Running head: CRISIS COMMUNICATION 1

Crisis Communication

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Date
CRISIS COMMUNICATION 2

Crisis Communication

1. Likely crisis

Organizational crises are frequent in all industries. This is why managers must face the

anticipated crisis or not to prevent the organization from having potentially catastrophic

consequences. All industries are at risk of emergency at any time during operation, the food

industry is more susceptible to crisis. The food industry is often exposed to a variety of crisis

shocks, including low wages, food poisoning, and high turnover due to fires. The examples of

crisis that am organization are likely to face will be obtained from a case study of “Welcomein”

cafeteria that faced several crises

As a relatively new business, “Welcomein” Cafeteria is popular with customers for its

varied foods. Customers have found new outlets that offer a wide range of products. Insightful

customer service for employees also plays a role in building the joint venture’s reputation.

Nevertheless, the disaster that is likely to happen when everything is going well is a case of

contamination of food as it happened. It all started when two clients reported abdominal pain and

diarrhea. However, over time, more than 50 people reported the same symptoms. At this point,

even some employees were calling the sick. At that time, leadership went into panic mode.

Planning for crisis communication

Crisis communication is crucial in the relationship between the public and the

organization. It is the strategy used to mitigate the challenges met to better the reputation of an

organization in the public, as it is the case. The dynamics of communication during a crisis,

massive trauma, or disaster differ in many ways. The stress level of each person involved is an

essential factor in how to deal with situations and events. Since the causality was unknown the
CRISIS COMMUNICATION 3

facility had to be shut. An emergency meeting was convened by the board of directors and the

executive committee. This was followed by warnings from the food review team and

stakeholders. Medical reports were obtained from the victims. They were used for inference.

Given the comparatively tricky situation, the food inspection team strengthened its “Action

Plan.” As a result, the testing organization executed an action plan by conducting a risk

valuation. The employees were questioned on what they had consumed before the signs and

symptoms first appeared. This involved captivating samples of suspicious food and water for

further analysis in the laboratory. After three days, the outcomes of the laboratory test were

announced, and an emergency meeting was held to send the results. The outcomes showed that

water was the source of pollution. Before the connection was reopened, water pollution was

followed according to corrective measures designed to repair the destroyed sewer. Two weeks

later, the hotel started working again. However, he was severely affected by the loss of

customers.

2. Issue management

Crisis Communication Management is a procedure premeditated to avert or mitigate the

harm that a emergency can cause to an organization. As a procedure, crisis management is not

only specific. The concept is divided into three: pre-crisis, crisis, and after/ post-crisis. In the pre-

crisis stage, the focus is on measures and planning (Coombs, 2014). The response phase is when

authorities need to responds to the incidence. In the post-crisis phase, we are looking for

approaches to improving readiness for the following crisis and fulfilling the responsibilities

complete during and after the crisis. This includes the following data: The perspectives of the

three parts of crisis management serve as the organizational structure for this passage (Boin,

2009).
CRISIS COMMUNICATION 4

Preparation includes preparing a contingency plan, selecting and preparing a contingency

group, and managing activities to test the contingency plan and the contingency group. A crisis

management plan that is updated annually, and that when a crisis management group is

appointed, and the mechanisms are tested, the organization is ready to deal with the crisis (Boin,

2009).

Risk is a significant source of organizational uncertainty. Therefore, corporations are

progressively concentrating on recognizing and managing risks before their occurrence which

influence the organization. The capability to manage peril can aid companies in becoming more

confident about future occurrences. Identifying the threats provides more options for solving the

challenges. An example of AAR in Kenya. AAR started operation in 1984. Their main activity

was the evacuation of both car and aviation accidents and casualties because of the accident. As

membership increased, so did the needs of clients and the opportunity to provide clients with

comprehensive medical packages. Their flexibility, innovation, and willingness to serve the

needs of their customers have made them the leading healthcare companies in East Africa and

two independent companies in 2012. AAR Healthcare Ltd provides high quality affordable

medical services through a network of clinics and AAR Insurance Ltd

AAR Kenya employed proper issue management strategies, which is synonymous with

risk management strategies. Through these aspects, the organization has managed to solve issues

about the crisis that emerged. It is prior preparation for the issues that ensure that an organization

is ready to tackle the unforeseen challenges.

3. Challenges which public relations practitioners may face in post-crisis management.

CRISIS COMMUNICATION 5

The PR practitioners may face various challenges in their pursuit to ensure a good

relationship is maintained between the organization and the public. Among the challenges,

include too much information. Often in the event of an emergency, the gateway opens. High-

level management, as a rule, is overloaded with the amount of data that comes to them from all

sides. Moreover, it is not just the amount of information. This is also quality. In an emergency, it

is easy to become a casual game of Chinese whispers before the proverb disappears. Once the

clock is ticking, and a large number of conflicting reports are visualized, it is also easy to skip

the thread of truth (hopefully) going through these messages (Hale et al., 2005).

By its nature, crisis planning is complicated. One may not know when they will come or

who they will be, but they are always there, and they know that there is a dark cloud in the

potential future. This leads to the second catch of the crisis plan 22. It is challenging to plan a

message without knowing in advance, what the next crisis will be. Nevertheless, when the crisis

begins, it becomes challenging to write a balanced message under pressure and confusion (Hale

et al., 2005).

Preparing a message and knowing what happened to him after pressing the send button

are entirely different things. Unfortunately, in a crisis, having an updated contact list and

message templates ready for deployment is not enough. Quick actions depend on the right person

to open the message on time and who knows who opened the message. In addition, if not, it is

not good to sit still waiting for the answer (Hale et al., 2005).
CRISIS COMMUNICATION 6

Reference

Boin, A. (2009). The new world of crises and crisis management: Implications for policymaking

and research. Review of Policy Research, 26(4), 367-377.

Coombs, W. T. (2014). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing, and responding.

Sage Publications.

Hale, J. E., Dulek, R. E., & Hale, D. P. (2005). Crisis response communication challenges:

Building theory from qualitative data. The Journal of Business Communication (1973),

42(2), 112-134.