Topic outline
- General
- Course Introduction
Course Introduction
Imagine you wake up one morning and read a news flash on your smartphone or other mobile device that a major fire threatens your office building. You immediately remember that your organization recently practiced its quarterly disaster preparedness exercise. You know what to do, who to contact, and the location of the alternate office to use in case of an emergency. You are concerned, but you are confident that you have a plan in place. As a key member of the organization's crisis communication team (CMT), you know your role. You help management immediately prepare a news release and update the company's website with factual information on the who, what, when, and where details of the event. You use social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, and traditional media, such as radio and TV, to inform internal stakeholder groups (e.g., senior leadership, employees, and investors) and external stakeholder groups (e.g., customers, clients, local officials, and the general public) with appropriate key messages. During times of crisis, the public relations specialist helps management communicate that sound, safe, and responsible actions are being used to protect and defend the organization from harm or damage.
Crisis communication is one of the many specialized areas or functions of public relations. This course will specifically focus on the use of crisis communication to protect and defend a company or organization facing a problem or challenge that threatens to harm its brand or reputation. As a sudden and unexpected serious event, a crisis can fall into four categories: acts of God, mechanical problems, human error, and management decision or indecision. You may recall examples of crisis in news media coverage of killer earthquakes and tsunamis, grounded airplanes, stranded cruise ship passengers, and senior government officials or CEOs who are fired or asked to resign following adulterous affairs. If you want to learn to become a professional public relations specialist, it is important to have a basic understanding of the important role public relations has in helping guide a company or organization through a crisis or serious event.
This course is designed for practical applications of crisis communication principles. This course will explain what communication problems look like, the different phases of crises, how to deal with them, and how to anticipate crises as part of conducting effective public relations program. It will also explain the role of a crisis communication team and teach you how to write a crisis communication plan. Most importantly, it will emphasize the value and importance of using social media in a crisis communication plan and in marketing. Through case studies, you will examine best practices that have worked for others. A diverse selection of resource materials will help guide and supplement your understanding for practical application. This course will cover certain crisis cases, including BP's oil rig explosion, a Wendy's customer's false claims, and a UPS employee strike. After completing this course, you may also be interested in conducting your own research to find examples of other crisis cases, such as: Carnival's Costa Concordia cruise ship, Lance Armstrong and the Livestrong Foundation, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Penn State, or Toyota's 2010 recalls. These cases will give you an appreciation and understanding of the necessity to have a well-thought out crisis communication management system. The overall goal of the course is to help develop your skills and abilities as part of a crisis management team to help an organization or company develop a credible and tested communication plan to effectively respond to a crisis.
- Unit 1: Crisis Communication Introduction
Unit 1: Crisis Communication Introduction
The resources assigned for Unit 1 will give you the basic framework for understanding crisis communication and its application in a professional business environment. This unit will discuss what crisis communication involves, types of crisis and crisis responses, and crisis communication management. By explaining how crisis communication relates to organizational communication and then looking at problems that lead to crisis communication, you can learn the definition and principles of crisis communication and can develop a deeper understanding of its value in today's marketplace. This unit will also provide a brief introduction to the evolution of using social media during crisis. Later in the course, Unit 3 will expand on the discussion of the value of using social media in crisis communication management.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 6 hours.
- 1.1: What Is Crisis Communication?
1.1: What Is Crisis Communication?
Watch this brief video on how crisis communication is viewed from a business perspective. In this video, Rick Kelly, Director of Crisis Communications at Triad Strategies, defines crisis communication and discusses the importance of developing a crisis communications plan.
Read this article for an overview and definition of crisis communication and crisis communication management. This reading also addresses reasons why crisis communication is important. Note that it is not necessary to read the other chapters referenced and linked in this reading.
Select "View in iTunes" for the lecture titled "What Is a Crisis?" There are some administrative remarks at the beginning of the lecture, so you may start the lecture at approximately 2 minutes. In this lecture, Dyer discusses how Timothy Coombs, a noted crisis communication author and researcher, looks at defining crisis and how management and employees often have different perceptions about what dictates a crisis.
- 1.2: Types of Crisis
1.2: Types of Crisis
Read the "Types of Crisis" section of this article, stopping at "Crisis Leadership." This section will help you understand the various types of crisis that can occur and that should be considered and customized for various organizational crisis management planning.
Select "View in iTunes" for the lecture titled "Anticipating Types of Crisis." Listen to Samuel Dyer's continued discussion on Timothy Coombs's book about different types of crisis, beginning with natural disasters, which are also referred to as acts of God. You will understand the various types of crisis that can occur and should be planned for by various organizations. He also shares that 44% of organizations still do not have a dedicated crisis management team.
- 1.3: Crisis Management Stages
1.3: Crisis Management Stages
Watch this video presentation for a better understanding of crisis communication as a business or organization problem. In particular, note the stages of crisis communication.
- 1.4: Four Types of Crisis Response
1.4: Four Types of Crisis Response
Read this article to learn how the four types of corporate crisis responses affect the perception of the company and the CEO differently.
- 1.5: The Evolution of Using Social Media in Disaster Response
1.5: The Evolution of Using Social Media in Disaster Response
Read this article to learn about how social networks have changed everything in public relations. The readings in this subunit will help prepare you for the material in Unit 3.
Read this article and watch the embedded video to learn about social media's growing application for disaster response.
Read this document for an introduction to social media strategy that has application to both non-profit and other organizations.
- Topic 8
- Unit 2: Preparing for a Crisis
Unit 2: Preparing for a Crisis
Unit 2 will provide you with specific steps for preparing for a crisis. This unit begins with an overview that explores how you can use a SWOT analysis - looking at strengthens, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats - to assess how a company operates within its environment. As part of business strategic planning, this unit covers setting goals and objectives that can also be applied to crisis contingency planning. This includes learning the basics of preparing a written crisis communication plan that has been coordinated both internally and externally for a specific organization or company. The length of the plan depends on the type and size of the organization, but it should include information regarding the crisis management team - team members' names, titles, phone numbers, and responsibilities for helping execute the plan. Effective plans should also identify the spokesperson, have pre-developed key messages, and sample news releases. The plan should also document media training, other operational training, lessons learned, and best practices as appropriate. As an example of crisis communication planning, you will watch a lecture that provides a look into how the United States' Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) expanded its crisis management team to include a monthly think tank that is open to the public for participation and comment. Additionally, you will learn about the various roles employees, leaders, and managers play in crisis management. Because each organization or company is unique in its size and has a specific mission, the roles should be modified appropriately. For example, a large government office may have multiple public affairs specialists providing information to a central public affairs officer who serves as the key spokesperson. Each of the subordinate public affairs specialists may be assigned to work internal, community relations or media relations areas as part of the overall crisis communication plan. Other management roles may involve coordinating information for news releases with other private and government agencies. In this unit, you will learn how a press conference should be conducted and how the 24/7 digital news environment affects the need for quick and accurate responses to news media inquiries. Depending on the type of crisis, it may require roles and responsibilities involving physical and personal security, personnel issues handled by human resources, legal counsel for liabilities, and medical liaisons coordinating information on injuries and deaths. All of these roles help management make responsible decisions that will help minimize damage and harm as well as will help in the assessment of when and how quickly the organization can resume normal daily business operations.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 15 hours.
- 2.1: How to Prepare for a Crisis: Crisis Communication Plan
2.1: How to Prepare for a Crisis: Crisis Communication Plan
Read this section to learn the steps for crisis planning. Be sure to take notes as you read. Pay special attention to real world crisis events, including Wendy's handling of a woman's claim of finding a fingertip in her bowl of chili. Another example discussed in this reading is BP's oil rig explosion in the Gulf Coast and how CEO Tony Hayward responded.
Complete exercise 2 (AACSB) Analysis. This exercise requires you to role play as the CEO of a large company and to write the core values you would want the employees of your company to demonstrate. Post your response to the exercise to the PRSM107 Course Discussion Forum as well as review and respond to one or two other students' posts.
Watch this video to learn the basics of a crisis communication plan approach for business and organizations.
After you have studied the materials in this subunit, consider the following prompts. Post your written response for these prompts to the course discussion forum. Make sure to review and respond to at least one or two other students' posts.
- Using a company you are familiar with, develop a strategic plan as described in the Exploring Business text in this subunit. Use the bulleted list under the "Develop a Strategic Plan" section as a check list for the items you should include in your plan: a mission statement, core values, SWOT analysis, goals and objectives, and tactical and operational plans.
- Develop a strategic plan for a public relations consulting company. The company will have two full-time employees, a business manager and a PR director, and three consultants including an advertising specialist, a marketing specialist, and a social media specialist. Your target audience is small business start-ups at three local community colleges within a 75-mile radius of your location. You plan to offer one-stop integrating marketing for your clients.
- Using a company you are familiar with, develop a strategic plan as described in the Exploring Business text in this subunit. Use the bulleted list under the "Develop a Strategic Plan" section as a check list for the items you should include in your plan: a mission statement, core values, SWOT analysis, goals and objectives, and tactical and operational plans.
- 2.2: What Is a Crisis Management Team (CMT)?
2.2: What Is a Crisis Management Team (CMT)?
Read the first six sections of this article, stopping at "Pre-draft Messages," for an overview of crisis management teams.
- 2.3: Case Study: How Does FEMA's Think Tank Operate?
2.3: Case Study: How Does FEMA's Think Tank Operate?
Read this article to get a basic understanding of how the Federal Emergency Management Agency uses the think tank forum to enhance the overall effectiveness of its crisis response operations.
Listen to this audio recording of part of FEMA's think tank conference call on February 6, 2013. Also, download the transcript of the full conference call, and skim the transcript for an overview of this session. This audio recording provides a sample of what goes on in this type of meeting. The topic focuses on innovations and solutions to emergency management.
- 2.4: Your Role in Crisis Management
2.4: Your Role in Crisis Management
Read the article, beginning at "Pre-draft Messages" through "Table 8 Post-Crises Best Practices" to get a better understanding of your role as a public relations specialist in helping your organization use best practices during a crisis and in crisis management. This reading is also an effective lead into the next subunit, "Dealing with News Media."
- 2.5: Dealing with News Media
2.5: Dealing with News Media
Read Section 4 of Chapter 17 to refresh your understanding of the importance of always adequately preparing for news media encounters regardless of the format and whether you are communicating during a crisis situation or non-crisis situation.
After reading about press conferences, complete the exercise at the end of the section. For this exercise, you will select one scenario based on your birth month. Then, you will write a prepared statement that responds to at least five questions related to who, what, when, where, how, and why regarding the scenario. Post your written response to the PRSM107 discussion forum as well as review and respond to one or two other students' posts.
After reviewing the course materials in this unit, consider the following questions. Post your written response to the PRSM107 Course Discussion Forum. Make sure to review and respond to at least one or two other students' posts.
- Describe a real-world situation that may lead to a crisis that needs to be managed. What is the situation? How did you anticipate this as leading to a crisis? What might you do to plan to resolve or evade the crisis?
- Consider your role in crisis management. What type of plans would you have in place to respond and handle news media inquiries? What key messages would you have prepared for your spokesperson? How would you distribute this information to your various audiences?
- Describe a real-world situation that may lead to a crisis that needs to be managed. What is the situation? How did you anticipate this as leading to a crisis? What might you do to plan to resolve or evade the crisis?
- Topic 15
- Unit 3: Using Social Media During a Crisis
Unit 3: Using Social Media During a Crisis
It is no secret that using social media during a crisis is a must. There have been recent crisis events, such as a natural disaster, where national and regional government emergency response officials have used social media, such as Twitter, to keep people informed. Regardless of whether you use social media to quickly help diffuse an issue or provide real time information during search and rescue efforts, you should learn how to best use it. This means it is also important to properly integrate social media into the overall strategic communication plans of businesses and organizations. This unit also profiles a successful social media campaign, explains how to protect your social media channel, and provides perspectives from online social media communicators.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 6 hours.
- 3.1: Why Social Media Is Useful During a Crisis
3.1: Why Social Media Is Useful During a Crisis
Read Section 4 of Chapter 16 to understand how trends in social media affect the availability, use, and appeal of social media as effective communication during a crisis.
Read this article, which discusses the benefits of using social media, such as Twitter, during a crisis.
- 3.2: The Risks of Using Social Media
3.2: The Risks of Using Social Media
Read this article, which provides insight into company losses that occur from social media mishaps and security breaches. This article should get you thinking about the inherent risks businesses assume when they incorporate social media into their day-to-day operations.
Read this article to learn how to avoid social networking risk that could interrupt and compromise your Internet and social media channel services.
- 3.3: Social Media Marketing
3.3: Social Media Marketing
Watch this video to learn emerging best practices for reaching and engaging blogger, reporters, and other influencers to target your messages.
Read this section and complete exercise 2. This exercise highlights one of Procter & Gamble's most successful social media campaigns. It features former NFL wide receiver Isaiah Mustafa, who points out the power of wearing Old Spice aftershave. For your convenience, you may find the article with embedded videos for this exercise below.
Read this article and view the embedded videos as part of exercise 2.
- 3.4: Effective Use of Social Media
3.4: Effective Use of Social Media
Read this article to learn how a government agency used a contest to conduct a social networking experiment to show how quickly large groups can be mobilized in support of a cause.
Watch this video, which illustrates how a government agency in Australia has effectively integrated social media into emergency service procedures.
- Topic 21
- Unit 4: Designing a Crisis Communication Plan (CCP)
Unit 4: Designing a Crisis Communication Plan (CCP)
There is no one size fits all when it comes to crisis communication plans (CCP). This is true whether you are designing a CCP for a government agency, nonprofit organization, or private company. However, there are some key elements that each CCP is expected to include in the broad terms of pre-crisis, crisis, and post-crisis actions. When spelled out in the CCP, you want to be sure to address pre-crisis preparations, safety, notifications of key staff, listing the crisis communication team (CCT), their functions and their contact information, situation assessments, developing key messages, media releases, and communication updates. There is always a need to address post-crisis actions such as evaluating how the CCT performed and lessons learned before starting the cycle again to prepare for the next crisis. In this unit, you will learn about the basic components of the crisis communication plan and how to develop a CCP in a digital format. Regardless of the format, the CCP should be coordinated among all participating agencies and organizations. It should be tested or practiced to see what works and what does not work so modifications can be made before you really need to use it.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 6 hours.
- 4.1: What Type of Information Does a CCP Contain?
4.1: What Type of Information Does a CCP Contain?
Study this document to learn what a CCP is and to understand what a complete and detailed crisis communication plan might look like, depending on the nature of the organization or company.
- 4.2: How to Design a Crisis Communication Plan
4.2: How to Design a Crisis Communication Plan
Read this section to learn about what type of information to include when developing a CCP. This reading includes a checklist for designing an effective crisis communication plan and reviews the characteristics of a crisis communication team. Answer the questions for exercises 2 and 5. Post your response to the PRSM107 Discussion Forum, and review as well as respond to one or two other students' posts.
Also respond to the following prompt on the forum:
Outline the media plan you would need if your technology business office headquarters that housed 1,500 employees was damaged during a natural disaster such as a hurricane. What considerations would you need to have planned and coordinated in advance to have an alternate media center or location for media to gather while covering the news of the hurricane disaster damage to your office headquarters?
Study these slides on 11 steps to developing a digital communication plan. Compare and contrast these steps to the earlier more traditional print formatted crisis plan.
- 4.3: Testing a Crisis Communication Plan
4.3: Testing a Crisis Communication Plan
Read this article to learn how tabletop exercises are used to test crisis communication plans. This reading illustrates three scenarios:
- a disgruntled employee starts a data center fire
- an explosion at a nearby chemical plant releases deadly toxins
- a pandemic flu hits.
- Unit 5: Developing Strategic Messages
Unit 5: Developing Strategic Messages
Unit 5 will focus on how to use key messages to tell your company's story and how to incorporate key strategic messages in online and traditional media tools. This unit will also discuss how to help managers communicate timely, effective, and truthful messages while adhering to sound business principles.
Imagine you work for a company that is trying to negotiate with its union employees for their routine 4 to 6-year contract renewal. Imagine you are the public relations spokesperson for the second largest company in the United States and there are few trained spokespersons at your company, including you. What starts out to be a routine renewal labor union contract renewal turns bad. As the spokesperson for your company, what do you do? In 1997, a situation like this occurred when UPS employees were negotiating their contracts. When talks failed to produce an agreement that provided more job security through full-time employment and less part-time employment, without warning, the Teamster's Union announces that its UPS employees would go on strike. This resulted in millions of dollars in lost revenues and expenses. Approximately two weeks later, in hindsight and with the help of the case study authors, management reviewed how effective planning and message development could have resulted in a better outcome. In this unit, you will find out more about crisis management while reading the UPS case study.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 7 hours.
- 5.1: Practice Writing Key Messages that Tell Your Company's Story
5.1: Practice Writing Key Messages that Tell Your Company's Story
Read Chapter 1 for a case study about how negotiations broke down and led to UPS employees going on strike. This reading will help you understand the importance of developing message strategies and how to develop them for crisis management.
Read this article on message strategy. This article will help you understand the importance of developing message strategies and how to develop them for crisis management or marketing. This article includes a position statement and three supporting points.
Practice writing three key messages about your favorite organization. Post your messages to the PRSM107 Discussion Forum, and review as well as respond to one or two other students' posts. As you respond to other students, consider which message is the most effective, and why.
Also consider the following prompts. Post your written response to these prompts on the PRSM107 discussion forum. Make sure to review and respond to at least one or two other students' posts.
- Write three marketing messages that address the safety and value of a new social media application that helps parents keep track of their children's departure to and from their homes aboard school buses. Include that the cost for the app is only $10 to download. Each app can be customized with an individual child's genetic coding.
- Next, write three key messages on how a technology company is providing smartphones equipped with the same social media applications to help locate lost or missing children during an earthquake disaster. The devices will emit a special beep when a human is discovered buried deep under rumble or within horizontal ranges from 20 feet to 1 mile. Include that there is no cost for the apps, the smartphones, or the operators who are using them to help locate the children. Everything is free and being donated by one nonprofit company named "Help on the Way."
- Write three marketing messages that address the safety and value of a new social media application that helps parents keep track of their children's departure to and from their homes aboard school buses. Include that the cost for the app is only $10 to download. Each app can be customized with an individual child's genetic coding.
- 5.2: Incorporate Key Messages Using Online and Traditional Media Tools
5.2: Incorporate Key Messages Using Online and Traditional Media Tools
Read these three articles to better understand your role with news media, what you can do to achieve an effective working relationship with the media, and tips for using traditional and new media.
- 5.3: Help Management to Communicate Truthful Messages
5.3: Help Management to Communicate Truthful Messages
Read this article, which explains what happens during a crisis, how to plan for a crisis, and how to use the ICE method to guide the actions of management and the crisis response team.
Read this article, which will provide you with guidelines for ensuring management is ready to handle a crisis and also outlines specific business ethics that should be followed to ensure truthful disclosures.
- 5.4: Communicate to Various Stakeholder Groups
5.4: Communicate to Various Stakeholder Groups
Read Chapter 7, which defines and prioritizes stakeholders and publics.
- Unit 5 Assessment
Unit 5 Assessment
Please take this assessment to check your understanding of the materials presented in this unit.
Notes:
- There is no minimum required score to pass this assessment, and your score on this assessment will not factor into your overall course grade.
- This assessment is designed to prepare you for the Final Exam that will determine your course grade. Upon submission of your assessment you will be provided with the correct answers and/or other feedback meant to help in your understanding of the topics being assessed.
- You may attempt this assessment as many times as needed, whenever you would like.