Paula DeenRacial Sandal, 25 points for Thesis + 1 Body paragraph
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paula_deen_.ppt
Problem
There was a problem that involved Paula Deen whereby she was committing racism.
Customers' complained that she had used racial slurs in referring to customers and also abusing them
She was also known to have mistreated her employees by harassing them
The scandal led to a former employer suing her
Mistake
She admitted to the media that had once used a racial word towards employees
Her way of admitting prompted the media to create a sensational story which went out of proportion
The media hype led to the loss of millions of dollars and also a ruined reputation of the firm
The mistake was how she admitted to the mistake and this would have been avoided if communication had been done correctly
Continuation
The miscommunication led to a fall of the business empire almost within a short time
The problem would have been avoided by hiring a cooperate communication manager to handle the issue
As a top person on the company hierarchy , she represented the face of the company and therefore what she said and how she said it had weight.
Lesson
Managers should be careful when facing the court of public opinion because their intentions would not matter (Dowling 2007)
Companies should understand how the media work and also how it interprets information
When going for press briefing concerning a crisis ,work on winning them over
Top managers should work towards avoiding crisis rather then damage control
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Company communication responses
The company should organize an emergency crisis meaning to have a common ground before calling the media
Train a team to handle a crisis
The meeting should give the deliberation to communication managers to prepare the briefing
The briefing should then be read by the top manager or CEO
Company statement review
The manager should not have directly admitted to the mistake (Coombs 2009)
The company should have been the first to reach out before the media came calling on them
When a company faces such a crisis , managers should use positive words and also accept liability
Continuation
For the Paula case, she should have let her PR department to handle the problem
Top managers should have called another briefing to offer apologies and control the damage
Paula made a mistake of blaming other forces instead of focusing on addressing the crisis
Conclusion
Companies should have a crisis committee to handle a scandal or crisis when it arises
There has to be a plan of response by management not just an individual
The management should engage members of a PR team especially when the media is involved
Managers should understand how the media works (Bernard 2009).
References
- Timothy, C.(2007). Crisis management and communication. London: Macmillan
- Dowling, S.(2007). Business leadership. London: Macmillan
- Bernard, I.(2009). The business round table. Oxford: Oxford University Press
- Hansen, G.(2001). How to survive a crisis. Nairobi: Longman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cm9XUoo0w0
