case study
Chapter 10 Issues Management
Based on information from Doorley, J., & Garcia, H. F. (2015). Reputation management:
The key to successful public relations and corporate communications (3rd edn.).
New York: Routledge. © Taylor and Francis 2015
What is Issue Management?
Corporate management processes of principles helping organizations by identifying challenges in the business environment—both internal and external—before they become crises .
Mobilizes corporate resources to help protect the company from the harm to
Reputation
Operations
Financial condition that the issue may provoke
Subsets of both risk and crisis managements. (public visibility and reputational harm; anticipates before full blown crisis.
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Neutralizing Challenges – Case Study: Children swallowing lithium batteries, saliva activates an electrical current that can cause severe burns in the esophagus. Point: 3500 cases reported where fatality increased by 400% 2005-2010; Energizer, FleishmanHillard –task raise awareness of safety issue among Parents; partnership Safe Kids Worldwide, “The Battery Controlled” campaign that engaged 200 local & community partners. Beginning 28% parents w/small children aware – 220 million parents & 66% parents aware1st yr; Issue Mgmt Award 2013 Silver Anvil top award PRSA; repackaging, too.
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Typical Issues Management Structure
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Est. IM Function; Align w/business operations, marketplace realities and leadership styles – est. multidisciplinary IM team consisting of all major business functions.
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Typical Issue Management Structure
Governance - Senior Staff Managing Team
Issue management team- Representatives for core function areas across organization
Topic-specific task forces - (Expert in area)
Issue resource team (pre-designated experts to functional areas immediately available for all teams.
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IM Team reports; G structure-responsibilities review/approval of major recommendations and plans; id & assign resources to manage issues, supervise team. Legal, manuf, HR, PR, Marketing/Ad, sales, security, administration, IT, etc. ) eyes/ears internal/external stakeholders; develop issues agenda, naming individual champions, develop plans, document on particular issues; central clearing house;
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Prioritizing Issues
Likelihood
How likely is it that this issue will play out to the company’s disadvantage?
Magnitude
If it does play out to our disadvantage, how significant could the harm be?
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Magnitude/Likelihood Matrix
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Formula for Issue Management Success
Research / Risk Assessment
+ Planning
+ Action
+ Communication
+ Evaluation
Crisis Avoidance
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Key: same plan as PR;
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Developing an Issue Management Plan
The starting point of an issue management plan is an analysis that identifies both the
problem to be solved
and the organization’s ability to provide meaningful impact on the issue
Two key sections
An analysis of the problem
A plan to protect the company
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Issue Management Analysis and Planning Template
Issue analysis: threat assessment
Magnitude
Likelihood
Define affected stakeholder groups
Research additional information
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Issue Management Analysis and Planning Template, cont’d
Issue management plan
Business decisions/actions
Business objectives
Issue management strategies
Actions to take (tactics)
Staffing
Logistics
Budget
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Issue Management Analysis and Planning Template, cont’d
Issue management plan, cont’d
Communications plan
Communication objectives
Communication strategies
Target audience(s)
External
Internal
Tactics
Targeted messages
Documents
Logistics
Success criteria
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Issue Analysis and Threat Assessment
Issue analysis—answers the question “What?”
Threat assessment—begins by naming the problem
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Best Practices in Issue Management
Focus on the goal, not just on the processes
Get management buy-in
Name an accountable leader
Involve all relevant business functions
Set tangible communication objectives and measure success against them
Follow the plan, focusing on the goal; adapt the tactics to changes in the environment, but keep the emphasis on the goal
© Taylor and Francis 2015