Part 4 You will hear part of a lecture to business management students about what managers should do when their organisation faces a crisis. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.
Today, I want to talk about how organisations can respond to a crisis, which happens when a serious problem occurs suddenly and must be dealt with quickly. I will talk about a theory that tells crisis managers how to communicate in different kinds of crises. Some people ask why we need theory in crisis communication.
Isn't logic the answer? Yes, it is sometimes. But organisations often handle crisis communication badly. What we find is that, in reality, much of the advice that organisations receive on how to respond to a crisis is just a guess.
Theory and research allow us to take those suggestions and test them. Then, managers can be given advice based on actual evidence of what works and what doesn't. The crisis theory has categorised three general types of crises.
One type is a crisis where the organisation is a victim and has very little responsibility. For example, this kind of crisis could be caused by a rumour. The second kind is accidental.
There isn't much responsibility because there are other outside factors that contributed to it. And the third one, and the most difficult to actually manage, is a preventable crisis. In this kind of crisis, those affected believe strongly that a mistake was made within the organisation.
The type of crisis is important because the more people think the organisation is responsible for the crisis, the angrier they become at the organisation. The theory begins by suggesting a two-part basic response that can be used in all kinds of crises. The first part is to provide information to those affected so that they can protect themselves from further harm.
Many crises pose a risk to people. For example, if there is a chemical release, people might have to evacuate an area. Or, if there is a product which could be harmful, people need to be told about it so they don't buy it, or so if they have bought it, they can return it.
The second part of the basic response is to communicate the action the organisation is planning in order to prevent another crisis. This is important because those affected by a crisis are often concerned that it is going to happen again. Beyond this, crisis managers also have other tools to shape how people think about the crisis.
Crisis managers can use several strategies to do this. One strategy is to diminish the crisis. If crisis managers have proof which is convincing, they can argue that a crisis is not as bad as people think.
If they can argue this successfully, the harmful effects are reduced. Another way to shape thinking is to give excuses which emphasise a lack of intent. Therefore, people will see the crisis as an accident.
This is important because an accidental crisis is much easier to manage than an intentional crisis. Crisis managers can also protect the organisation's reputation when there is a major crisis. Their first goal is to reduce the negative opinions generated by the crisis.
This can be done by presenting new positive facts and figures about the organisation or by reminding people of past good works done by the organisation. Rebuild strategies are useful for preventable crises or when there has been a series of accidental crises, as these crises present a severe threat to the perceived reliability of the organisation. For example, a crisis where the organisation is clearly at fault or broke a law can be very damaging and can result in loss of business.
Rebuild strategies can also be used to reduce the impact of the crisis. To do this, crisis managers say and do things to benefit those affected by the crisis. The reputation of the organisation can also be protected in practical ways.
The problem can sometimes be addressed by offering an apology to those affected by the crisis. This may be sufficient action when the problem is relatively minor. However, if the crisis is very severe, the most common strategy is to offer compensation to those affected.
So, to summarise, crisis communication theory is interesting to managers as it gives positive guidance on how to respond. It can help them figure out which strategies... That is the end of Part 4. You now have one minute to check your answers to Part 4.