ISSUE MANAGEMENT

Three Approaches

 6 step Issue Management Process

 7Phase Issue Development Process
 4 Stage Issue Life Cycle
 ISSUE
• An important question that is in dispute and need to
be settled
• Issues are caused , affected and managed by
stakeholders
• Issues if not treated properly and timely develop into
crises
• Moral reasoning is issue dependent.
• Companies face issues everyday
– Some issues have patterns and lead to serious disasters like
effects of tobacco
– Some issue evolve to lead spectacular outcomes
 Issue Management
• Strategic issue management attempts to
– Detect and address issues that may cause a firm or its
stakeholders problems or harm
– Curtail or resolve issues that could develop into
damaging crises
• The role of identifying and managing strategic
issues is responsibility of top management team
• Issue mgt approach along with stakeholders
analysis is used to identify navigations from vision
First Approach: 6-Step Issue
Management Process
– Most straightforward
– More appropriate for companies or groups trying to
understand, manage, and control their internal
environments
– Involves the following steps:
• Environmental scanning and issues identification
• Issues analysis
• Issues ranking and prioritizing
• Issues resolution strategizing
• Issues response and implementation
• Issues evaluation and monitoring
Second Approach: 7-Phase Issue Development Process

– Issues are believed to follow a developmental life

cycle
– Life-cycle stages suggested for tracking an issue:
• A felt need arises
• Media coverage is developed
• Interest group development gains momentum
• Policies are adopted by leading political jurisdictions
• The federal government gives attention to the issue
• Issues and policies evolve into legislation and regulation
• Issues and policies enter litigation
Read Microsoft case pg 56,57
 Applying 2nd approach to MS
• Fig. 2.11
• Read pg 56, 57
 Third Approach: 4-Stage Issue Life Cycle
– Thomas Marx observed that issues evolve from social expectations to social
control through the following steps:
• Social expectations
– Social discussion and debates
– Interest group attention
• Political issues
– Media attention,
– Legislation started
– Hearings start
• Legislation
– Law passed
– Legal involvement
– Regulations enacted
• Social control
– Compliance issues
– Legal conflicts
– Court rulings
Crisis Management Approaches

1- Pre-crisis Through Resolution

2- Second Approach: Reaction
Through Accommodation
 First Approach: Pre-crisis Through
Resolution
• According to this model, a crisis consists of four
stages:
• Pre crises (Warning stage)
 Clues must be carefully observed. Clues can be verbal
• Acute (Damage has been done)
 Control as much damage as possible. Shortest stage
• Chronic (Clean-up phase)
 Period of recovery, self analysis, self doubt and healing
 Investigations, audits, interviews linger on
• Resolved (The crisis management goal)
 What can I do to speed up this phase.
Second Approach: Reaction Through
Accommodation
– Five phases of corporate social response to crises
related to unsafe products, or product crisis
management include:
• Reaction
– A crisis has occurred,
– mgt lacks time & info to analyze the event,
– public reaction to respond to crises is required,
– critical stage for firm as public & media wants to see who is
spokesman, what msg he gives & how firm responds
• Defense
– The company is overwhelmed by public attention
– Firm’s image is at stake
– Firm recoils under media pressure
– Not always a negative or reactive situtation
• Insight
– Most agonizing time
– Stakes are substantial
– Firm’s existence is questioned
– Executive try to realize from evidence the extent of firm’s
fault
• Accommodation
– Addressing public pressure and anxiety
– Firm either remove the product from market or refuse to
allegations
• Agency
– Company attempts to understand the causes and develops
education program for the public
• Suggestions that corporations can follow to
respond more effectively to crises include:
– Face the problem
– Take your lumps
– Recognize that there is no such thing as a secret or
private crisis
– Stage war games
– Use the firm’s philosophy, motto, or mission
statement
– Use the firm’s closeness to customers and end
users for early feedback
• Issues and crisis management methods
and preventive techniques are effective
in corporations only if:
– Top management is supportive and
participates
– Involvement is cross-departmental
– The issues management unit fits with the
firm’s culture
– Output, instead of process, is the focus