strawberry wine: Crisis management strategies for effective company response

Crisis management is a fundamental component of the public relations profession and it is usually the company's crisis response that is essential to its survival. In a crisis, a company's reputation may be at risk, while in a disaster, there will be a loss of life or property on a relatively large scale. Bosco's factory fire falls under the category of disaster, while Oca-Loca's product fault and lay-offs would be more appropriately viewed as a crisis.

In appointing the key members of the crisis management team, a lot of consideration was given to the specifics of the presented scenario. Due to Bosco's hypothetical crisis involving a matter of ethics and environment, in addition to a Managing Director, HR Officer and Director of Communications, Bosco's crisis response team featured Corporate Responsibility and an External Ethical Advisor. In Oca-Loca's case, the circumstances from both the brief and the breaking news were related to finance and legal issues, which is why the team also involved a representative from Legal Affairs, as well as a Deputy Financial Director.

The crisis management team addressed the main issues in Oca-Loca's conference, as information on the situation and the company's actions was given, including information about the Belgian crisis and what had been done about it, as well as what the actual cause of the problem was. Oca-Loca's team also expressed sympathy and compassion and reassured the media about the timely resolution of the situation. In contrast, in Bosco's press conference, the group failed to convince the media and the public that appropriate actions had been taken. As the main defence strategy was to address the issue of the Indonesian factory not being a property of Bosco and working illegally under Bosco's contracted partner in South Africa, all the information that could be given on the matter was the launch of a thorough investigation and the expression of sympathy and compassion for the victims. However, this put the company in a very difficult situation.

At the same time, the media and the public demand the company to admit responsibility immediately, even though an investigation can take months or even years. Put in this difficult dilemma, the group expressed regret and offered compensation, at the same time claiming partial liability. However, due to there being an ongoing investigation, the outcome of the crisis might turn the press conference statement into speculations and the media would regard the information as the company's attempt to cover up the situation. The group tried to provide background information about the company and their Fair Trade and ethical standards, as the ongoing investigation did not provide enough information to be distributed to the public. However, the media was unsatisfied with the fact that the company was providing other information and was not addressing the issue fully.

Being open and honest gives the company credibility in the eyes of the media and the public. In this sense, Oca-Loca's press conference was a lot more successful, as the group gave a lot of information and facts to the media and assured them in the truthfulness of that information. In Bosco's case, the group seemed to avoid the questions with the announcement of an investigation, which led to suspicions as to whether or not the company was hiding information. The group tried as best as possible not to become aggravated by the sarcastic and provocative questions from the people who represented the media. However, in comparison to the real press conference, this was achieved with a lot more confidence and ease the second time, as familiarity with the environment prepared the group for the specifics of the media's line of questioning and there was no urge to get defensive.

The difficulty in working from an imaginary position is deciding on successful defence strategies and accounting for every possible problem that could arise. When faced with a real situation, there is a certain amount of facts that the crisis management team could operate with and formulate a successful defence strategy based on previous public relations events from history. In this sense, Bosco's press conference proved more difficult in terms of actual coping strategies, as there were too many practicalities about the company which were unclear. In contrast, Oca-Loca's brief was a reflection of Coca-Cola's Belgian poisonings in 1999 and because the simulation was mirroring a real entity, it resembled a real-life situation and was more easily manageable, as PR strategies could be devised based on the way the organisation handled the disaster.

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