Unit 11: Crisis management

Preparation (before class)

Book page 104-109

Starting up
A) Work in groups
in class
B)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Complete steps 5-10 using the verbs in the box

Predict
Set up
Inform
Analyse
Disclose (reveal)
Practise

C) Complete table with steps in exercise B

Before crisis
During crisis
After crisis
1 2 4 5 6 8 10
387
1389
D) Answer questions
1. Financial crises, technological crises, natural crises, ...
2. Business problems are minor incidents. Business crises can be fatal for the organization.
3. Volkswagen crisis (due to dieselgate)

Vocabulary: Handling crises

A) Match words from box A with words from box B to make word partnerships, adding of if
necessary
1. Action plan
2. Admission of liability
3. Contingency plan
4. Damage limitation
5. Flow of information
6. Legal response
7. Loss of confidence
8. Press release
9. Press conference
10. Speed of action
B) Complete sentences
1. Speed of action

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Press conference
Press release
Flow of information
Action plan
Contingency plan
Legal response
Admission of liability
Loss of confidence
Damage limitation

C)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Match expression from ex A & B with verbs

Implement an action plan
Issue a press release (publiceren)
Take a legal response
Hold a press conference
Suffer a loss of confidence
Prepare a contingency plan
Control the flow of information

D)
1.
2.
3.

Answer questions
Essential: 1 2 4 6
To avoid: 3
Useful: 7

Listening: Dealing with crises

A) In groups, what do you know/ would like to know about Toyota crisis 2009/2010
I dont know what happened so my first question would be: What went wrong in 2009/2010
and created the Toyota crises?
B)
C)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Yes
Complete extracts
Slow to acknowledge
Slow to respond
Problem
Recall
Unclear
Confused
Tell it all
Tell it quickly
Get out there
Doing something

D) Answer questions

1. Its a model that lays out the approach of a crisis. Its divided into 3 piece. The approach
before, during and after the crisis.
2. The first activity is an audit which is essentially asking the question what could go wrong.
Secondly, having identified what could possibly go wrong, we should think about how we can
reduce the likelihood of that happening (is it possible to avoid the avoidable?). the third
activity is preparing a contingency plan and setting up a dedicated team wholl be ready to
step in when necessary
E)
1.
2.
3.

What three things need to be done during a crisis?

Recognize the crisis crisis identification
Contain the crisis (bedwingen)
Resolving the crisis

F)
1.
2.
3.

What questions does he ask with regard to?

How to recover from the storm and reintroduce the problem?
What can be learnt from the crisis. Which actions worked and which didnt?
How to rebuild the organizations reputation externally? (how to restore the confidence of
customers and other stakeholders? )

Reading: Dealing with crises

A) In groups, brainstorm crises
In class
B) Read article and choose the best headline on the left
1. Article A How not to take care of a brand
2. Article B Expect the unexpected
C) Answer questions
Article A: Maclaren
1. After Maclaren announced that they issued repair kits for up to 1 million pushchairs it had
sold in the US, it got out that there were 12 cases in which childrens fingertips were
chopped off in the pushchairs hinges.
2. They didnt do a product recall which they shouldve done but theyve just issued warnings to
owners not to let their children stick their fingers in the folding mechanism as they open the
pushchairs. + repair kits werent automatically dispatched to every Maclaren owner.
3. Be ready for a crisis, empathise, be polite and dont discriminate.
Article B: Air France and Intel
1. An Air France Concorde crashed on take-off (1) and at Intel a small proportion of its Pentium
microprocessors were faulty (2).
2. Air france managers moved quickly to withdraw Concorde from service, announced an
investigation and reassured the traveling public that it was still safe to fly Air France (1). Intel
quickly assessed the options and replaced the entire production run of the series (2).

3. Strong, healthy companies will survive while weak ones will be carried of by the disease
and die. The key to successful crisis management is preparedness. Forward thinking and
planning are essential here.
D) Tell partner about content of article
In class
E)
1.
2.
3.
4.

Make word partnerships.

Handle a problem, handle a crisis, handle an issue
Issue a warning, issue a crisis, issue an investigation, issue a recall, issue an issue
Face a problem, face a crisis, face the public, face an issue
Announce a warning, announce a problem, announce a crisis, announce an investigation,
announce a recall, announce an issue
5. Cope with a problem, cope with a crisis, cope with the public, cope with an issue
6. Deal with a problem, deal with a crisis, deal with the public, deal with an issue
7. Reassure the public

Language review: Conditionals

A)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
B)
1.
2.
3.

Match sentences to headings

D
F
B
E
D
B
E
C
B
F
D
C

Are following situations A) likely to you or B) unlikely

B this is very unlikely because Im still a student and I dont have a steady job yet.
B When it comes to luck, Im no big winner.
B My computer hasnt got big viruses in the past 5 years so I dont think Ill have a big one
this year. A couple of small ones maybe (through mail or something like that) but none that
would do any damage my computer.
4. A Its more than likely that Ill travel abroad next year. Every year, I do a city trip with some
friends.
5. A Im still in school and Im following an English course so Ill probably do a presentation in
English. In fact, I already did one, but there will be more.
6. B This situation is highly unlikely since Im still a student. I also dont think that my school
will be taken over by a competitor.

C) What went wrong

If HHG had done a recall of all possible toothpastes which could be infected with the poison,
they would have prevented that people lost confidence in their product.
If HHG issues an apology immediately, they might convince their audience not to lose faith.

Skills: Asking and answering difficult questions

A)
1.
2.
3.

Answer questions
Stuffed toys
They receive roughly 30.000 toys a month
According to the interviewer (whom cant say where he gets his information) the stuffed toys
have a defect. Their button eyes can be easily pulled of by children and some of them put
them into their mouths and choke on them. The interviewer suspects that the company gets
dozen of complaints each week, but Tim Bradshaw claims that they receive only a few
complaints a week (not more than any other company receives). When I look at the
interviewers story, Id say that its a pretty serious problem because children choke on the
buttons. Tim Bradshaw claims its not such a big a deal.

B)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Are the questions A) neutral/polite or B) agressive

A
A
A
B
B
B
B
B
B
A

Case study unit 11: In range

Company: ExtremeAction
Game to be launched: In Range
Accusation made by prof. Davis: Violent games will increase the levels of aggression in young people
and they also desensitizes to death and destructions. The game should be banned or, at the very
least, only available to adults over the age of 21.
Risk for EA: EA will not sell as much games as they usually do because if they could only sell it to
people over the age of 21, a big part of their target audience will not be able to buy it loss of sales.
Other critics: critics from politicians, academics, community leaders, the police force and the media.

Plans for launch: extracts from the game in Universal movie theatre, therell be an invited audience
famous people in arts, entertainment, business, movie stars,
Advertising: Teaser campaign, followed it up with TV and movie theatre commercials.
Sales projections: they expect sales of seven million copies in the US bringing in a revenue of around
350 million dollars, in the UK 4 million with a revenue of 200 million dollars (just for the first month).
Worries: Worried about the criticism of the competition.