CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN FOR BACON RETAIL TECHNOLOGY COMPANY
Introduction
Bacon Company management has decided to come up with a crisis communication plan. The plan will serve the company in ensuring that any crisis is traced at the beginning before causing harm. Since the company has few employees, more than one responsibility will be assigned to the same person. Furthermore, the assignment of a few individuals will help the company to reduce the size of the response team. The plan is supposed to be effective immediately after it has been released.
Table of Contents
Organizational background 1
Description of the plans purpose 2
Types of crisis that the company might face 2.1
Needs 2.2
Benefits 2.3
Crisis Identification 3
Management team………………………………………………………………………………..4
Third-party potential supporters…………………………………………………………………..5
Immediate response……………………………………………………………………………..6
Checklist…………………………………………………………………………………………7
Procedure for dealing with media during crisis………………………………………………..8
Press release template…………………………………………………………………………..9
Procedure for evaluating crisis plan………………………………………………………………10
References………………………………………………………………………………………..11
- Organizational background
Bacon Retail Company is a small-sized business that sells smoked, uncured Bacon. The company was started in 2016 with few employees. Currently, the company has improved its employees to more than 200. Around 80 % of the company’s households have been consuming the company’s products since it started. This percentage of consumers is expected to rise soon: Most of the population includes Bacon in their breakfast diet.
- Description of the purpose of the plan
2.1 types of crises organization could face (Williams et al., 2017)
2.11 Financial crisis
A financial crisis might happen if the company will be stricken by a sudden loss of a large amount of money. On the other hand, the financial crisis is caused by financial issues such as a change in the market trend, inflation, revenue losses, and bankruptcy (Bundy et al., 2017). This crisis can damage the reputation of the company. One solution to the financial crisis that the company can adopt is putting aside some amount of funds for such situations. On the other hand, the company can change business according to the market requirement, upgrade, or mobilize funds.
2.12 Organizational misdeeds
This crisis might occur if the management fails to take precautions when making important decisions for the company. The crisis can be classified into three categories: the crisis of management misconduct, a crisis of skewed management values, and a crisis of deception. All these crises can lead to financial and organizational damage.
2.13 Confrontation crisis
This crisis will result if the employees have certain demands that have not been fulfilled by the company. The common methods of the crisis are picketing, strikes and boycotts
2.14 Technology crisis
In the current world, most businesses are dependent on technology. Technology plays a crucial part in increasing the competitive advantage of the company. A technological crisis may result if there is any technological breakdown of appliances in the company.
- Needs of a crisis communication plan
In case of a crisis, the company’s policy will provide external and internal publics with pertinent information (McElroy, 2019): The information should be based on verifiable evidence. Thus, the communication plan committee is supposed to maintain cooperation, reasonableness, and honesty whenever dealing with the public. Furthermore, the information should be consistent with the safety of the Bacon’s personnel and strive to secure its operations and property.
2.3 Benefits of the crisis communication plan (McElroy, 2019).
- A crisis communication plan will provide accurate, timely, and clear information, thus preventing rumors and inaccuracy in the company.
- The plan is a clear indication that the company cares about its employees and customers.
iii. The plan will keep stakeholders informed internally.
- Identifying a crisis
It might be difficult for the company to predict all crises. Nevertheless, the company should be prepared anytime for a crisis through communication, calmness, control, preparation, and knowledge. A sudden change in the operations of the company may be a clear indication of an impending crisis. The crisis could be a financial crisis.
- Management team
| Name | Work |
| Douglas Megan
Joe Barker Rob Jones Renee Elaine Charles Barker Pearson Mandela Lynn Jones John Smith
|
Corporate Communications Supervisor
CCC Manager Home Corporate Communications Coordinator Investor Relations Corporate Counsel Events Supervisor Media Supervisor Hill & Knowlton |
- Third-party potential supporters/ credible experts
| Name | Area of expertise and Work |
| Dong Robert
Caro Rustan Gary Smith Jim Joe Belden Brad
Nick Smyth
Tom Ed Douglas Ted Nancy Rodgers Jim Wooden
|
Distribution- VP operations
Facilities- Facilities manager Finance- SVP finance Human resources- VP human resource Information services- VP information services Loss Prevention- Director of loss prevention Merchandising- VP of merchandising Retail Operations- VP store operations Real Estate- VP, Real Estate Shipping- corporate supervisor
|
- Immediate response
In case of a crisis:
- If the crisis requires immediate action by the employees, the affected areas are supposed to be contacted and told what to do.
- All communications distributed to the media should be released internally simultaneously. In the case of the media briefing, the company will produce an employee summary of points covered.
- The identities of the victims will be protected.
- The internal communication specialists will be obliged to inform the media that the crisis victims should not be interviewed.
- Checklist
The format of the checklist will be as follows:
- Media Briefing Center
A media briefing room will be set up under the name conference room. Here, the media liaison will be obliged to supervise the setup and its operation. Other responsibilities of the media liaison will be:
- Assign a person who will be directing the media to the conference room
- Setting up a podium
- Ensure that there is a flip chart with a pad and markers
- Ensure that there are enough plug-ins
- Ensure that the media representatives are given badges
- Ensure limited contact of the media with the organization’s staff members
- Inaugurate a briefing schedule for the media
- Ensure that the media has access to Wi-Fi
- Press release template
The external communication specialists will work together with the CCC manager to develop necessary media materials, including the press release template. The External communication specialist will be obliged to:
- Write and produce all the external communications as directed by the CCC manager.
- Use appropriate communication methods to communicate.
- Respond to media as directed.
- Arrange approvals and develop messages.
- Monitor social media.
The format of the template will be as follows:
- Evaluation of the crisis plan.
After the crisis is over, the CCC manager will assign some team members to evaluate the crisis. The evaluation procedure will include:
- Evaluation of weaknesses and strengths observed during the crisis.
- Give recommendations on how to improve the response system.
- Give timelines for the adoption of the recommendations made.
The report submitted by the assigned team will be presented to the CCC manager, who will present it to the senior manager for the response system to be updated or improved.
References
Bundy, J., Pfarrer, M.D., Short, C. E., & Coombs, W.T. (2017). Crises and crisis management: Integration, Interpretation, and research development. Journal of Management, 43(6), 1661-1692.
McElroy, L. (2019). Developing a Crisis Communication Plan: 5 Important Strategies
Millward, J. Crisis Plan.
Williams, T. A., Gruber, D. A., & Zhao, E. Y. (2017). Organizational response to adversity: Fusing crisis management and resilience research streams. Academy of Management Annals, 11(2), 733-769.