Effective Crisis Communication Chapter 1 The Conceptual Foundation Ulmer, R., Sellnow, T., and Seeger, M. (2019). Effective crisis communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity. Sage Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA. Importance of Crisis Communication Skills No community, organization, public or private is immune from crises. The need for understanding effective crisis communication has increased in demand. Cyber attacks, public relations disasters, natural disasters, corporate, government, and private mistakes. Because of the prevalence of crises, crisis communication skills are some of the most sought after. Subsequent slides offer examples of crisis situations Sports example requiring crisis communication skills 3 Business example requiring crisis communication skills 4 Government example requiring crisis communication skills 5 Political example requiring crisis communication skills 6 Natural disaster example requiring crisis communication skills 7 Defining Crisis Communication Bad experiences are not crises Hermann (1963) identified 3 characteristics Surprise Threat Short Response Time Traditional Definition of Crisis Surprise Even natural disasters such as flooding and fires do not count unless they come with an intensity that was unpredicted or beyond expectations of government officials. Threat Crises involve threats beyond the normal problems faced. Can affect an organization’s financial security, customers, residents nearby, and others. Short Response Time Organizations must provide effective communication immediately after the initial crisis. Difficult because in the immediate aftermath little is often known about the cause of the crisis. Only a short window to take control and set the tone for response and recovery. Expanding the definition of Crisis Communication Unexpected – Could not have anticipated or planned for. Nonroutine – Events that cannot be managed by normal procedures and often require unique or extreme measures. Produces Uncertainty – Cannot be aware of all causes and effects and investigations and efforts to reduce uncertainty may have to continue for months or years. Creates Opportunities – To learn, make strategic changes, grow, or develop new competitive advantages. Threat to image, reputation, or high-priority goals – Can be intense enough to permanently damage or destroy the organization. Types of Crises Intentional Terrorism Sabotage Workplace violence Poor employee relationships Poor risk management Unethical leadership Unintentional Natural disasters Disease outbreaks Unforeseeable technical interactions Product failure Downturns in the economy Types of Crises Intentional Terrorism Sabotage Workplace violence Poor employee relationships Poor risk management Unethical leadership https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/dec/10/volkswagen-emissions-scandal-systematic-failures-hans-dieter-potsch https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/us/chicago-cps-teachers-strik ...

1. Effective Crisis Communication
Chapter 1 The Conceptual Foundation
Ulmer, R., Sellnow, T., and Seeger, M. (2019). Effective crisis
communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity. Sage
Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA.
Importance of Crisis Communication Skills
No community, organization, public or private is immune from
crises.
The need for understanding effective crisis communication has
increased in demand.
Cyber attacks, public relations disasters, natural disasters,
corporate, government, and private mistakes.
Because of the prevalence of crises, crisis communication skills
are some of the most sought after.
Subsequent slides offer examples of crisis situations
Sports example requiring crisis communication skills
3

2. Business example requiring crisis communication skills
4
Government example requiring crisis communication skills
5
Political example requiring crisis communication skills
6
Natural disaster example requiring crisis communication skills
7
Defining Crisis Communication
Bad experiences are not crises
Hermann (1963) identified 3 characteristics
Surprise
Threat
Short Response Time

3. Traditional Definition of Crisis
Surprise
Even natural disasters such as flooding and fires do not count
unless they come with an intensity that was unpredicted or
beyond expectations of government officials.
Threat
Crises involve threats beyond the normal problems faced.
Can affect an organization’s financial security, customers,
residents nearby, and others.
Short Response Time
Organizations must provide effective communication
immediately after the initial crisis.
Difficult because in the immediate aftermath little is often
known about the cause of the crisis.
Only a short window to take control and set the tone for
response and recovery.
Expanding the definition of Crisis Communication
Unexpected – Could not have anticipated or planned for.
Nonroutine – Events that cannot be managed by normal
procedures and often require unique or extreme measures.
Produces Uncertainty – Cannot be aware of all causes and
effects and investigations and efforts to reduce uncertainty may
have to continue for months or years.
Creates Opportunities – To learn, make strategic changes, grow,
or develop new competitive advantages.
Threat to image, reputation, or high-priority goals – Can be
intense enough to permanently damage or destroy the
organization.
Types of Crises
Intentional

4. Terrorism
Sabotage
Workplace violence
Poor employee relationships
Poor risk management
Unethical leadership
Unintentional
Natural disasters
Disease outbreaks
Unforeseeable technical interactions
Product failure
Downturns in the economy
Types of Crises
Intentional
Terrorism
Sabotage
Workplace violence
Poor employee relationships
Poor risk management
Unethical leadership
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/dec/10/volkswagen
-emissions-scandal-systematic-failures-hans-dieter-potsch
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/us/chicago-cps-teachers-
strike.html
Types of Crises
Unintentional
Natural disasters
Disease outbreaks

5. Unforeseeable technical interactions
Product failure
Downturns in the economy
Misconceptions Associated with Crisis and Communication
Crises build character – No, they expose it and values
Crises do not have any positive value – No, they can possess
both threat and opportunity
Crisis communication is about determining responsibility and
blame – Focus should be on setting a vision for moving forward,
learning, and creating meaning
CC is about getting information out to stakeholders - No prefab
messages, listen and adapt to stakeholder concerns
CC involves taking rigid and defensive stances – The more
flexible, the better able to respond
Misconceptions Associated with Crisis and Communication
CC about enacting elaborate prefabricated crisis plans – Plans
are good, but the best predictor is strong relationship with
stakeholders.
CC is about over-reassuring the public to avoid panic – Over-
reassurance may kill credibility
CC is about communicating only when new information is
available – Effective CC is about being open and accessible
CC is about managing the image or reputation of an
organization – Effective CC is about finding solutions AND
lessening impact on those affected
CC involves “Spinning” the facts surrounding the crisis – Spin
only makes things worse and makes the communicator look
unethical
Summary

6. Crisis Communication is important
Defined as unexpected, non-routine, creates uncertainty and
opportunities, and represents a threat
Types are intentional and unintentional
10 Misconceptions
Effective Crisis Communication
Chapter 5 – 10 Lessons on Managing Crisis Uncertainty
Effectively
Ulmer, R., Sellnow, T., and Seeger, M. (2019). Effective crisis
communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity. Sage
Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA.
Defining Uncertainty
Uncertainty – The inability to predict the future.
Lack of Information
Complexity of Information
Quality of Information
Crises create EPISTEMOLOGICAL and ONTOLOGICAL
uncertainty.
Epistemological – Uncertainty from lack of knowledge.
Ontological – Uncertainty from a new future created by crisis –
The future has little to no relationship with the past.
Lessons 1 - 3
Crises Can Start Quickly and Unexpectedly
Shouldn’t respond with routine solutions
The threat is perceptual

7. Lesson 4
Communicate Early and Often Regardless of Having
Information or Not!
Because of uncertainty, accurate info is not there for
stakeholders.
Effective strategies include making a list of potential questions.
What happened?
Who is responsible?
Why did it happen?
Who is affected?
What should we do?
Who can we trust?
What should we say?
How should we say it?
Lesson 5
Ethical Ambiguity During Crises
Organizations should not purposely heighten the ambiguity of a
crisis to deceive or distract the public
Ambiguity is “an ongoing stream that supports several different
interpretations at the same time”, Weick (1995)
Ethical when – uses unbiased data to inform and contribute to
the complete understanding
Unethical when – using biased or incomplete information to
deceive
Lesson 6
Be prepared to defend your interpretation of the evidence
surrounding a crisis
Lesson 7
Without good intentions prior to a crisis, recovery is difficult or
impossible
Questions of Evidence

8. Questions of Intent
Questions of Responsibility
Lesson 8
If you believe you are not responsible, you need to build a case
for who is
Lesson 9
Organizations need to prepare through simulations and training
Crises thrust people into unfamiliar roles.
Crisis demands can bring structures to their knees.
Organizations should train and prepare for crises.
Lesson 10
Crises challenge the way organizations think about and conduct
their business
Crises create “Cosmology Episodes” – disorienting experiences
in which beliefs and sensemaking structures are hampered.
Weick (1993)
They can change how we think about the world.
Organizations and Stakeholders need information to reduce
uncertainty.
Organizations in crisis often stonewall
Stakeholders are left wondering if they will get information
needed to protect themselves
Media speculates
Effective Crisis Communication
Chapter 2 Understanding Theory and Practice
Ulmer, R., Sellnow, T., and Seeger, M. (2019). Effective crisis
communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity. Sage
Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA.

9. The Development of Theories
Psychological Theories – help us understand how people
cognitively perceive and respond
Sociology – how to conduct community evacuations
Business – how the role of organizational structures apply
Mathematics & Physics – provide chaos and complexity theories
Political Science
Communication
Media Development Theories
News Framing Theory
Focusing Events
Crisis News Diffusion
Exemplification Theory
News Framing Theory
Reporters and Editors Choose news, approaches, and
presentation (Gatekeeping)
Framing influences the public’s perception positively or
negatively
If an organization is passive, then competitors will attempt to
tip coverage.
710KEEL news story about a Caddo Parish bus driver losing her
cool and dressing down - sometimes in a loud and profane
manner - a bus filled with elementary school age students -
presents the opportunity for news framing

10. https://710keel.com/keel-listeners-say-hooray-for-the-bus-
driver/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Focusing Events
Agenda Setting Theory
4 Attributes
Occur suddenly
Rare
Garner large scale attention
The public and policy makers prioritize them
Crisis News Diffusion
Seeks to understand how and when people receive information
about crises.
Includes all channels of communication (TV, Print, Social
Media, Internet, and F2F)
Looks at accuracy and expediency
1963 9/10 knew JFK was shot within 1 hour – Today it is faster
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/largest
-study-ever-fake-news-mit-twitter/555104/
Exemplification Theory
Exemplars are short , vivid, and emotionally arousing visual,
written, or spoken messages.
Theory provides insight into how emotional reactions are
communicated and remembered over time.

11. Simply referring to a product with an exemplar can cause a
reputational crisis.
https://www.npr.org/2019/07/05/738938037/police-identify-the-
blue-bell-licker-in-viral-video
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Blue-Bell-
faces-another-consumer-crisis-amid-14083986.php
Organizational Crisis Communication Theories
Corporate Apologia
Image Repair Theory
Situational Crisis Theory
Discourse Renewal Theory
Corporate Apologia
Not exactly an “Apology” but a response
Seeks to present a competing account of accusations against the
organization
Potential Apologia Strategies
Denial
Counterattack
Differentiation
Apology
Legal

12. Image Repair Theory
Image refers to how the organization is perceived by
stakeholders and public
Must understand the nature of the attack/complaints
“Organization must be held accountable”
“The action must be considered offensive”
Benoit has 14 management strategies
Top 5
Denial
Evasion of responsibility
Reducing (Mitigating) offensiveness of the event
Corrective action
Mortification
Situational Crisis Theory
Analyzes threat level and suggests response based on level of
threat
Strategies are used based on
Crisis type
Crisis history
Prior reputation
4 approaches
Denial
Diminishment
Rebuilding
Bolstering
Discourse Renewal Theory
Rebuilding, learning, and opportunity are more important than
reputation or image.
Theoretical Components
Organizational Learning

13. Ethical Communication
Prospective vs Retrospective Vision
Effective Organizational Rhetoric
Threat Bias
Corporations and organizations often lean toward viewing crises
only as a threat.
Leads to defensive and manipulative responses
Should consider both the threat AND the opportunity
Summary
Media Development Theories
Organizational Crisis Communication Theories
Beware of Threat Bias
Effective Crisis Communication
Chapter 3 Lessons on Effective Crisis Communication
Ulmer, R., Sellnow, T., and Seeger, M. (2019). Effective crisis
communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity. Sage
Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA.
Lesson 1 Determining your Goals
Often broad statements that help guide
Could be to reduce the impact of the crisis
Keep the organization’s image intact or maintain customers
Helps reduce uncertainty during crises
Linking to organizational values helps harmonize
Important to determine, rank, and identify potential obstacles to
goals.

14. Lesson 2
Develop True, Equal Partnerships with Organizations and
Groups that are important…
Partnerships defined “Equal communication relationships with
groups or organizations that have an impact on an organization”
Established through honest and open dialogue
Partners may be advocates for or antagonists against
Effective partnering begins before crisis occurs.
Establish relationships with stakeholders before!
Lesson 3
Acknowledge your stakeholders as partners when managing
crises
Stakeholders are external and internal groups that can have an
impact.
Effective strategies include making a list of potential
stakeholders.
Employees
Competitors
Creditors
Consumers
Government Agencies
Community
Activist Groups
Media
Lesson 4
Develop Strong, Positive Relationships with Primary and
Secondary Stakeholders
Primary – Those most important to success and interact with

15. most often.
Secondary – Key groups that do not play an active role but are
still important to success.
Types
Positive – Both listen, understand, and communicate with each
other
Negative – Antagonistic relationship, not open to listening or
communicating
Ambivalent – No true partnership, each work with each other,
but no one listens
Nonexistent – Organization is not aware of stakeholder and does
not communicate
Lesson 4
Develop Strong, Positive Relationships with Primary and
Secondary Stakeholders
Communicating with underrepresented groups
Culture-Neutral Approach: Everyone acts on and accesses CC
information in similar manners.
Problem - Not everyone had a car to evacuate Hurricane Katrina
Culturally-Sensitive Approach: Messages should be tailored to
the cultural characteristics of groups.
Person, Place, Time, Occasion, Literacy Level, and Message to
name a few
Culturally-Centered Approach: Most appropriate – Includes
underrepresented groups in the process.
Means partnerships must happen.
Lesson 5
Effective CC means listening to stakeholders
First mistake is to attempt to engineer consent through spi n.
Get the information out, but then make time to listen to
concerns.
Public Information Sessions

16. Q&A
Public meetings can become difficult.
Vocalized anger must be acknowledged and legitimized.
Once you have listened, then determine which audiences to
focus on and how to address their concerns.
Lesson 6
Communicate early, Acknowledge uncertainty, Assure the
public you will keep communicating
Communicate Early and Often
Be first and get out in front.
Social media has made this easier.
Don’t be perceived as stonewalling.
Identify the Causes of the Crisis
Decreases uncertainty.
Causes may be unknown.
In big crises media and negative stakeholders may speculate and
blame.
Contact all affected with compassion, concern, and empathy.
Determine Current and Future Risks
Lesson 7
Avoid Absolutes or Language of Certainty
Provide clear and consistent messaging as early as possible
If you speak to quickly and with too much certainty you may
have to retract.
Initial statements may need appropriate and honest ambiguity.
In the beginning, the facts often aren’t clear.
“We don’t know at this point…”
“but this is what we are doing at this point…”
“this is when we expect to know”
Lesson 8

17. Do not OVERreassure stakeholders about risks and impact
The common misconception is that people will panic.
If the public believe they are being misled, they will lose faith.
The perception of threat will rise.
“The condition most conducive to panic isn’t bad news; it is
conflicting messages from those in authority” (p. 41).
Lesson 9
The public needs practical, useful information to protect
themselves
The public looks for information to help protect themselves.
CC should give minimum, medium, and maximum responses for
self-protection.
Messages should be accurate, useful, and instructive .
Your text still recommends avoiding absolutes.
Lesson 10
Effective CC acknowledge that positive factors can arise from
organizational crises
When orgs consider the positive, they are better able to move
beyond the event.
Too often orgs attempt to alleviate responsibility or shift blame.
Also frame crises as tragedies for the org and its members.
7 potential positives
Heroes are born.
Change is accelerated.
Latent problems are faced.
People are changed.
New strategies evolve.
Early warning systems develop.
New competitive advantages appear.

18. Effective Crisis Communication
Chapter 7 Lessons on Effective Crisis Leadership
Ulmer, R., Sellnow, T., and Seeger, M. (2019). Effective crisis
communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity. Sage
Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA.
Lesson 1 Effective Crisis Leadership is Critical
Business, political, religious, or social, we look to our leaders.
Leadership involves times of “Crisis, Change, and Innovation”
Leadership Characteristics
Leadership is a process – ongoing and changing
Leadership involves influencing follower behavior and
perceptions
Leadership occurs in groups, organizations or community
contexts
Leadership is directed toward important goals and outcomes
Lesson 2
Leaders Should be Visible During a Crisis
Tendency is to withdraw and circle the wagons – Media
spotlight can be hot
Doing so creates more uncertainty and suspicion
Should be visible to employees, community and media
Oversee responses and help others cope
Explain what is happening, create understanding, and show
others how to respond moving forward
Strategies
Recognize you must face the media
If you are open, honest and courteous, reporters will respond
the same
Be sure to express concern and empathy for those harmed by the

19. crisis
Lesson 3
Leaders Should Develop a Positive Company Reputation During
Normal Times to Build a Reservoir of Goodwill
85% of consumers have a more positive image of a product or
company when it supports a charity, they care about
83% of Americans wish more of the products and services they
use would support charities
80% of Americans are likely to switch brands (equal in quality
and price), to the one that supports a charity
Supporting charities is the most trusted activity that makes a
huge difference in how your business is viewed
Consumers view responsible brands as trustworthy and ethical,
and they’re more willing to give money to the companies they
trust
https://www.mageworx.com/blog/donations-benefit-for-
ecommerce/
Goodwill can be built through charitable activity.
4
Lesson 4
Leaders Should be Open and Honest Following a Crisis
Can be difficult, especially if the organization has done wrong
Attorneys will caution – Statements can be used against the
organization
Failure to be open and honest can make things worse
Media is more aggressive
Public becomes more suspicious
Negative stakeholders gain
Lesson 5

20. Leaders Who Are Successful in Crises May Create
Opportunities for Renewal
Opportunity to change fundamental operations and activities
Rebuild facilities and modernize
Increase visibility of the organization
Emerge leaner, stronger, and more profitable
Lesson 6
Leaders Should Cooperate with Stakeholders During Crises and
Work to Build Consensus
Remember from Chapter 3, Primary and Secondary Stakeholder
Relationships or Partnerships can be:
Positive
Ambivalent
Nonexistent
Negative
Lesson 7
Poor Leadership (Cover-ups, Denials, etc…) Can Make a Crisis
Worse
Denial, Cover-up, or blame shifting can cause more damage
Failure to act
Fails to fix the problem
Shows lack of care and only concern for profits
Portrays avoiding blame as a key issue
Lesson 8
Leaders Must Adapt Their Styles and Contingencies During
Crises
Examples of Leadership Styles
Contingency Leadership
Authoritarian Leadership

21. Transformational Leadership
Lesson 9
A Virtuous Response By Leaders May Be The Most Effective in
Generating Support and Renewal
Virtues – A predisposition to act in a positive or ethical way
Commitment to do the right thing
Generates more support from stakeholders
Makes organization more defensible
Enhances the organization’s reputation
Can help a company to renew itself
Lesson 10
Leaders Have Specific Communication Obligations & Duties for
Managing AND Learning from Crises
Must Communicate Effectively.
Many CEO’s undergo media training.
6 Principles of STARCC
Simple messages
Timely messages
Accuracy
Relevant
Credible
Consistent
Don’t let the media push you into answers
Express concern for any harmed
Avoid “No comment”
If you don’t have the answer, admit it, but explain you are
working to find the answer
Don’t speak with certainty unless you know ALL of the facts
If uncertain, use phrases like “We don’t have all the facts yet”
or “The situation is evolving”
DO NOT HESITATE to involve others on the crisis team when
you don’t know the answer

22. References
Yantsan, E. (2020). 5 ways supporting charities can benefit your
business. Retrieved from
https://www.mageworx.com/blog/donations-benefit-for-
ecommerce/
Effective Crisis Communication
Chapter 12
Facilitating Renewal Through Effective crisis Communication
Ulmer, R., Sellnow, T., and Seeger, M. (2019). Effective crisis
communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity. Sage
Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA.
Theoretical Elements Related to the Discourse of Renewal
Organizational Learning (Behavioral, Paradigmatic, Systemic)
Ethical, value-based communication
Prospective rather than retrospective vision following the crisis
Engaged organizational rhetoric
Opportunity #1: Organizations that base their crisis
communication on strong, positive organizational values are

23. more likely to experience renewal
Provisional Crisis Communication
Grounded in current conditions, focused on learning/moving
forward
Strategic Crisis Communication
Employs spin to protect the organizatio n’s image
Opportunity #2: Organizations that make significant choice a
priority in their crisis communication are more likely to
experience renewal
Significant choice is an important ethical standard
Communication of essential information from the perspective of
what is known and what is not known
Involves openness, transparency and avoiding misleading
statements or overly reassuring people
Opportunity #3: Organizations that focus on moving beyond
crises rather than escaping blame are more likely to experience
renewal
Focus communication strategies on building for the future
Direct energy toward moving forward

24. Opportunity #4 Organizations that offer compelling stories and
visions for the future can motivate stakeholders to work toward
renewal
Organizational rhetoric draws attention to issues and concerns
in the organization’s environment
Focuses on issues of persuasion and identification
Compelling stories can serve as a rallying point for stakeholders
to achieve renewal
Summary
Opportunity 1 – Organizations that base their crisis
communication on strong, positive organizational values are
more likely to experience renewal
Opportunity 2 – Organizations that make significant choice a
priority in their crisis communication are more likely to
experience renewal
Opportunity 3 – Organizations that focus on moving beyond
crises rather than escaping blame are more likely to experience
renewal
Opportunity 4 – Organizations that offer compelling stories and
visions for the future can motivate stakeholders to work toward
renewal
Effective Crisis Communication
Chapter 11
Responding to the Ethical Demands of Crisis
Ulmer, R., Sellnow, T., and Seeger, M. (2019). Effective crisis
communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity. Sage
Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA.

25. ETHICS – Right and Wrong
Ethical judgments are based on specific values we have learned.
Help inform our behaviors and choices
Not easy to make ethical judgments
Decisions are complicated
Values and morals are not universal
Situational
Corporations as moral agents
Big debate: We often look at individuals acting moral or
immoral – Can we look at corporations the same way?
When organizations do wrong, it must be traced back to the
responsible individual.
Is the “responsible individual” just a scapegoat allowing the
corporation escape?
Both should be held accountable?

26. Principle IV of the Nuremberg
“The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his
Government or of a superior does not relieve him from
responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice
was in fact possible to him.”
International Committee of the Red Cross. (n.d.). Principles of
International Law Recognized in the Charter of the Nüremberg
Tribunal and in the Judgment of the Tribunal, 1950. Retrieved
from https://ihl-
databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/Treaty.xsp?action=openDoc
ument&documentId=854DDAACFDE285E4C12563CD002D6B9
5
Values and Crisis
Values are the larger lesson we have learned that inform our
attitudes, beliefs, and ethical judgments.
PRSA – “Advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty,
and fairness”.
Not everyone agrees on the same set of values for the same
situation.
Flint, MI debate was between public health and cost.
Crisis creates the need to balance competing values.
Crisis creates victims
Crisis disproportionally hits those already vulnerable
Leads to 3 ethical standards – Responsibility & accountability,
access to information, and the ethics of humanistic care.

27. Opportunity #1: Responsibility & Accountability
Responsibility – broad, ethical concept stating individuals and
groups have moral duties to others.
Responsibility also deals with causation.
Accepting responsibility for actions is ethical.
Includes taking action to help victims, provide support and
resources, alleviating and containing harm.
Avoiding or denying responsibility for actions is unethical.
Includes denying harm occurred, shifting blame, refusing to
help victims on the grounds it may increase liability.
Ethical responsibility before crisis occurs.
Make good decisions
Maintain equipment
Proper training
Monitor for warning signs
Communicate realistically about risks
Opportunity #2: Access to Information Means Openness and
Honesty
Ethical obligation to provide people with information so they
can make informed choices.
Lies, omission, delay are all unethical.
Reputation of honesty before crises aids in trust.
Opportunity #3: Organizations that care before a crisis are those
better able to enact values during a crisis
Humanism is about the uniqueness and inherent worth of human
beings.
Requires organizations to be sensitive to the harm they can

28. cause to others. Ethical duty to avoid harm and support others
when harm happens.
The Good Samaritan.
Crisis creates the opportunity for organization and people to
respond ethically and in a caring way.
The 1st obligation in crisis is to help.
Opportunity #4 Organizations with core values will be better
able to respond to crisis.
Consider the organization’s core values when responding.
Establish a practice of Virtue Ethics – those who respond will
act out of habit.
A reservoir of goodwill means a positive reputation.
Summary
Opportunity 1 – Organizations are better able to respond if they
accept responsibility for their actions.
Opportunity 2 – Organizations who are open and honest are
better prepared to manage and recover from crisis events.
Opportunity 3 – Organizations who make humanism a priority
before crisis are better prepared for enacting these values during
crisis.
Opportunity 4 – Organizations with a reservoir of goodwill and
habits of core ethical values will be better prepared to handle
crisis ethically.