COMMUNICATING OUT OF A CRISIS

COMMUNICATING OUT OF A CRISIS

Communicating Out of a Crisis Michael Bland p a l g ( a v ~ 113Crl ar

Selection, editorial matter and Chapters 1-6, 14-16 Michael Bland 1998 Other chapters and case studies (in order) Tim Taylor, Colin Duncan, joseph L. Badaracco jr and jerry V. Useem, Christopher Flint, Colin Doeg, Kate Graham, Cheryl Travers, jeff Simms, Matthew j. Harrington, Colin Doeg, jonathan Street, Francis Thomas, Liz Simpson and john D. Noulton 1998 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1998 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin's Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-14667-3 ISBN 978-1-349-14665-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-14665-9 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Transferred to digital printing 2002

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (trans. Edward Fitzgerald)

List of Figures 2.1 Crisis handling 3.1 Attitude barriers 3.2 Attitude barriers 3.3 Attitude barriers 4.1 A typical crisis management team structure 4.2 A familiarity/favourability chart 5.1 The communication flow in a crisis 6.1 Islands of safety 13.1 Reactive response to a crisis 4 20 20 21 43 51 68 80 150 ix

Acknowledgements In addition to the contributors of sections and case studies for this book, the author would like to thank the following people for their help: Jonathan Church, Susan Croft (Hill & Knowlton), Carol Felton (Courtaulds), Hilary Gallagher (Courtaulds), Natasha Gould (Leeds Metropolitan University), Matt Huber (RMC), Dr Peter M. Sandman (Rutgers University), John Stonborough (John Stonborough & Co.). The author and publishers wish to thank the following for their kind permission to reproduce copyright material: Chapman & Hall: Crisis Management in the Food Industry by Colin Doeg, 1995 Blackwell Publishers: 'The Role of the Internet' in Business Ethics, Jan 1997 News International Syndication for the use of the Sun montage Every effort has been made to contact all the copyright-holders, but if any have been inadvertently omitted the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangement at the earliest opportunity. x

List of Contributors Joseph L. Badaracco Jr John Shad Professor of Business Ethics, Harvard Business School Colin Doeg Colin Duncan a former journalist, now a public relations consultant Director of Public Affairs, British Nuclear Fuels pic Christopher Flint Group Security Adviser, Cadbury Schweppes pic Kate Graham handled the PR response to the Piper Alpha disaster and now provides consultancy and management training in media response and lectures widely in crisis management Matthew J. Harrington Executive Vice President/General Manager of a leading PR company, Edelman Worldwide, based in San Francisco John D. Noulton Public Affairs Director, Eurotunnel Jeff Simms journalist with a design, marketing and publishing agency, Picquet Communications Jonathan Street Managing Director of Jonathan Street Public Relations Tim Taylor solicitor and partner in Hill Taylor Dickinson with experience of several high-profile disaster cases Francis Thomas pic Group Media Relations Manager, The Boots Company Cheryl Travers lecturer in organisational behaviour and human resource management at The Business School, Loughborough University Jerry V. Useem former Research Associate at Harvard and currently on the editorial staff of Inc. magazine Xl