Spillonomics: Underestimating Risk
In retrospect, the pattern seems clear. Years before the Deepwater Horizon rig blew, BP was developing a reputation as an oil company that took safety risks to save money.
In retrospect, the pattern seems clear. Years before the Deepwater Horizon rig blew, BP was developing a reputation as an oil company that took safety risks to save money.
The BP fiasco is clearly one of the most devastating environmental incidents in history, and what scares me most is that the company clearly did not have adequate incident response or disaster recovery plans before the oil spill.
James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, received The John W. Hill Award at the 23rd Annual Big Apple Awards for the New York Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).
Search any of these phrases on Google: oil spill, BP, or Deepwater Horizon. Take a look at the sponsored link on top of the page. It doesn’t direct you towards, say, an oil disaster recovery group or news about the spill’s impact on the Louisiana economy.
Jim Lukaszewski recently had a chance to visit with a friend who is a pretty well-known crisis manager. The occasion for the conversation was that he had spoken to a group of people from Toyota, at Toyota’s invitation. Actually, Jim was curious about what was going on at the company and so I asked him what he told the Toyota executives.
The Business Continuity Institute (BCI) is running a mini-survey on the use of IT and software in Business Continuity Management and crisis management.
There have been quite a few workplace violence events in the media lately. It is a good time to remind people that workplace violence doesn’t usually “just happen.”
In certain workplaces the threat of violence from external parties is more prevalent that other places. Environments like hospitals, convenience stores, banks are more subject to threats from outside its employees. But other types of workplace violence such as employee violence often have precursor events that in hindsight make the threat very plain to see.
Anti-corporate activism, bullying individuals, and embarrassing brands and institutions are growing concerns. Every day large public companies, high-profile products, noteworthy spokespersons, and celebrities are big targets. Contention, personal attacks, and cyber pressure also occurs very locally aimed at non-public figures and organizations.
There’s a principle of crisis management written on tablets of stone that says: “In a crisis, the chief executive must be your media spokesperson”. The principle has served many corporations well… but in other situations the tablet of stone is beginning to crack.
Putting the CEO forward as the face of the organization should not be a kneejerk reaction: it should be a well considered decision designed to help the organization communicate most effectively with its stakeholders and thereby protect its reputation.
Here are four questions to help you decide your spokesperson strategy.
CEOs can be highly effective spokespeople in a crisis and in some situations have been critical to preserving – and sometimes enhancing – the reputation of their companies under the most intense pressure. Others have simply made the crisis much more damaging. Consider your CEO as a potentially vital part of your crisis response team – but don’t automatically assume that he/she must face the media in all circumstances.
See Four questions to ask before the CEO faces the media, by Jonathan Hemus for Continuity Central.
The current Toyota crisis offers a disturbing insight into the fragility of any corporation’s brand, business and reputation.Within a matter of weeks, an iconic international company went from being one of the world’s favorite automotive manufacturers to seeing sales volume drop by 16 percent and its share price plummet by 15 percent, translating to a reduction of almost $25 billion in market capitalization.
Advanced Crisis Communication Strategy Seminar: How to Think and Advise Management Strategically During Tough Situations and Crises, Featuring Jim Lukaszewski, at the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Headquarters in New York City, has been rescheduled toThursday and Friday, March 4 and 5, 2010.