Conflict Management: Dealing with Issues, Risks, and Crises

Transcription

1 Conflict Management: Dealing with Issues, Risks, and Crises Chapter 10 Public Relations is involved in influencing the course of conflicts to the benefit of the organization and, when possible, to the benefit of the organization s main constituents. The use of public relations to influence the course of a conflict is called strategic conflict management.

2 In competition/conflict, a sense of mission and conviction is needed: That your organization s behavior is honorable and defensible Your organization is ethical Your organization s mission is worthy Your advocacy of the organization has integrity Your organization works at creating mutual benefit whenever possible Fight the good fight!

3 Taking a Stance A PR professional or team must determine the stance its organization will take toward each public or stakeholder involved in a conflict situation. The stance then determines strategy- what will be done and why. McDonald s Billboard Controversy p. 248 The mayor of Bogota, N.J. accused the restaurant chain of racism because it posted a billboard in Spanish to advertise its new iced coffee The mayor saw it as a slur against local Latinos, McDonald s assuming local Latinos didn t speak English McDonald s and its PR firm (MWW Group) had to assess the threat to the company s reputation and how the media and public (Hispanics especially) would react to the charge of racism Research found a localized response was best and found that the mayor was not especially popular in Bogota (and he had distributed Spanishlanguage campaign material in the past) McDonald s then prepared its store managers in the tri-state area to handle local media inquiries and sent backgrounders to editors and reporters about its long history of multicultural programs, including extensive annual scholarship grants to Hispanic students Many media outlets referenced this info in stories and McDonald s received generally positive coverage Thus the issue was short-lived and didn t snowball into nat l story Sales of the iced coffee even increased 22 percent in greater N.Y. area

4 Phases of the Conflict Management Life Cycle: Proactive Strategic Reactive Recovery Think of the conflict management process as a life cycle of a problem or issue that professionals must track. Strategic conflict management can be divided into four general phases (above)

5 Proactive Phase This phase involves activities and thought processes that can prevent a conflict from arising or from getting out of hand. One way is through environmental scanning the constant reading, listening and watching of current affairs with an eye to the organization s interest. Issues Tracking as issues emerge, attention becomes more focused and systematic through, for example, the daily clipping of news stories Issues Management when an organization makes behavioral changes or creates strategic plans in ways that address the emerging issue Crisis Plan the first step in preparing for the worst an issue or event that has escalated to crisis proportions Stealing Thunder -disclose a crisis before it is discovered by the media or others. Studies show stealing thunder enhances credibility of the organization and decreases the perceived severity of the problem

6 Strategic Phase An issue that has become an emerging conflict is identified as needing concerted action by the PR professional. Three broad strategies take place in this phase: Risk communication Conflict-positioning Crisis management

7 Strategy Phase Three Strategies: Risk communication dangers or threats to people or organizations are conveyed to forestall personal injury, health problems, and environmental damage Conflict-positioning strategies to favorably position the organization in anticipation of actions such as litigation/lawsuits, boycott, adverse legislation, elections, or similar events that will play out in the court of public opinion. Crisis management a plan of action for dealing with worst case scenario crisis situations

8 Reactive Phase This is when an issue or conflict has reached a critical level of impact on the organization Now PR professionals must react to events in the external communication environment as they unfold.

9 Reactive Phase Strategies can include: Crisis communications implement your crisis communication plan Conflict resolution techniques used to bring a heated conflict, such as collapsed salary negotiations, to a favorable resolution (PR people employing strategies to assist negotiation or arbitration efforts to resolve conflict, for example) Litigation public relations employs communication strategies and publicity efforts in support of legal actions or trial

10 Recovery Phase In the aftermath of a crisis or a high profile, heated conflict with a public, the organization should employ strategies either to bolster or repair its reputation in the eyes of key publics. Two ways: Reputation management and image restoration

11 Recovery Phase: Two Approaches Reputation management includes systematic research to learn the state of the organization s reputation and then taking steps to improve it Image restoration strategies to help a company s or organization s reputation that has been damaged by the poor management of issues or controversies, or callous responses to a crisis

12 How to Communicate during a Crisis Put the public first Take responsibilityfor solving problem Be honest- don t obscure facts or try to mislead public Never say No comment (guilt?) Designate a single spokesperson Set up a central information center Provide a constant flow of information Be familiar with media needs and deadlines Be accessible Monitor news coverage Communicate with key publics

13 How organizations respond to crises: Attack the accuser-confront, challenge, threaten Denial-there is no crisis! Excuse-minimize responsibility; no control/harmful intent Justification-minimize crisis- no serious damage/injury Ingratiation-take actions to appease publics involved Corrective action-steps taken to repair damage; prevent from happening again Full apology-take full responsibility, ask forgiveness

14 Crisis Case Studies Intel s Pentium Chip Problems (p. 263) Pepsi s Syringe Hoax Crisis (p. 263) Toyota s Car Recall (p )