Crisis management for corporate self-defense: how to protect your organization in a crisis-- how to stop a crisis before it starts PDF
Preview Crisis management for corporate self-defense: how to protect your organization in a crisis-- how to stop a crisis before it starts
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
The list of books you might like
