Harvard ManageMentor — CRISIS MANAGEMENT TOOLS

Checklist of 30 Warning Signs of Potential Trouble

The questions below will help you determine if your division or company may be at risk for a potential crisis.
Question Yes No
1. Is your company a start-up business?
2. Is your group releasing a new product or launching a new service?
3. Are you instituting a new
process?
4. Is your business in an area
of rapid technological
advancement?
5. Has your company
recently experienced a
change in management?
6. Has your department or
the company just been
through (or is about to go
through) a significant
reorganization?
7. Are your department’s or
company’s profits
declining?
8. Is your company’s
business highly regulated?
9. Does your business
depend on a single product
or service?
10. Does your company
depend on a few major
suppliers?
11. Does your company
depend on a few (or one)
major customers?
12. Are your information
technology systems weak?
13. Has your company
recently diversified into a
new market or new
location?
14. Is the general attitude of
your division or group
arrogant, aggressive, and
risk-taking?
15. Do your business activities
have the potential to harm
the environment?
16. Does your company lack
successors for key
employees or a transition
plan?
17. Has your department or
company recently
 experienced rapid growth?
18. Has your product or the
company been
experiencing declining
market share?
19. Is your company in
litigation or does it have
disputes with outside
auditors?
20. Does your company
depend on obscure
financial statements and/or
on pro-forma accounting?
21. Does your business
depend on family relations
or ownership?
22. Is your company
susceptible to natural
disasters?
23. Is your company’s credit
rating poor?
24. Is your division or
company experiencing
high employee turnover,
or having difficulty
retaining talent?
25. Is your company
vulnerable to fraud?
26. Do you or does your
company have high public
visibility?
27. Does your company’s
labor force have a
negative relationship with
management?
28. Is your company operating
in a politically or
economically unstable
country?
29. Does your company have
inadequate cash reserves?
30. Does your department or company use hazardous materials or manufacture hazardous products?
TOTALS

If you checked “yes” for more than 10 of the above questions, your company is likely headed for trouble.
Think about what you might do, if anything, to minimize your company’s risks and avoid a crisis situation.

Adapted from “50 Warning Signs that Your Company May be in Trouble” by Norman Augustine.
Copyright, Norman Augustine, 2002. Used with permission of the author.