Crisis management for corporate self-defense: how to protect your organization in a crisis-- how to stop a crisis before it starts

441 Pages·1996·1.08 MB·English

by  Steven Albrecht

Crisis Management for Corporate Self-
defense : How to Protect Your Organization
title:
in a Crisis-- How to Stop a Crisis Before It
Starts
author: Albrecht, Steven.
publisher: AMACOM Books
isbn10 | asin: 0814402658
print isbn13: 9780814402658
ebook isbn13: 9780585019482
language: English
subject Crisis management, Conflict management.
publication date: 1996
lcc: HD49.A39 1996eb
ddc: 658.4
subject: Crisis management, Conflict management.
Page i
Crisis Management for CORPORATE SELF-
DEFENSE
How to Protect Your Organization in a Crisis... How to
Stop a Crisis Before It Starts
Steve Albrecht
amacom
American Management Association
New York · Boston · Chicago · Kansas City · San Francisco ·
Washington, D.C.
Brussels · Mexico City · Tokyo · Toronto
Page ii
This book is available at a special discount when ordered in bulk quantities. For
information, contact Special Sales Department, AMACOM, a division of
American Management Association, 135 West 50th Street, New York, NY
10020.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative
information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the
understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal,
accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other
expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional
person should be sought.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Albrecht, Steven.
Crisis management for corporate self-defense: how to protect your
organization in a crisis . . how to stop a crisis before it starts / Steve
Albrecht.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8144-0265-8
1. Crisis management. 2. Conflict management. I. Title.
HD49.A39 1996
658.4-dc20
96-19
CIP
© 1996 Steve Albrecht
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of AMACOM, a division of
American Management Association, 135 West 50th Street, New York,
NY 10020.
Printing number 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Page iii
Jones and Smith had been business partners for years. Now Jones was on his
deathbed at the hospital.
"I have a confession to make," he said to Smith. "I embezzled over $200,000
from our company."
"I know,'' said Smith.
"I sold our secret formula to our competitors."
"I know," said Smith.
"I had an affair with your wife."
"I know," said Smith.
"You know?" said Jones.
"Of course I know," said Smith. "Who do you think poisoned you?"
-Larry Wilde's Treasury of Humor
Page v
This book is dedicated to every business executive, owner, manager,
supervisor, or employee who has said, while embroiled in a tough
corporate self-defense issue, "I'm going to listen to my head and my
heart and then do what's right."
Page vii
Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Part One Bad Things Can Happen, Even to Good 1
Companies
1The Business World as We No Longer Know It 3
2Business as a Target: Working in the Age of Entitled 17
Disgruntlement
3Product Disasters 29
4Image Disasters 55
5Employee-Centered and Employee-Related Problems 74
Part Two Self-Defense Tools for Your Organization 101
6Arming the Company SWAT Team: The First 103
Responders
7Bright Lights and Cameras: How to Use the Media 130
and Not Let the Media Use You
8Positive Corporate Public Relations: PR as an 149
Offensive and Defensive Weapon
9Lawsuits and Sharkskin Suits: How to Keep the 168
Plaintiff and Class-Action Attorneys at Bay
Page viii
10The Management of Protection: Adding Armor to 184
the Chain of Command and Mortar to the Walls
Around You
11Think, Communicate, Change, and Learn 204
Bibliography 219
Index 221
Page ix
Preface
Thanks for having the courage to read this book. And by "courage," I
do mean the definition of the word at its most literal. This book was
written for those readers who have the guts to say, "Planning for the
serious problems that face our particular business is not about what
might happen, but about when it will happen and what we will do
about it before, during, and after." This book should serve you best if
it gets you to change the way you look at the world and thereby
change the way you look at your organization. It offers a challenge to
you: There are more internally-or externally-created problems facing
business today than ever before.
Some of these problems never reach the light of the outside world and
can be handled swiftly and successfully inhouse and with little
fanfare. Others, however, by their very nature and scope, burst past
the doors of the company lobby and head for the nearest newspaper
reporters and attorneys in sight.
Unfortunately, these kinds of problems go through a rapid
metamorphosis that changes them from minor developments to full-
blown crises. They also change from something that merely happens
to something that must be managed.
There are forces-human or otherwise-lurking inside and outside your
walls that want somehow to disrupt your business; the question in the
1990s is no longer if, but when.
The point to this book is not to make you hide in your office with the
shades drawn and the doors locked. The real goal is to raise your
awareness, empower you to act when conflict arrives at your doorstep,
and know how to take small