Manager's Guide to Crisis Management

Book description

Lead your Organization through any business crisis—and emerge stronger than ever

Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management provides the basic skills and knowledge you need to deal with the crises that inevitably occur in any business or organization.

Covering every aspect of the topic—from defining crisis management and policies to training for and responding to crises—it helps you fully grasp any situation that threatens business, careers, and even lives. Lead through any crisis smoothly and with minimal ramifications by mastering the most effective tactics, including:

  • Planning for and training staff in crisis management
  • Anticipating and preventing crises before they occur
  • Managing the company’s online reputation
  • Addressing crises that affect multicultural stakeholders
  • Creating effective crisis-related messaging
  • Knowing when to bring in a specialist

About the Briefcase Books series:

Briefcase Books, written specifically for today’s busy manager, feature eye-catching icons, checklists, and sidebars to guide managers step-by-step through everyday workplace situations. Look for these innovative design features to help you navigate through each page:

Key Terms: Clear definitions of key terms and concepts
Smart Managing: Tactics and strategies for managing crises
Tricks of the Trade: Tips for executing the tactics in the book
Mistake Proofing: Practical advice for minimizing the possibility of error
Caution: Warning signs for when things are about to go wrong
For Example: Examples of successful crisis management
Tools: Specific planning procedures, tactics, and hands-on techniques

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents
  5. Preface
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. 1. The Importance of Crisis Management
    1. Types of Crises
    2. What Is a Stakeholder?
    3. How Crisis Management Can Benefit Your Business or Organization
    4. Crisis Management and Traditional Public Relations—Similarities and Differences
    5. Crisis Management and the C-Suite
    6. Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 1
  8. 2. Crisis Prevention
    1. The Best Way to Manage a Crisis Is to Prevent It
    2. The Best Way to Prevent a Crisis Is to Anticipate
    3. Typical Audit Questions
    4. How a Vulnerability Audit Is Conducted
    5. Do-It-Yourself Audits
    6. A Case History: Audit Benefits
    7. Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 2
  9. 3. Crisis Planning
    1. Crisis Plan Essentials
    2. Anticipate Crises
    3. Don’t Go Plan Crazy
    4. Evaluating Your Existing Crisis Plan—10 Questions
    5. “It Can’t Happen to Me”
    6. Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 3
  10. 4. Crisis Training
    1. What Good Is a Plan Nobody Knows About?
    2. Types of Training
    3. Media Training
    4. What You Learn from Media Training
    5. What Makes a Good Spokesperson?
    6. Don’t Go It Alone
    7. Media Training the Untrainable
    8. Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 4
  11. 5. Crisis Drills
    1. How Drills Help
    2. Types of Crisis Drills
    3. Drills and the Media
    4. Methods of Practice
    5. Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 5
  12. 6. Crisis Response
    1. The Five Tenets of Crisis Communications
    2. External Communications—The Media
    3. External Communications—Beyond the Media
    4. The Forgotten Stakeholders—Internal Communication
    5. Manager’s Checklist for 6
  13. 7. Crisis Messaging
    1. Messaging—General Guidelines
    2. Messaging—Specific Guidelines
    3. Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 7
  14. 8. Crisis Recovery
    1. Step One—Determine the Damage
    2. Step Two—Conduct a Post-Crisis Analysis
    3. Step Three—Do a Vulnerability Audit
    4. Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 8
  15. 9. Online Reputation Management
    1. The Impact of the Internet
    2. The I-Reporter—Born of the Web
    3. Other Sources of Online Threats
    4. ORM Terms
    5. Who You Gonna Call?
    6. Examples of Online Reputation Threats
    7. Online Reputation Management—The Strategic Side
    8. Safeguards
    9. Dealing with Internet Critics
    10. Education and Reorientation
    11. The Role of SEO in Online Reputation Management
    12. Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 9
  16. 10. Crisis Management and the Law
    1. Integrating Crisis Management and Legal Strategy
    2. Common Ground in the Legal vs. Crisis Management Debate
    3. Trial by Media—An Attorney’s Worst Nightmare
    4. Educating the Jury Pool
    5. Manager’s Checklist for 10
  17. 11. Crisis Management and the Publicly Owned Company
    1. The Communications Pros and Cons of Public Companies
    2. How a Public Company Should Respond to a Crisis
    3. How the Board Can Help … or Hurt
    4. The Danger of Ignoring Threats
    5. Mergers and Acquisitions
    6. On the Positive Side
    7. Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 11
  18. 12. Cultural Issues in Crisis Management
    1. The Reason? Your Stakeholders
    2. How to Manage a Crisis with Multicultural Stakeholders
    3. Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 12
  19. 13. Crisis Management Tools
    1. Connectivity and Accessibility
    2. Staying Online
    3. Okay, You’re Online … Now What?
    4. As to Social Media …
    5. The In-Person Approach—A Tool Not to Be Forgotten
    6. Emergency Preparedness Checklist for Small Businesses
    7. Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 13
  20. 14. Crisis Management Consultants
    1. How Do Crisis Management Consultants Operate?
    2. Hiring a Crisis Management Consultant
    3. Hiring a Web Consultant
    4. Contracting with a Crisis Communications Consultant
    5. Working with a Consultant
    6. Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 14
  21. 15. Special Crisis Management Risks
    1. When You’re Targeted by the Media
    2. Keeping the Media Out of the Trash
    3. Handling the Ambush Interview
    4. When You’re Targeted by Activists
    5. When You’re Targeted by an Official Investigation
    6. Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 15
  22. 16. Moral Imperatives and the Future of Crisis Management
    1. The Future of Crisis Management
    2. Where Do You Fit In?
    3. Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 16
  23. Index

Product information

  • Title: Manager's Guide to Crisis Management
  • Author(s): Jonathan Bernstein
  • Release date: November 2011
  • Publisher(s): McGraw-Hill
  • ISBN: 9780071776134