Public Relations: Crisis Management
Introduction
The aspect of public
relations is made to enhance the reputation of a company. In the case of the Mercedes
Benz Company, they need to either outsource the function or develop a public relations
department that will help them in the management of the company’s image. In the
case where the company has the possibility of tarnishing its image due to the
events that befall the A class Mercedes Benz model, it may be very important that
the company communicates with the media so as to represent the interests of the
company in the most effective way possible. The company and especially the
public relations department will need to relate with other people and organizations
in order to enforce the good will of the company within the community in which
it operates in so that the image of the company can be enhanced. The element of
image to a company is extremely important basing on the fact that companies
need to be competitive in today’s global world so that they can effectively
stand out. It is only when the image of the company is favorable that they can boost
their sales (Adamson
2002)
.The negative public image of the Mercedes Benz Company that has recently been
acquired as a result of the roll over incident acts as a potential factor in damaging
the company’s reputation and decreasing their sales levels.
Analysis
In the happenings of any
organization, a crisis is bound to occur and to happen from time to time. However,
how the crisis is handled and not the crisis itself is bound to linger in the
public eye for a longer time frame than initially assumed. It is therefore very
essential not to mishandle the management of crisis. Despite the crisis that J
and J company had to undergo after the invention of the tyenol capsules which
lead to the death of numerous people, the company is still rated as one of the
most top American companies, due to the fact that they were able to ably manage
and considerably handle the crisis situation that they encountered in the most
effective manner. The aspect of leadership and how it is displayed in the process
of managing a crisis is what is able to distinguish a reputable firm from one
that is just any other firm. Just as stated, it may take ten years to build the
image of a company bit it just requires a second to destroy that hard earned image.
In this case therefore, the notion of crisis management cannot just be taken literary
and it is very important that they are handled effectively as they tend to
negatively impact on the trust of the consumers and the performance of the company
in the industry where it competes.
In this essay therefore
I am going to introduce the aspect of leadership in crisis in the Mercedes Benz
Company, as this is a topic that is of very high value especially since it requires
more than just corporate management of the firm and call for excellent skills
in public relations. In depth therefore, the leaders in the management of a crisis
are those that aspire to create a foundation of trust not only among the
employees and the members of the organization but also with the external systems
of the organization. It is essential that these leaders create foundations that
help top prepare the company for the difficult times that are bound to come in
order to contain the crises when they occur and so as to leverage the situations
as a means of creating and fostering change in the organization and thus
leading to better process within the organization.
Crisis
management
A crisis can be
categorized into two depending on their nature of occurrence. In crisis management,
there are basically two classifications which are the shouldering crisis and
the sudden crisis .Sudden crises arise due to the fact that some unexpected
effects have combated the company and it had no control over the events thus
the company can be said to have limited perceived faults in the cause of the crisis
the case of smoldering crises the company is held responsible for the cause of
the unfortunate events and the leadership of the company is put at fault. In
the case of the Mercedes Company the crisis that the company had was not a sudden
one but a shouldering one, since it was due to the way the car had been manufactured
which management and leadership of the company should have noted before taking
the car out for the test drive. To some extent, the crisis was as a result of
negligence by the head of the manufacturing team. In the case that a smoldering
crisis is well managed, there are chances that it may result to limited harm to
the organization as compared to a poorly managed sudden crisis (Tăse 2012).
Phases
of crisis management
In order for any
company that seeks to remain competitive in the industry in which it operates, it
has to assimilate the use of the following phases of crisis so that effective
and appropriate leadership can be put in place in order to help combat the effects
of the crisis to the firm.
Signal detection. In the
case of a shouldering crisis, there are signals that are usually pit in place to
detect and depict that an occurrence is not going as planned. However, these
signals are rarely effective or put in place in the case of a sudden crisis (Institute for Crisis Management
2003).
However, many at times, the management of companies rarely heed to the
detection warnings of the signals that have been put in place. The reasons that
these red flags are unheeded by the management could be due to the fact that they
tend to act in the illusion that the problem cannot affect their company and
that problems only happen to other people. Secondly, the leaders may tend to
deny the existence of the red flag so that they can better save their image in
the sight of their peers and their subordinates. Lastly, this could just be a behavioral
problem by the management of the company where the leaders in the company are
just not keen to detect the red flags that tend to signal to the likely hood of
danger. It has actually been stated that most of the crises that tend to take
place are usually sparked off by the management of the company.
The second phase of a crisis
is the preparation and the planning phase which basically suggests that in the event
that a company and its manager effectively plan and prepare many crises that
would have happened to the firm can basically be avoided. It should be noted
that due to the fact that it is entirely impossible to prevent the occurrence of
crises to a company, the management of the company should in that case
therefore enforce proper controls that adequately aid in the planning and
preparation the event of a crisis. It is essential therefore that management of
company comes up with an effective strategy that will aid them to end a crisis
in the event that it occurs (Gupta 2011).
The third phase of managing
a crisis is the containment and damage controls which is a very crucial aspect
in the recovery of the company business. In this phase the management of the company
seeks and sets out to limit the effect of the crisis on the reputation of the company
either financially or in other aspects that may tend to threaten the operations
of the firm. It is therefore very essential that the Mercedes Benz company
mangers come up with an appropriate damage control strategy to end the crisis
that took place in the company.
The fourth aspect of crises
is the business recovery phase which is mainly concerned with the fact that the
company has to get back to doing the business activities as they initially were.
It should therefore be the ultimate goal of the management to ensure that the firm
is back to business as usual after the management of the crisis. In firms that
are involved in action discrimination action law suits, it was noted that the
executives of the companies are constantly seeking to assure their stakeholders
that everything the company may have undergone a major disruption after the occurrence
of the crisis; the company is seeking to instigate and continue carrying out
their business affairs as usual. In this stage therefore, an effective
managerial leader will be differentiated from one who is ineffective through
their ability to consider both the short and the long-term efforts to recover
the activities of the firm and to think beyond the usual business paradigms and
to act in other new business paradigms.
It is also essential
that the organization goes through the process of learning where they are able
to acquire new skills in the process of acting on information and its subsequent
dissemination throughout the activities of the company (Pearson et al 1993).
It is very essential therefore that the Mercedes company adapts the; learning
atmosphere and climate in order to effectively manage the crisis that has befallen
them. Management should by no means act in a manner that suggests that they are
defensive or reactive since thus is inevitably going to prevent and negatively
impact upon the learning process of the company. In a typical crisis sequence,
an event will occur, and the firm in question will scramble in order to contain
the crisis in question, eventually the crisis will be resolved. However, in a
company that has embraced the learning approach, the same stages will be witnessed
though they will be further modified by the leadership of the company in bid to
create and respond to the underlying factors in the organization that may have
contributed to the occurrence of the crisis (James et al 2011). The management will
also consequently act towards the leveraging of the insights attained so as to facilitate
change that is fundamental to the success of the business in terms of its systems
and the procedures.
It is very essential that
every company leader understand these phases of a crisis so that they can be
able to develop competency in their leadership skills so as to effectively lead
an organization to successful heights especially in the turbulent times of the
organization.
After the successful management
of the crisis that the Mercedes Benz Company had gone through it may be essential
for the leaders of the company to consider the following six competencies that
may help the organization to effective positive change in its processes and the
environment in which it operates in.
The
six Public relations leadership competencies
The approach that have
been mentioned earlier as far the management of crises is concerned are traditional
approaches which in the long run tend to be effective and insufficient to ensure
that firms propel ahead considering the immense challenges that crises tend to
present to n organization. Management of the crisis is simply not enough and
therefore, it is essential that the leadership of the company takes up the
following competencies to ensure that the firm is far beyond risk (Veil 2011)
The first competency
that the firm should take upon it is to build on the aspect of trust. It is
very essential that the foundations of the company are pegged on trust so that
the implemented strategies can be able to work for the better of the company.
It is essential that the staff of the company feel at home at their places of work
and those customers develop faith in the products or services that the company
ids offering or dealing with. It is therefore very essential that the Mercedes Benz
business leaders create an atmosphere of trust that will be able to effectively
maintain the relationships of the people in the supply chain of the company. It
is essential that for the leaders of the company to build trust, through
propagating honest and open communications with their stakeholders which should
be done frequently
(Reina et al 1999). It is essential that through building
trust of the stakeholders of the company that the management of the company
also manages their expectations.
Secondly, the
management of the company should also create a new corporate mindset that will;
be able to reduce the occurrence of more crises happening to the firm. This way
they are also able to attain clues on how best to manage the operations of the
firm in the event that they are faced with crisis. It is essential that despite
focusing on the provirus that the firm is making in the market, the leadership focuses
on system controls and the area of processes management (Pearson et al 1998).
The third competence that
the leaders of the company should be groomed to attain is the ability to
identify the vulnerabilities to the firm that may not appear to be so obvious.
In a work pace environment for instance, it is very obvious that triggers of crisis
are the malfunctioning of equipment in the company (Kaplan & Mikes 2012).
However, leaders have lacked the perspective to view sabotage and the use of
the machinery as weapons. In the case of a very competent leader, it is necessary
that they light themselves to a position that enables then to effectively anticipate
a crisis and plan for the obvious. Leaders of the company must continue to constantly
challenge themselves to consider out of the box possibilities that may lead to
a crisis.
Another factor for consideration
should be the fact that the leader of the company should be in a position to be
able to make rapid and wise decisions for the company during and after the occurrence
of the crisis. It is essential that the leaders of the company gather
appropriate information and generate possible alternatives that can help the
company to grow and to forge ahead.
It is also wise that
the leadership of the company takes courageous action in times of a crisis,
even though the occurrence of a crisis tends to lead to much ambiguity for the
business (PIN 2012). The managers of the company should always be very open and
not reserved in their actions as this will tend to negatively affect the operations
of the company and its image. It is therefore essential that the leaders of the
firm act on the crisis as an opportunity and not just vies it as a negative implication
for the processes of the firm.
The fifth competence
that the leader of the company should be able to enforce is to learn from the crisis
so as to be able to effect positive change. It is not possible to adopt a
learning mentality through fighting a crisis is therefore very essential that
the corporate leaders cultivate a learning mentality. In the processing, the leadership
of the organization will be able to reexamine some factors like the culture of
the organization, its policies and the procedure there in. The learning process
could take place in the following ways: through accepting and facing any information
that may suggest an imparity in the leadership of the company, through the
encouragement and the reward of people that truthfully communicate problems in
the firm, through the process of information sharing and lastly, through making
the required changes to the processes of the organization (Jasko et al 2012).
Conclusion:
The management of a
crisis is a very vital element that the management of the company needs to be
well equipped of. Not only does it require competence and skills but also
necessitates the use of strategic know how. It is through crisis management in
a company that it can either forge ahead or permanently have its reputation
damaged beyond repair. In most cases, the issue is not the crisis but how
effectively the management of the company handles it and manages it to ensure
that the reputation and the image of the company is conserved
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