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Crisis Communication Reflection

Find a current event, within the last year, that involved a crisis or scandal. Give a brief synopsis of the company and the issue, and then answer the questions below:

• What was the company’s communication approach to the crisis?
• Do you feel the company’s communication approach was effective? Why or why not?
• What would you have done the same and what would you have done differently?

 Week 7 Discussion Starter PostCOLLAPSE

Class:

This week we will be discussing crisis management communications. Any business, large or small, at some time will have to respond to a crisis that has affected the organization. You will learn this week that the key is being prepared.

A few tips for this week’s Discussion Post: 

1. Find a crisis that occurred in the last few years (Examples: Boeing, Starbucks, United Airlines, Equifax, Facebook, etc.).  This can be about a company in the news or a crisis within your own company.  

2. Describe the crisis you are selecting with a short synopsis in your own words about what occurred.  Describe the company and the issue that affected them. Is it a public company, private, your company, etc.? 

Besides the reading and video material for this week, here are two additional resources for you as you consider crisis management discussion post:

“13 Golden Rules of PR Crisis Management” https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/06/20/13-golden-rules-of-pr-crisis-management/  

 “Ted Talk: The Secret to Crisis Management in the 21st Century” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQGEPEaEWtg  

3. Make sure to consider these questions in your post:  

• What was the company’s communication approach to the crisis? 
• Did they use social media? 
• Who in the firm responded?  
• How quick were they to respond?   
• Did they follow up with new information?         
• Do you feel the company’s communication approach was effective? Why or why not?          
• Do you think the response was well-thought-out and planned, or just reflexive? 
• Did the story change? For better or worse?   
• Was it effective with the public (audience) or did it antagonize the situation?   
• Did they appear transparent and candid?  
• Did the public appreciate the response? 
• What would you have done the same?
• What would you have done differently?

Put yourself into the position of the company’s spokesperson and make sure you never take things from “bad to worse”. Explain how you will anticipate, plan, and put into effect your crisis management plan.

As always, please include your references and in-text citations.

I look forward to you incorporating all the material from this week’s readings and videos.

Have a great week everyone.

1 Response

 RE: Week 7 DiscussionCOLLAPSE

Hello Professor Paulson and Classmates,

Fundamentally, GE follows the principles mentioned in the “Crisis Management” chapter of The Real-Life MBA (Welch, 1).   We often refer to ourselves as having a bullseye on our monogram (the GE Meatball).  We know that any crisis will be bigger and deeper, secrets (true and false) will be told, how we handle it will be portrayed as bad, internal changes will be one of several results, and we will survive.  For the 128 years GE has been in existence, it has been known as an easy target with deep pockets.  Our PR department is viewed as an essential part of our business and remains busy throughout the year to try to be proactive and get ahead of stories as mentioned by Forbes in the 13 Golden Rules (Forbes, 2).

GE was slow to get into social media but once it decided to do so, the process in place has been very focused on preparing for crisis and responsiveness.  Our main social media presence exists on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. 

The crisis situation in this case is based on the rumors surrounding our X-ray team being relocated to China.  The negative news described our $1B business move from the Wisconsin area to China, taking jobs away from the United States in order to take advantage of cheaper labor.  For background purposes, Wisconsin is the first headquarters location for this business unit.  There are approximately 6000 employees in the southeast Wisconsin area and another 4000 GE retirees.  Moving from Wisconsin anywhere was big news in that region.  Unfortunately, it didn’t stop there.  The story spread fiercely across the nation and examples of other business units moving jobs and work outside of the United States became the negative theme.  This led to the accusation that GE doesn’t pay taxes and so on. 

Our PR department answered each accusation immediately and prepped the senior leadership for any upcoming press opportunities.  Internally, communications were sent to our email addresses as well as our intranet site with facts and directions not to speak with any press.  The PR lead name and contact information were shared for any and all inquiries.  This was completed at every business unit and our GE corporate intranet site as well. 

Social Media was used via press releases and Twitter links to press releases in less than 24 hours.  There wasn’t as much activity on LinkedIn, and Facebook and Instagram were not deemed appropriate.

The truth was, only four employees were moved from the Wisconsin area.  GE has grown its non-US presence over the past two decades unapologetically.  While headquartered in the US, the expectation is that non-US presence will continue to rise and deliver over 50% of GE’s total revenues.  GE, like many other corporations, benefits in tax breaks, this is publicly known and documented.  Some years, more is paid in taxes; some years, less is paid.

The follow up was not very consistent but another crisis took the headlines away from this one.  The accusations regarding tax payments is often mentioned.  Overall, the explanation regarding the roles being moved seemed to satisfy the fury in Wisconsin, but it wasn’t the last time the US press provided backlash on the globalization efforts of GE.  It was effective in that the answer pointed out the actual numbers which were so low; it quieted the noise.  The response was more reflexive but based upon a well-planned PR process for these types of incidents.

The only change to the story is more employees have been hired in Wisconsin and the X-Ray team continues to grow.  Recently, articles and social media highlighted some new product introductions from this well-developed team and the challenges of keeping up with the orders.  That’s definitely a change for the better!  For this particular team, the public sees the positive and appreciates hearing about the Wisconsin led team.  We hear this from our healthcare professionals and we see it in our orders. 

Once the negative story was published by the press, the candor was required. Providing simple facts was a win for the PR department.  Equipping the employees across all business units is the best practice for crisis management that should remain the same.   If GE had publicized and made this a positive story, transparency would receive higher points. 

By creating a positive and proactive story around the move, this could have been less impactful initially.  The jobs held in the Wisconsin area is always a very touchy point, especially in the Midwest.  Eventually, because the individuals were US citizens, their ex-patriot contracts returned them to the US after two years.  This should have been part of the story and follow up on the transition, culture, learnings, and return would have made the story more interesting and inclusive.

The root cause of this particular crisis was a lack of communication to the PR department regarding the upcoming move of the four individuals.  In this PR position, it is essential that HR and the respective PR team are in lockstep to prepare, plan, and put into effect a strong crisis management plan.  It was no secret that the local community would be upset about the movement; however, the leader and the HR team must consider PR a partner.  Building a partnership with the HR lead would be my first step.  Creating a positive theme or story around this scenario would have been the next step.  By creating a team to assess the situation, get ahead of the media, and prepare responses, communications (internal and external) and announcements would be included in my crisis management plan (Forbes, 2).  Additionally, the ongoing story is key.  This could have been a “filler” story as the four individuals progressed over the 2-year period—an opportunity to spread the good things we bring to life at GE.

References

1.  Welch, J & S.  The Real-Life MBA.  New York.  HarperCollins Publishers.  2015
2. Forbes Agency Council.  “13 Golden Rules of PR Crisis Management”. Forbes.  2017.  https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/06/20/13-golden-rules-of-pr-crisis-management/

Consider the multicultural perspective while reading this line from the chapter: “For many individuals, the medical establishment represents a place where they have little knowledge, no power or authority, or previous difficult experiences.” Read about the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee at http://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm/ (Links to an external site.). Then watch the video at McRae Today Show AARP with Jane Pauley (Links to an external site.) .

How is this material related and why is the multicultural perspective so important to case managers?

Optional: Find another example of a possible reason a group of people may be wary of the medical establishment.

Think about how human resources are handled at the company you work for, or one you have worked for in the past. In the discussion thread, comment on the following questions:

1. What steps of the human resources cycle does the company handle well? Why?
2. What steps of the human resources cycle are handled poorly? Why?
3. How is culture impacted by the Human Resources department?

Research Report: 

Topic: Write down any cases that a company motivates its   

employees to achieve better goals.

3 pages 

Research Proposal submitted by Mid-Term Exam Week. 

Proposal: Target company / Company Description

The reason for your choice / Outline of your research report.

Group Dynamics, Culture, Internal and External Politics Affect Leadership and Management 

Discuss this topic in depth providing examples from your organization and others.  Include in your discussion, positive ways that leaders can use these three areas to effectively improve services to the external customer and create a positive internal environment for teamwork.  Proper APA style is required.  Minimum length: 6-8 pages  (excluding title page and reference page) with at least 6 references in addition to your texts.  

Discussion 1

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, please read the article by Hayley Peterson, 15 Companies That Are Defying the Retail Meltdown by Opening Hundreds of New Stores (Links to an external site.).

While many retailers are closing stores, some are rapidly building new locations, with at least one—Dollar General (NYSE: DG)—adding as many as 900 stores this year (Peterson, 2018).

Obtain Dollar General’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending on December 31, 2017. Form 10-K can be obtained either from the SEC (Links to an external site.)’s EDGAR Filing system or the “Investor Relations” link on the company’s website at www.dollargeneral.com (Links to an external site.). Read the “Growth Strategies” and the “Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows” sections of Dollar General’s 10-K Form to answer the following questions in an initial post of at least 200 words:

• How many stores is Dollar General planning to open during its 2018 and 2019 fiscal years? By what percentage would these new stores increase the size of the company?
• How much cash did General Dollar spend on investing activities during its 2016, 2017, and 2018 fiscal years? Do you think the amount spent on investing activities represents the full costs that General Dollar incurred to open new stores? Explain you answer.
• Where did General Dollar get the cash used to make these investments?

Discussion 2

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, please read the article Capital Investment Appraisal Techniques: A Survey of Current Usage (Links to an external site.) by Sangster (1993).

After setting the company’s goals, managers evaluate capital investment projects and decide which should be funded. Suppose a company has four different capital budgeting projects from which to choose but has constrained funds and cannot implement all of the projects.

The following table contains information about four projects in which X Corporation has the opportunity to invest. This information is based on estimates that different managers have prepared about the company’s potential project.

Project

Investment Required

Net Present Value

Life of Project

Internal Rate of Return

Profitability Index

Payback Period in Years

Accounting Rate of Return

A

$ 226,000

$ 36,908

5

21%

1.17

2.97

20%

B

$ 406,000

$ 50,740

6

24%

1.13

3.13

15%

C

$1,040,000

$152,325

3

19%

1.16

2.18

14%

D

$1,630,000

$ 19,870

4

14%

1.02

3.00

23%

Part 1: Rank the four projects in order of preference by using the following table:

(a)
Net Present Value

(b)
Profitability Index

(c)
Internal Rate of Return

(d)
Payback Period

(e)
Average Rate of Return

1st preferred

Project A, B, C, or D?

2nd preferred

3rd preferred

4th preferred

Part 2: Write a response in an initial post of at least 200 words discussing the usefulness of capital investment techniques (net present value, profitability index, internal rate of return, payback period, and average rate of return) in selecting the four alternative investment opportunities in part 1.

Although often difficult to define, leadership presents a pivotal aspect in any organization. Over the course of history, various leaders have embodied characteristics and qualities that have proved effective and ineffective within various situations. For example, a health director of a small clinic might exhibit a different leadership perspective than a director of staff for an intensive care unit at a large hospital. Though characteristics and qualities may vary among leaders, their primary goals for followers and organizations may be similar. Understanding the most appropriate leadership perspective may impact your future leadership perspective in the field of health care administration.

Post an explanation of how transformational leadership and transactional leadership relate to Trait Theory, Skills Approach, and behavior perspective. Then, explain under what circumstances a transformational leadership might be preferred and under what circumstances a transactional leadership might be preferred for the practice of health care administration. Provide an example and justify your response.

Human Resources Management

12-point font, Times New Roman, 1-inch margins on all sides, double-spacing. 

Use at least two (2) quality academic resources in this assignment. You may reference any information from the class textbook, chapters 1-8 in your answers and discussions. Format: APA version 7.

Class textbook: Human Resources Management. Author: Valentine; Meglich; Mathis; Jackson. Publisher: Pearson. Edition: 16th. ISBN: 978-0357033852

Write a 2-page paper to discuss the following: 

2. Your company has reaped the benefits of having long-term, tenured employees, but many of them are now approaching retirement. It is anticipated that approximately 20 percent of the company’s workforce will retire in the next three to five years. In reviewing the remaining workforce through HR planning efforts you have become aware of work-life balance issues that need to be reviewed and address. The company president has requested that you prepare a retention plan outlining these issues as well as ways to address them. Resources to help you address the issues in the retention plan can be found at www.workfamily.com.What steps will you take to identify key priorities in the work-life balance issues? (Chapter 5)

Please note that the teacher included this link: www.workfamily.com. Can you take a look and include something related to this link in the paper? Thanks!

 4 FULL PAGES

This week you learned about the importance of technology and the role it plays in the evaluations process. Conduct research using the internet to determine what emerging technologies can be used in the evaluation process. Consider the differences in non-profit and for-profit business and the methods they use for evaluation. Using your experience and your career choice, analyze the benefits of either non-profit or for-profit organizations and analyze the importance for evaluation within the workplace. Construct a plan for using emerging technology based on the organization choice and how it will generate success long-term.

The requirements below must be met for your paper to be accepted and graded:

·  Write at least 4 pages using Microsoft Word in APA style.

·  Use font size 12 and 1” margins.

·  Include cover page and reference page.

·  Use at least three references from outside the course material, one reference must be from EBSCOhost. Text book, lectures, and other materials in the course may be used, but are not counted toward the three reference requirement.

·  Cite all reference material (data, dates, graphs, quotes, paraphrased words, values, etc.) in the paper and list on a reference page in APA style.

I need some one to develop an IPM plan for the following pests;

1. Thrips

2. Scales

3. Leaf rust