Communicating out of a Crisis

Citation

Oliver, S. (1999), "Communicating out of a Crisis", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 52-53. https://doi.org/10.1108/ccij.1999.4.1.52.5

Michael Bland is a well‐known UK speaker and author of numerous books on communication but having tried some of them out with final‐year undergraduates, they are rarely successful. They are always a useful basic read, but often descriptive to the point of frustration for students who constantly complained about the lack of evidence and referencing. Concentrating on one aspect of communication, that of crisis management, and given the interesting group of experienced contributors, this book was approached with optimism and read from a training perspective rather than an educational perspective. Yet still, questions arise early on. For example Bland states:

One of the best ways to achieve effective communication between operation and communication teams and between head office and the regions and the international network is through joint training. At least when the different team members undergo the same training ‐ especially in a crisis awareness programme ‐ they know each other and have a common understanding of how to approach things. A difficult team structure is shown in Figure 4.1 (p. 42).

The structure shown is that of Courtaulds Plc, a British energy and textile company but there is no analysis and no explanation. It is certainly different from the structure which this reviewer helped head up in the 1970s.

So much is left undone and unsaid that it is difficult to see how anyone can benefit from the information provided. Perhaps as a conceptual introduction to the world of big business, say for a student attempting to fill in UCCA forms in preparation for a vocational education at university, it might prove enlightening if approached uncritically. And like many a fashion‐conscious 18‐year‐old approaching a clothing store, he or she might approach this book motivated by the name‐dropping of big name transnational companies and issues which attracted media attention on British television.

The publishers say “the pressures to do something about crisis planning are increasing”. While crisis planning always was and is a standard part of corporate communication strategy in industry and commerce, clearly nobody disputes this truism, especially in the light of e‐mail and websites, where spontaneity and speed dictate the nature and order of response, but it needs deeper explanation. Thus, Bland’s notion that successful crisis management is more psychological than procedural is common sense at one level but at another level it adds to the confusion. In another example, Bland says “the Standards people [sic] are in on the act: ISO14004 requires a company to have an emergency response plan which includes internal and external communication plan”. More clarification is needed and one wonders why the reader is expected to find the names and remits of “the Standards people”. Which people, where, when, etc.? Surprisingly too, the chapter on the role of the Internet by Joseph Badaracco and Jerry Useem, a former a Professor of Business Ethics at Harvard Business School and the latter a former Research Associate at Harvard, reproduced an extract from a case study that had been published elsewhere in the previous year.

Colin Dunken, Director of Public Affairs at British Nuclear Fuels Plc, offers a checklist of actions that can be taken during a crisis and attempts to qualify the nature of dealing with pressure groups by identifying the point at which a crisis becomes a public issue. He states:

It requires a specific event to trigger a crisis. I worked in the oil industry for nine years before joining BNFL and North Sea decommissioning was an issue for the whole of the nine years I was there ‐ but it never became a public issue until the actual decommissioning of Brent Spa provided the newsworthy trigger (p. 111).

A chapter by Tim Taylor who is a solicitor and partner of a law firm with offices in London, Piraeus, Dubai and Hong Kong was an interesting and unusual contribution to this edited book. Although descriptive and subjective, it nevertheless reminds the reader that it is important for an organisation to pick the right lawyer for themselves as well as to worry about the opposition. The author and his colleagues were involved in the Marchioness case, the Piper Alpha disaster, Achille Lauro, the Exxon Valdez disaster and others.

This is the sort of book that a teacher or student might dip into for triggers or as an aide‐mémoire, as might a busy consultant who could value the crisis checklist (pp. 232‐9) pinned to a noticeboard, so it is difficult to see why this book remains unsettling. Perhaps because it is unclear for whom it is written. For example, the chapter by Liz Simpson and John Norton on the Euro Tunnel fire of November 1996 is a move away from standard textbook design. An interview between a journalist and Euro Tunnel’s public affairs director is reproduced without comment, other than to offer five key points from it.

Overall, the reader is left with a feeling of hasty publishing, which may be fine for airport reading but questionable for a well‐known author who “lectures on the subject all over the world”. Having said that, there are nuggets of gold to be found here and one is able to concur with Lockheed Martin Corporation’s chairman, Norman Augustin when he says “those who heed Michael Bland’s counsel and apply his collected wisdom will find that many perils can be identified and corrected before they needlessly put an organisation at risk”.