Business Communications - II

Term Project Report

Submitted to ~ Prof. Rajiv Aricat

Submitted by ~ Group 3
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TABLE OF CONTENT

● The Plot 2
● Type of Crisis 3
● Crisis Communication Team 3
● Key Messages 4
● The Communications 5
● PRESS RELEASE
● Crisis Communication: VICTIM
● Crisis Communication: CUSTOMERS
● Crisis Communication: INTERNAL
● Post Crisis Communication: STAKEHOLDERS
● Post Crisis Communication: PRESS RELEASE
● Timeline of the Events/Communication 9
● Appendices 9
● Recommendations 10
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The Plot

The Company -GoCar

GoCar is one of the leading automobile manufacturers in the Indian automobile market.
From its entry into the market in 2002, the company has been successfully able to capture
significant market share, especially in the mid range passenger vehicle segment. Over the
years, the company has expanded its range of products, from premium passenger vehicles
to semi heavy multi utility vehicles.

Today, it stands among the top three passenger car vehicles in the Indian Market. With an
average car price of 6.5 Lakhs, the company has successfully attracted the growing upper
middle class section of the population. With a market cap of Rs 2.6 Lakh Crore, the
company has also performed well successively in the stock market, post the financial crisis
of 2008.

With plans of expanding its product line, the company recently launched Java Z- a premium
segment SUV Car. The car has gained significant attraction for its durability and its design.

Recently, a couple of instances of accidents leading to injuries have occurred where the
airbags of Java Z failed to deploy. This was covered in the media and some images went
viral. The company now has to deal with the fallout of the incident and manage their
communication accordingly.

The Accident - Airbag Failure

In a couple of recent events, accidents of Java-Z related to airbag malfunctioning has led to
a severe crisis for the company.
Mr.Seth, a resident of NCR while traveling through the NH-12 on his new Java -Z met with
an accident where the car’s airbag failed and led to severe injuries to the passenger and
significant damages to the car.

This was followed by another recent accident where Java -Z’s airbag failed to function.
However, no severe injuries or damages happened.

These accidents have severely affected the company’s reputation which was built on
durability and high manufacturing standards. Media and car reviewers have been
pessimistic about the Java -Z post this accident. This has severely downgraded the overall
rating of the car.
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The Victim - Mr. Seth

Mr. Seth, a resident of NCR, is a car enthusiast. Being an avid follower of newer trends in
the car industry and looking forward to its high tech design, Seth had bought the newer
GoCar Java -Z.

While traveling on the NH-12, he met with an untoward accident when the car’s airbag
failed to open. This accident had led to severe injuries on him and damages on the car.
Mr. Seth and his family are now looking to sue the company and all other stakeholders
involved with the car’s manufacturing.

Type of Crisis
The type of Crisis being discussed here is “Product failure”. The Model Java Z encountered
air-bag opening issues during the case of an accident. This is due to malfunctioning of the
wiring of the airbag, which is on the company’s end. This malfunction has been reported on
a particular batch of cars, consisting of around 1200 units.

Crisis Communication Team

A crisis communication team is responsible for managing communication during a crisis. In
our situation, a manufacturing defect caused the airbags to malfunction during an
automobile accident. The team is responsible for communicating timely and accurate
information to stakeholders, including as employees, customers, partners, and the media.
The primary responsibilities of a crisis communication team include:
Preparation: Developing a crisis communication plan before a crisis occurs, including
identifying potential crises, defining roles and responsibilities, and outlining procedures for
communication.

Monitoring: Continually monitoring the situation in order to analyze the crisis's impact and
acquire information.

Assessment: Evaluating the crisis's dangers and its repercussions and selecting the best
course of action.
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Communication: Creating and implementing a communication plan comprising messaging,

public relations, social media management, and internal communication with stakeholders.

Response: Coordination and implementation of a response plan that addresses the issue
and minimizes adverse effects.

Evaluation: Performing a post-crisis evaluation to determine what worked and what did not,
and modifying the crisis communication plan as needed.
Overall, the crisis communication team plays a crucial role in mitigating the effect of a crisis
on an organization's reputation, and their work can have a substantial impact on the
success or failure of recovery efforts.

Execution plan procedure :

● Anticipation of Crisis
● Identification & training of the team
● Training of Spokesperson
● Establishing the monitoring systems
● Identifying stakeholders
● Assessing the crisis
● Finalizing the key messages
● Communications of the Crisis

Key Messages

Cause of crisis:

● Product failure: Airbags unable to deploy during accident

● Malfunctioning of Airbag due to internal wiring issue and technical defaults.

Brief Description:
● The car Java-Z rated 4.2 out of 5 in safety features was involved in a incident where
the airbags were not deployed during an accident.

● The incident was covered by the local media and some pictures of the incident went
viral, which raised serious doubts regarding the safety features of the model Java-Z.

● Negative comments started to flood the social media channels.

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● The firm agreed to form a special committee to handle the issue and pay the victim
since it was eager to handle the situation and restore its commercial reputation.

● The management must move rapidly to change consumer impressions at any costs
since the company's image is at stake.

Compassionate Empathy :
● Demonstrating responsibility as a brand to victims when things go wrong.
● Being penitent and accepting responsibility, as well as identifying the source of
blame.
● Kindly and personally explaining to the victim the reason for his failure.
● Commitment necessitates a cross-functional response team comprised of senior
management and should not be a public relations exercise.
● In addition, admitting a product's failure is a moment of truth. A poorly managed
response can reveal a brand promise to be an empty claim.

THE COMMUNICATIONS
I. Press release

Ranchi: 2nd February 2023 GoCar

The Accident - Airbags unable to deploy during accident

The GoCar Company regrets that a couple of instances have been reported where airbags
didn't open at the time of accident. The accidents resulted in severe injuries.
The company is also inspecting its current models in production to ensure this doesn't
happen in the future.
Our customers are our highest priority and this will be treated accordingly. We want to
retain every customer. Please accept our apologies. Thank you for your understanding in
this unfortunate matter.
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II. Crisis Communication: Victim

(Letter Communication)

B-501,Gokuldham Complex,
Kurla West - 400802

The Managing Director,

GoCar, Farizi Kurla Complex,

Andheri West, Mumbai - 400069

Subject: Apology letter for product failure

Dear Mr Seth,

We, the entire team of GoCar, deeply regret the inconvenience and injuries caused to you
due to the malfunctioning of our airbag system.

We guarantee you that we are doing everything possible on our part to investigate the
matter and avoid any such occurrences in the future.

In the meantime please allow us to compensate you with a full repair of your car and
handling all your medical expenses.

We deeply regret the incident and assure you that we are doing our best to ensure that
such incidents never happen.

Yours Faithfully,
Ashish Goel
MD and CEO GoCar
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III. Crisis Communication: CUSTOMERS

(E-mail Communication)
Subject: Letter of Assurance
Dear Sir/Ma’am,

We sincerely regret the setback that has occurred. We promise you that we will look into
the matter and investigate all the possible causes that lead to the incident.

We as a company are always focused to deliver the best product for our consumers and we
will now be extra cautious and increase the intensity of our already stringent quality checks
before delivering any product.

We are always grateful for your faith in us throughout this time of crisis. We are hopeful to
make up for the situation and come back even stronger and better at delivering the best
value in the market soon.

Yours Faithfully,
Ashish Goel
MD and CEO GoCar

IV. Crisis Communication: INTERNAL

(E-mail Communication)
Subject: Concerning the Recent Airbag Malfunctions
Dear Team,
This mail is in regard to the accidents related to faulty airbags that have recently happened.
This has been an unfortunate incident, and we plan to rectify it as soon as possible.
The primary action that must be taken right now is to call back the Java - Z SUVs
manufactured in that batch and understand the technical faults. The process is under
process, and each department will be communicated what is expected from them soon.
Also, to gauge any such happenings in the future, an internal committee is being set up to
look into the root cause and develop a standardized process.
Regards,
Kaushik Sahu
Head of Operations
GoCar
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V. Post Crisis Communication: STAKEHOLDERS

(Before the results of investigation)

Communication Channel : Newsletter

Respected Stakeholders,
We regret to inform you that there were a couple of instances in which airbags did not
deploy at the time of the accident. Two of our cars met with a fatal accident due to the
failure of airbags which resulted in severe injuries.
Our accident investigation team was sent immediately to examine the root cause of this
failure. Every preventative measure is being implemented ,because our customers are
topmost priority. The company is also inspecting current production models to ensure that
this does not happen again in the future.
The company is well aware of the damage to its reputation and will take all the necessary
steps to recover the damages. Stakeholders are requested to please be patient and give
the company enough time to recover. We assure you that the recovery period will not be
too long.

VI. Post Crisis Communication : PRESS RELEASE

(Press release after results of the investigation came)

Ranchi : 02-02-2023 GoCar

Final Disclosure concerning faulty airbags

In light of the malfunctioning of airbags from Aug- Oct 2022, the company has completed
the internal investigation about the matter. It was found that there was a problem with the
circuitry during production and hence the company has recalled all the Java-Z cars
manufactured in that batch. They have offered full medical support to the victims. As a
compensation to the victims, they have offered full repair services for their cars as well. The
company deeply regrets the inconvenience caused to the customers, and take this as a
point of reflection. The company is standardizing the processes again to ensure high levels
of safety for the customers. The organization hopes to overcome this aberration by striving
for excellence and protection.
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Timelines of the Communications

Appendices
● Website: In a crisis, your website will be one of your most important resources. Utilize it to
give the public, the media, and other stakeholders timely, current information and other
resources. Your company will receive less calls as a result, and you won't have to repeat
information numerous times.

● Media Training: Speaking representatives will benefit from media training when learning
how to interact with the media and the broader public during a crisis. Make sure someone
receives continuing training who could be in charge of handling the media in the case of a
crisis.

● Social Media: You must include using social media to address a problem in your plan.
According to PR News, there are millions of active users and tourists on social media
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platforms like Twitter and YouTube, and the number of bloggers outnumbers conventional
journalists by more than 100 to 1.

● Employee Training: The relevant mechanisms for reporting a possible crisis should be
known to all employees. Provide a thorough process as well as the responsibilities and
duties of the crisis communication team in the employee handbook. .

● Execution: Find out as much information as you can about what happened. What specifics
are there? What time and location did it occur? What specific injuries have you
experienced? What may be considered certain and what can be considered speculative?
Following that, start implementing your crisis communication plan.

● Print / Digital Media: Print and digital media are essential in distributing information and
bringing people's attention to the issue during times of crisis. You must establish
connections with the media networks as a business utilizing the most effective
technologies.

● Follow up: Once the impact of the crisis has passed and normal operations can resume,
you can continue to monitor media coverage of the issue for any lingering talk. Create
documentation and a brief report that outlines the cause of the crisis, how it was handled,
the achievements and failures, and potential revisions.

● Updates: Create a note of the lessons you've learned from the disaster and adjust your
crisis communication plan as appropriate. Regular revisions of the plan are necessary,
regardless of whether a crisis occurs. Contact information for employees and the media,
for instance, has to be updated occasionally, perhaps once per quarter.

Recommendations
A proper business communication strategy should always be followed during times of
crisis. It is strongly recommended that people be made aware of the product they are
using, and the steps to follow standard operating procedures should be opted. In this case,
airbag failure was a significant issue from the victim's point of view. On behalf of that, the
crisis communication team came to the rescue. A proper press release was impactful for
the event victims and other fellow citizens to regain trust in the company. A sense of
credibility is also portrayed here. It is important to investigate the causes of the crisis
before taking culpability. After the investigation is done, proper acknowledgment of the
causes is needed. All the stakeholders should be in the loop for different stages of
communication. Here, the company must evaluate its process, vendors, at regular intervals
and adhere to the established standards.