Homework: Crisis Communication and Leadership
Course Description
Explores strategies for leading and communicating effectively with both internal and external audiences during crisis situations. Discusses the development of a communication plan and how to craft and deliver messaging during the crisis situation.
Textbook: Ulmer, R. R., Sellnow, T. L, & Seeger, M. W. (2019). Effective crisis communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity (4th ed.).
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
o Apply crisis communication theory to real-world crisis situations.
o Evaluate leaders' approaches to crisis communication and action.
o Apply strategies for communicating and leading during times of uncertainty.
o Apply strategies for communicating a message to neutralize risk or scandal.
o Create opportunities for positive messaging in the midst of crisis, in order to support the organization, its people, and its brand.
o Evaluate ethical demands of the leader during crisis situations.
o Create a leadership communication plan for a crisis situation.
o Develop strategies for leading the organization toward crisis recovery and renewal.
Task
Unit I Homework
Conduct a search of news reports that involve an organization responding to crisis events. Search for a range of reports to get an overview of the types of crises that organizations have responded to in recent years. Then, select one crisis event to develop your paper, addressing the following points. Support your response with specific examples from the news report and our assigned readings, and illustrate the specific course concepts you relied on to draw your conclusions.
o Define organizational crisis, and explain the difference between risk and crisis.
o Describe the criteria leaders should use to determine whether an event constitutes a crisis event.
o Who were the stakeholders? Who was impacted by the crisis-both inside and outside of the company? Was the crisis preventable?
o Were the circumstances of the crisis predictable/unpredictable? Were there elements of uncertainty that were outside of the organizational leaders' control?
o What can the organizational leaders learn from the crisis and their responses?
o Who spoke to the media/public on behalf of the organization? What message did he or she convey on behalf of the organization (i.e., did he or she seek to support stakeholders, assign/accept blame for the crisis, communicate the organization's plan for recovery)?
o How could the organization make the response more effective?
Unit II Case Study
After reviewing the case described in Example 4.3 on pages 57-60 of your textbook, write an analysis using discourse of renewal theory as a framework to analyze the organization's crisis response. Using the Waldorf Online Library, conduct any additional research necessary to fully evaluate the aspects of the crisis response described in the theory. Cite specific examples to support your points.
See the grading rubric for additional guidelines. It is recommended that you use the rubric as a checklist as you draft the essay. Refer to the rubric often and be sure to fulfill the requirements for all criteria listed.
Unit III Case Study
After reviewing the case described in Example 4.6 on pages 68-72 of your textbook, write an analysis by responding to the questions listed in the table under "You Make the Call" on pages 71-72 named "Lessons on Producing Effective Crisis Communication". After answering these questions, also write a brief analysis on Dominos' organizational leader's goals during their crisis response.
Present your responses in a format you would use if you had been hired by Domino's as a crisis communication consultant and were preparing this report to provide to the client directly. Ensure the content, tone, and presentation are appropriate for your intended audience.
Unit IV Homework
This homework has two components - an outline and a code of ethics. Please prepare both portions and submit as one single Word document. Use section headings to organize the information, but do not paste the homework instructions into your document.
Part A: Introduction and Outline
The project in this course is to create a crisis communication plan. From within the course syllabus, review the homework instructions for the project. Approach the project as if you are the director of communications for an organization, which can be a for-profit or non-profit organization.
Use complete sentences within the outline/introduction and be sure your outline/introduction applies course concepts. Draft the outline/introduction by performing the following actions:
o Describe the industry/organization you are representing.
o List the stakeholders (specific customers, clients, shareholders, and other groups) that your organization serves and/or impacts.
o Explain any concerns or challenges the organization might face, including potential risks, previous crises, or other issues that will need to be considered when you develop the crisis communication plan.
o Find an existing crisis communication plan for a similar organization, and link to the document. Identify at least two lessons described in Chapter 3 that are followed in the plan.
o Discuss whether or not any lessons are evident in the plan and the impact, if any, on the effectiveness of the plan.
Part B: Code of Ethics
Create a code of ethics for leaders responding to crisis events. The code must have at least 10 original, ethical guideline statements, include statements that are written in complete sentences (For example, accountability is a guiding principle, but it is not a specific guideline. Instead, an ethical guideline based on the principle of accountability might be, "We will publicly acknowledge errors in production, policy, or judgment that harmed stakeholders."), and include guidelines that demonstrate you are applying course concepts.
For examples of codes of ethics, you can conduct a search for policies from organizations and industry associations like the one you have selected for the project. Be sure to review the codes only to familiarize yourself with the types of statements that are included and the overall format.
Unit V Homework
Press Release
Review Example 6.4 on pages 98-101 of your textbook. Assuming the role of the public relations director for King Car, create a press release in response to the second round of testing that came back positive for high levels of melamine.
The press release must
o show you relied on the 10 lessons in Chapter 5 as a guide to develop the content of the press release,
o include any relevant information described in the case study (conduct additional research on the case as needed), follow this press release format/template
o include at least one quote from a King Car representative (attribute the quote to yourself as the PR director for King Car).
Unit VI PowerPoint Presentation
PowerPoint Presentation
Review Example 4.1 on pages 49-53 of your textbook. Using the 10 lessons in Chapter 7 as a guide, assume the role of a crisis communications consultant hired by BP one month after the spill has been contained. Develop a PowerPoint presentation for BP leadership to use during a press conference that will be given within the next week, with the purpose of employing positive messaging, repairing the company's image, and explaining the company's future plans.
The presentation must be at least eight slides, not including the introduction or citation slide. Use image repair theory (described in Chapter 2) as a framework for your approach.
When using images in a public presentation, you can use any of your own original images for which you own the copyright (such as photos you took yourself). If you search for images online, keep in mind that some photos might not be public domain (i.e., free to use). They could have a copyright that requires either permission or purchase to use. To avoid copyright infringement, it is best to use photos that you can clearly identify as public domain.
Unit VII Homework
Social Media Policy
Create a social media policy for an organization (of your choice) with the goal of positive messaging, neutralizing risk, and crisis prevention. Select the same organization as for the project (creating a crisis communication plan). This social media policy will be incorporated into the project as one section of the entire crisis communication plan. The format should follow the same format used in the crisis communication plan.
Your policy must:
o clearly identify the organization/target audience that the social media policy is written for.
o describe procedures regarding how employees (such as the PR director/spokesperson) should use social media when representing the organization. Explain how social media can be used for positive messaging, crisis prevention, and neutralizing risk. Add any other sections that might be relevant to your organization. Apply course concepts when you create the policy.
o include clear, detailed procedures using a format that is easy to follow. add any templates or worksheets that might be helpful for leaders to use.
o use text enhancements and visuals to emphasize and for clarity. In addition to basic enhancements, such as bold, underline, italics, caps, font/font size, and color-coding, you can include graphs, illustrations, or other visual elements.
Unit VIII Project
Crisis Communication Plan
Create a crisis communication plan for leaders in a specific organization.
The plan must
o clearly identify the organization/target audience the plan is written for,
o create sections describing each type of potential crisis this organization might encounter and an appropriate response,
- The sections should be tailored to your specific organization. For example, if your company produces a food product, recalls could be an important topic to address. Be sure to apply course concepts, including those related to positive messaging and crisis prevention/risk.
- NOTE: Include the social media policy created during Unit VII as one section of the plan. You can update the policy and make any necessary revisions to the version you submitted in Unit VII.
o identify stakeholders who might be affected by the crisis,
- Include procedures to communicate internally with those inside of the company and externally with stakeholders outside of the company.
o include clear, detailed procedures using a format that is easy to follow,
o add any templates or worksheets that might be helpful for the leaders to use when responding to a crisis event, and use text enhancements and visuals to emphasize and for clarity.
In addition to basic enhancements such as bold, underline, italics, caps, font/font size, and color-coding, you can include graphs, illustrations, or other visual elements.
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
o The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
o The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
o Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.