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Involvement of Media in Crisis Communication

Romi Nakarmi

Westcliff University

BUS 600: Managerial Communication

Professor Shrestha

March 29, 2021

Introduction

Crisis communication refers to processes or techniques that allow an organization to

establish communication during a significant threat to its company or image. Any Organizational

crisis communication strategy’s main objective is to allow smooth communication within an

organization during a crisis. When it comes to the emerging challenges of dealing with crises in

virtual workplaces, communication and risk management managers are concerned about

detecting unusual circumstances and planning their organization[ CITATION Tik191 \l 1033 ].

Although Crisis communication is always reactive, having a crisis communication strategy in

place will make the process go more smoothly for the organization team.

Crisis management is a strategy for avoiding or mitigating the harm that a crisis can bring

to an entity and its members. Creating an appropriate crisis management strategy is one of the

most difficult challenges that internal and crisis relations teams can face. It's not only the reason

that risks are overwhelming but crises are extremely difficult to forecast and organized. A crisis

management plan considers all specified areas and provides a potential solution for each of them

to assist the company in resolving the crisis as quickly as feasible[ CITATION Aro19 \l 1033 ].

Managers should use a crisis management strategy to take clear and decisive action in response

to a crisis and it is also strategy safeguards an enterprise against unavoidable challenges and

ensures its long-term sustainability[ CITATION Tik191 \l 1033 ].

Communication crises occur on KFC in the year 2018

KFC faced a devasting situation in February 2018, When a chicken shortage caused the

restaurant to close more than 600 outlets across the United kingdom. The irony of a chicken store

without any chicken was exploited by social and mass media, which jumped all over the news.

The disruption was caused by organizational issues caused by a shift in suppliers.KFC turned to
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new distribution partner DHL on valentine's Day to “boost the quality consistency of the supply

chain” to its 900plus stores in the Uk and Ireland[ CITATION Cha191 \l 1033 ]. The

transformation didn’t go smoothly due to a huge logistical breakdown, there was a national

shortage of chicken that results in the closure of all KFC restaurants in the UK. Customers of

KFC were very disappointed and enraged enough to call the cops. KFC soon became the center

of a massive media storm and also losing the market and its customers.

Though KFC was profoundly disappointed and tried desperately to address issues the

situation, their public relations team had a spark of creativity in the form of a full-page

advertisement. The advertisement featured by jumbling the letters of the company’s name to

spell FCK. Customers, as well as marketing experts in the UK and US, appreciated the response.

As a result, KFC attracted more customers and boosted brand recognition.

About the role as the key spokesperson at KFC

Before a crisis happens be sure to select a response team and then agree on a plan that

everyone on the team should know what their job duties are and whether we should be

constructive or reactive when it comes to media attention. I will make prepared to train anybody

in the business who might be contacted by the media. Some of the roles that I would like to

prepare as the key spokesperson to settle the issue at KFC are To begin with I will handle the

situation with honesty and transparency admitting that we had made a mistake and describing

how we were trying to correct it. For example, make the customers believe that we are making

progress and fresh chicken is being delivered to our restaurants as soon as possible.

Since they had already established relations with all of the required contacts, I will make

proper preparations to move efficiently with the press releases and advertising placements. These

press releases should be written ahead of time so I can be ready for information to go when the
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media approaches me. I will represent the apology for those who had been impacted by the crises

without being insulting. I will make an efficient plan, to be honest, and realistic for those who are

affected and apologize, connected with the staff, Keep a keen watch on the issues even after the

problem has been solved. I would also like to thank all the KFC staff members who have been

continuously working hard to deliver the values and I will also extend my gratitude to the

Franchise partners who have aligned with the vision and values. After a crisis, I will often keep

them of any resolutions that are made, any information gathered, or any new regulations that are

implemented which will help to retain the respect of everyone who works for the

business[ CITATION Man17 \l 1033 ]. I will take this as an opportunity to improve our service

delivery process more efficiently.

Ways to Overcome Communication Crisis of Organization

One of the most critical elements of crisis management is crisis communication. Indeed,

who you work within a crisis as well as when and how you interact with them will make

difference between good and unsuccessful crisis management. Some of the important steps that I

followed for successful communication that helps in minimizing negative feedback are as

below:

Identify your Stakeholders

The first step is to figure out who are the most important stakeholders. Before starting, I

will ask myself and my team that In a crisis, who do we need to connect to minimize the negative

effect on the company’s image? After the proper planning with the team, I will make a list of

each stakeholder that will be working on the crisis management of the organization. Few

examples of stakeholder groups to include on my list :

 Members of Board of Directors

 Customers

 Employees

 Governmental Agencies

 Public

 Media

 Shareholders

 Brand partners

 Investors

After the members have been established, assign them the responsibility and delegate

them the duty of keeping the lists of the organization updated and corrected.

Identify your communication channels

Next step I will identify how to communicate with them more effectively in the event of a

crisis. I will use social media to interact with the key stakeholders such as the media, customers,

general public, etc to make sure that we can hear the current situation without losing faith in the

company[ CITATION Rei18 \l 1033 ]. Similarly, social media is an important tool for

communications where we can communicate with a large number of people at the same time and

we can generate main supporters that regularly connect with our company.

Prepare and get crisis communication approved

Approving communications can be a time-consuming and repetitive process. Firstly I will

formulate them then receive legal and regulatory approval and finally I must edit them. There are

different approaches to this challenge depending on the organization's crisis management.

Monitor on interaction and Media Coverage

In a crisis, proper management of conversation and new stories surrounding will help to

engage with stakeholders more efficiently. I will include all kinds of social media comments,

feedbacks, customer inquiries, etc. Evaluating actively during a crisis will assist us in rapidly

correcting any misunderstanding, misinformation that could damage our credibility[ CITATION

Kim18 \l 1033 ]. Before conducting a Press release, I will make sure the teams should know who

and what should be implemented during a time of crisis.

Conclusion

Even though Crisis Start is negative, successful crisis management helps an

organization mitigate the harm and in some cases grow better than before the crisis. However no

company is resistant to a crisis, so we must do everything possible to plan for one[ CITATION

Man17 \l 1033 ]. People communicate, and all humans are concerned, fearful, and anxious about

the unknown. Although it may be unexpected, negative reporting draws attention to the problem.

The crisis management team helps the organization taking proper steps at the proper time and

helps to overcome the situation.

References

Arokiasamy, L. ,. (2019). Best Practices for Crisis Communication: A Qualitative Study. Global

Business and Management Research, 141-150. doi:https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-

journals/best-practices-crisis-communication-qualitative/docview/2236675646/se-2?

accountid=158986

Chang-Dae Ham, K. J. (2019). The Role of CSR in Crises: Integration of Situational Crisis

Communication Theory and the Persuasion Knowledge Model. Journal of Business

Ethics, 353-372. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3706-0

Kim, S. ,. (2018). Congruence Effects in Post-crisis CSR Communication: The Mediating Role

of Attribution of Corporate Motives. Journal of Business Ethics, 447-463.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3425-y

Mansor, F. ,. (2017). Crisis Management, Crisis Communication, and Consumer Purchase

Intention Post-crisis. Global Business and Management Research, 60-79.

doi:https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/crisis-management-communication-

consumer-purchase/docview/1988803340/se-2?accountid=158986

Reissová, A., Žambochová, M., & Sláma, V. (2018). The role of mass media in crisis

communication. Scientific Papers of the University of Pardubice. Series D. Faculty of

Economics and Administration. doi:https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/role-

mass-media-crisis-communication/docview/2265498900/se-2?accountid=158986

Tikka, M. (2019). Ritualisation of Crisis Communication. Nordicom Review, 105-120.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/nor-2019-0006
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