public might be inclined to interpret the revealed information in a specific manner that conforms to their own expectations. More specifically, people may be inclined to think that the crisis is not all that severe. 3) Attention - Research indicates that crises that are revealed by the organization itself receive less attention than crises that are revealed by another entity, such as a news outlet. - Practitioners often fear that self-disclosing a crisis draws unnecessary attention to problems that would otherwise remain unknown to the public. Stealing thunder would indeed seem to be the most practical route when the spread of negative crisis information is unavoidable. 4) Setting the tone - Whoever communicates about a crisis first has the opportunity to set the tone. If an organization has to respond to allegations, the crisis already will have been framed, likely in a negative manner. Stealing thunder, however, enables the company to tell its own story in its own way. 5) Consumer behavior - Stealing thunder will have a positive impact on consumer behavior through its positive effects on corporate reputation and credibility. It may lead consumers to purchase products and reduce consumer motivation to spread negative information about the corporation in crisis.
Hofstede's cultural typology
1) Individualism vs. Collectivism - it contrasts loyalty to oneself with loyalty to a larger group individualism: us, canada, and most european nations collectivism: asia and latin america 2) Power distance - it explains the level of hierarchy in a society - large power distance denotes that power positions are vertically stratified, creating different levels of power status low power distance: US, netherlands high power distance: Mexico, indonesia, korea 3) Uncertainty avoidance - a culture's level of tolerance with uncertainty - uncertainty avoidance stresses risk-free and desired formal rules and regulations to ensure certainty and stability low: US, Great Britan high: japan, germany, korea 4) Masculinity vs. femininity - contrasts competitiveness with compassion and nurturing - masculine cultures: assertive, tough, and focused on material success - feminine cultures: modest, tender and concerned with the quality of life Masculine nations: US, Germany Feminine nations: Sweden, Spain, Korea 5) long-term oriented (confucianism) vs. short-termed orientation - it measures a society's willingness to consider the traditions of the past and carry them into the future long term orientation: china, japan, korea short term: US
Evasion of Responsibility
1) Provocation - A firm can say its act was merely a response to another's offensive act, and that the behavior can be seen as a reasonable reaction to that provocation (another reaction to someone's act) Ex. Killing of animals in Zanesville, Ohio 2) Defeasibility - Lack of information or ability, excuse 3) Accident - The act in question happened accidentally - If the company can convince the audience that the act in question happened accidentally, it should be held less accountable, and the damage to that business' image should be reduced Ex. Sri Lankan arrested in Korea over oil storage tank fire 4) Good intentions - Stress organizational good intentions - White lie
Denial
1) Simple denial - A firm may deny that the act occurred, that the firm performed the act, or that the act was harmful to anyone Ex. Wendy's chili incident 2) Shift the blame - Arguing that another person or organization is actually responsible for the offensive act Ex. Exxon Valdez Oil spill, Chair of Exxon "blamed state officials and Coast Guard for delay" if Exxon was not at fault for the delay, their image should not be tarnished
Image repair discourse theory: Key constructs
1. Denial 2. Evasion of Responsibility 3. Reduction of offensiveness 4. Corrective action 5. Mortification
Why don't they employ the stealing thunder strategy?
1. Organizations have a tendency to wait as long as possible before they implement any reactive strategies. - One common problem is that, at the moment of outbreak, there is often very little information available about the nature of the problem. - Insufficient information available leads to use the silent strategy 2. Organizations only will accept responsibility and steal thunder under limited circumstances. - Some practitioners refrain from responsibility acceptance because they fear that it equals admitting that the company is at fault. 3. Public relations practitioners take management and legal implications under consideration. - A company claiming responsibility at an early stage may well find itself in an unfavorable position when legal liability is determined. - Public relations practitioners are often in conflict with the legal departments of the companies.
Identifying Organization Spokespeople
A CEO may not always be the best person for spokesperson You don't want to overexpose the boss; save him for big issues CEO may not know the level of detail necessary for a news conference/interview CEO may not have the personality to exhibit in public or especially on camera
Crisis Management Team (CMT)
A cross-functional group of people in the organization who have been designated to handle any crises CMT is a core element of crisis preparation The team crafts the CMP after thoroughly researching its organization's vulnerabilities
Crisis Framing
A frame is the way a problem is presented, the meaning one attaches to the problem (ex. media framing) A frame affects interpretations of the problem by highlighting certain of its features while masking other features
Responding quickly
A silent response ---> quick response Silence ---> stealing thunder A silent response suggests that an organization is not in control and is not trying to take control of how it or the crisis is perceived by stakeholders Silence allows others to take control of the situation and define the crisis for stakeholders A slow response makes an organization appear to be incompetent. Control is important to credibility; it is part of the organization's expertise It's difficult to have the discipline to remain quiet in the midst of the media frenzy The silent strategy allows an organization to wait out the storm of media attention until another issue comes along. People easily forget things
Crisis Response (Image restoration) strategies recommendations
All victims or potential victims should receive instructing information All victims should be provided an expression of sympathy, any information about corrective actions and trauma counseling when needed. This can be called the "care response" or "adjusting information" For crises with minimal attributions of crisis responsibility and no intensifying factors, instructing information and care response is sufficient For crises with strong attributions of crisis responsibility, add corrective action and/or apology strategies to the instructing information and care response Denial and attack the accuser strategies are best used only for rumor and challenge crises
Working with the media
An organization may have a number of people available during one press conference The spokesperson must be able to work with the media by listening and responding to questions Listening is ESSENTIAL: they should give appropriate answers to the questions (Poor ex: Sarah Palin) Answering questions demands the ability to think Press conferences are not slow-moving events
Mortification
Apologize; to confess and beg forgiveness Ex. Maple Leaf Food's response to crisis Products were recalled and apologized for
Dilemma of stealing thunder
Apology vs. legal liability - Organizations in crisis face a strong dilemma b/c apologizing incurs legal liability; not apologizing incurs public anger and disgust apologies are associated with higher costs
Attribution Theory
Based on the belief that people search for causes of negative and unexpected events people will attribute the cause of an event to an individual involved in the event (personal causality) or to some outside force (external causality)
Stealing thunder in reality
Besides legal implications, public relations practitioners discussed difficulties of convincing management of stealing thunder. Management often hopes that an issue will never be brought to light.
CMP is not always enough
CMP is a general guideline for action; it represents contingencies CMP is a living document CMP has little value if it is not tested and practiced in simulations or exercises The practice is the only way for team members to gain experience enacting the plan
SCCT and communication (STEP TWO)
Check for intensifiers The second step in assessing the repetitional threat is to modify the initial assessment based upon crisis history and prior reputation Repetition: organizations with a history of crises attract additional reputational damage Unfavorable prior reputaiton: An unfavorable prior reputation intensifies the reputational threat It means that if an organization has a history of crises or a negative prior reptutation, stakeholders will treat a victim crises like an accidental crises and an accidental crises like an intentional one
Face is an important cultural factor in china and korea
Chinese maxim - "the ugly things in our family should never go public." - Losing face tantamount to public humiliation. In crisis, keeping dishonorable matters covered up is a common strategy used to "save face." This can explain why silence strategies are used a lot in Korea.
SCCT Application to Crises
Crises are negative and unexpected Constituents attribute cause to: - Organization in crisis (organizational crisis responsibility) - Circumstances surrounding the crisis (organizational crisis responsibility) Attributions of crisis responsibility have serious implications - Location of crisis cause --> controllability --> crisis responsibility --> intentionality - Attributions shape how a stakeholder feels and behaves toward the organization
Crisis Recognition
Crises are symbolic: People can disagree on whether a situation is a crisis A situation becomes a crisis when key stakeholders agree it is a crisis Unfortunately, some members of a management may wish to deny that the organization is in a crisis even when stakeholders are screaming that it exists Management may refuse to take preventative actions to address warning signs
Developing a crisis management plan (CMP)
Crises are time pressured events during which quick responses are essential. During a crisis, time should not be wasted finding needed background info, deciding who will do what, and trying to determine the sequence of events CMP helps to reduce response time by gathering these elements together beforehand CMP is a communication document and involves identifying who to contact and how Most desirable CMP is a short document that is user-friendly
Matching crisis communication strategy with crisis type
Crisis type (Low responsibility -----> high responsibility) victim ---------accidental -------preventable (intentional) Image restoration strategy (Defensive ------------------> Accomodative) attack -- denial -- excuse-- justification -- apology/corrective action)
CRISIS PREPARATION II
Developing a CMP ... The need for a detailed, usable CMP must contain information needed to manage a crisis but should not be too long During a crisis, time should not be wasted finding background info, deciding who will do what, and trying to determine sequence of events A CMP helps to reduce response time by gathering these elements together beforehand With some framework in place, the chaos surrounding a crisis is reduced and the event is less stressful CMP creates a system that can save lives, reduce an organization's exposure to risks, and permit remedial actions without embarrassment and scrutiny
Spokesperson should be appealing to viewers (how?)
Does not mean they have to be physically attractive He or she must present material in an attractive fashion Media training required
Stakeholder perception matters
Dominant coalition: Those managers in the organization who make decisions Decision-makers including CEO If your customers define a situation as a crisis, it is a crisis, even if the dominant coalition chooses initially define it as a non-crisis
Important Issues for Spokesperson - Handling difficult questions
During a press conference, not all questions are of equal caliber The spokesperson must learn to recognize difficult questions and to respond appropriately Response strategies for five tough questions: - for long complicated questions, ask for the question to be repeated, rephrased, or explained - for multiple questions in one question, the spokesperson can choose which part of the question to respond to, selecting the part of the question that fits best with providing the organization's desired message - Questions that are tricky or tough need a tactful preface to the answer (when questions cannot be explained, explain why) - A question based upon erroneous information must be challenged and corrected - For multiple choice questions, the spokesperson must determine whether the response options are fair
Post-crisis communication
Every crisis does have unique features Crisis response theories: 1) Image repair discourse theory 2) Situational crisis communication theory (SCCT)
Crisis type and strategies
External attribution (natural disaster/malevolence) - deny/diminish/ reinforce strategies - showing concerns and caring even if not responsible for causing a crisis - providing timely info Internal attribution (misdeeds/ environmental damage) - Rebuild/reinforce strategies - admitting a responsibility of causing a crisis - providing timely info - showing plans to prevent its recurrence
Image Repair Discourse Theory
Image is essential to organizations as well as individuals The theory explains how organizations can respond to crises It outlines strategies with various tactics - strategies can be combined - not all strategies are complementary - strategies may vary for key publics Every crisis has 2 components: 1) The responsibility of an offensive act - it is not reasonable to form an unfavorable impression of a firm unless that company is believed to be responsible for that act - perceptions are more important than reality - the important point is not whether the business is in fact responsible for the offensive act, but whether the firm is thought to be responsible for it by the relevant audience (think about rumors) 2) the severity of the act - the key question is not if the act was in fact offensive, but whether the act is believed by the relevant audiences to be heinous
Communicating with internal publics
Internal publics include all classification of employees, labor, management, interns, as well as retirees and stockholders Internal publics are crucial in a crisis because they are the most believable spokespersons Employees are a link between the company and the consumers The news media seeks internal publics out for comment Communication with internal publics before, during, and after a crisis is vital. The correct message and the correct medium are important Once a crisis has occurred, employees and other internal publics must be advised of what has happened early in the notification process They should know about it before the external publics do
Culture and Crisis (International Crises)
International crises 1) Global crises: crises that affect multiple locations 2) Host crises: crises that affect only the host country; although managing a crisis in one's home country might receive global coverage, the crisis management effort would be home-based rather than global
Selecting and training a crisis management team
It would be impossible for an organization to prepare a CMP for every single crisis, but it can prepare CMP for the major types it may face
Individualism vs. collectivism
Low context cultures (America/Europe) Individualist culture I-identity (Emphasis on individual) Meaning is straight talk valued High Context cultures (asia/ latin) collectivist culture "we"-identity (emphasis on group) Meaning is indirectness valued (our country, our school)
Primary responsibility of Spokesperson
Manage the accuracy and consistency of the messages coming from the organization Every organization should have multiple spokespersons An organization should have a pool of spokespersons, all selected and trained in advance of a crisis One person cannot be relied upon to be available all of the time It is an overstatement to equate the idea of one voice with one person
SCCT and communication (STEP ONE)
Match crisis responses to the crisis of different responsibility levels - Identify the crisis type -- how crisis is being framed Victim crises: very weak crisis responsibility (external causes) ; stakeholders see the organization as a victim of the crisis, not the cause of the crisis Accident crises: minimal crisis responsibility (both) ; the crises are seen as largely uncontrollable by the organization and unintentional Intentional (preventable) crises: strong crisis responsibility (internal causes) ; the organization willfully engaged in behaviors that led to the crisis
Culture and crisis communication - national and organizational culture
Organization crises most often have cultural components Increasing globalization poses unique challenges for practitioners as many do not feel prepared to handle multicultural crises or adapt their response strategies across different cultures When an organization lacks competence in understanding the cultural norms of host nations, then unfortunate incidents can become enormous crises that damage the relationship between an organization and its publics
Spokesperson during a crisis
Organizations have used a variety of spokespersons, ranging from public relations staff, HR staff, CEOs In crisis situations with a high level of severity, CEOs often become spokespersons are credited with increasing perceived levels of authority, morality, and credibility
Relationship between situational crisis communication theory variables
Personal control > crisis responsibility > organizational reputation Performance history (points to crisis responsibility and organizational reputation) -crisis history - prior reputation
Important Issues for Spokesperson - Presenting crisis information clearly
Presenting information clearly focuses on the content of the response The spokesperson's answers must be clear and concise
Important Issues for Spokesperson - Answering questions effectively
Providing responses to questions that are asked Preparation is essential to effective answers Spokesperson must know or be able to quickly retrieve the crisis information that has been collected to that point Spokesperson should not answer the questions they want to be asked; they must hear and respond to the very questions asked by reporters Spokespersons can give introductory remarks or a short briefing before fielding questions (they can use that time to deliver the core crisis message from the organization) Sometimes the spokesperson does not know the answer - Admit to know knowing but promise to deliver the information as soon as you get it 65% of stakeholders who hear or see "no comment" equate it with an admission of guilt; it is a form of silence which is a very passive response There are two sides to every story, "no comment" means you do not get your side of the story The organization is allowing others who may be ill informed, or misinformed or hold a grudge against the organization to define the crisis for stakeholders A spokesperson also must be cordial and not argue with reporters - being cordial brings us to the personality traits of being a good crisis team member - a spokesperson should not be high in verbal aggressiveness or argumentativeness Handling stress is a part of answering questions
Crisis comm. of airline crashes between japan and US
Public apology? - In Japan's strong Confucian culture, a public apology was desirable for the crisis. - US culture did not expect a public apology due to litigation concerns. Spokesperson? - The large power distance, high uncertainty avoidance, and masculine cultural characteristics of Japan tended to place one top person as the decisive leader and spokesperson in crisis situations.
Criticism to Hofstede's Theory
Scholars criticized the data that Hofstede obtained from IBM employees, noting that it cannot represent national cultural values Scholars have criticized the unilateral categorization of one culture
Selling the crisis
Some crises are not obvious or easily accepted A problem can be ignored or not deemed worthy of the label crisis When a problem becomes defined as a crisis, the organization expends more resources on it and works harder to discover an explanation for it It may fall to the crisis team to convince the dominant coalition to accept stakeholder perception that a crisis exists The issue for crisis managers becomes how to sell a problem as a crisis to the dominant coalition
Stealing thunder strategy
Stealing thunder is an admission of a weakness (usually a mistake or failure) before that weakness is announced by another party, such as interest group or the media For an organization to steal thunder in a crisis situation, it must break the news about its own crisis, rather than wait to respond to inquiries from other media or other key publics The stealing thunder strategy is consistent with ethical public relations practices Thus, practitioners may stand to enhance credibility among journalists and favorably shape the meaning of news texts "sometimes companies do get thing wrong and, when that happens, i think people will find you more credible if you're willing to be honest about it " (an interview with a crisis manager)
Selecting and training a spokesperson
The VOICE of the organization during the crisis; the spokesperson is a very important and specialized function within the crisis management team
Corrective Action
The company promises to correct the problem Ex. American Airlines seats falling loose
CMP is not enough pt 2
The dangers of CMP is that it can provide managers with a false sense of security CMP is a general guideline for action; it represents contingencies CMP is a living document; organizations change, their operating environments change, their personnel changes = plan must be updated regularly CMP has little value if it is not tested and practiced in simulations or exercises Practice reveals the holes or weaknesses that must be addressed before a real crisis occurs Practice is the only way for team members to gain experience enacting the plan
How to respond to media questions:
The spokesperson goes through rehearsals Be concise and clear Never say "no comments" Never lose temper Never argue with journalists Correct errors or misinformation in questions Look pleasant on camera Appear in control and concerned
Spokesperson's handling of stress
The spokesperson is doing the job in a time of high stress The organization is in crisis and the media wants answers immediately A spokesperson must be able to handle stress well and not let it interfere with handling media inquiries The spokesperson should be a member of the crisis team
Mass Notification System
There are times when crisis team must send a simple message to a large number of people Although mass notification involves employees, it can also include community members who need to be given safety info about evacuation or shelter-in-place Mass notification is done through an automated messaging system, which sends a message by phone, text message, e-mail, or a combination of these to a preset list of people Messages should be short Employees and community members should be told where to go find additional information such as a phone #, website, or internal intranet site for employees only It is critical that employees learn about the crisis from the organization, not the news media
Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT)
Two Key traits of crises: - unexpected, negative Combines elements of the crisis types to crisis communication with Attribution Theory Driving people's needs to search for causes of an event Stakeholders will make attributions about the cause of a crisis they will assess crisis responsibility - Was the crisis something the organization did? - Was the crisis a result of situational factors?
Geert Hofstede Cultural dimensions
US: High individualism Masculinity Low long-term orientation Low power distance Low uncertainty avoidance Korea: Low individualism High collectivism Long-term orientation High power distance High uncertainty avoidance
10 crisis types by level of responsibility
Victim Crises - natural disasters - rumors - workplace violence - malevolence Accidental crises - Challenges - technical-error accidents - technical-error harm Preventable crises - human-error accidents - human-error product harm - organizational misdeeds