Exam 12: Issues and Crises

In issues management, the underlying purpose of __________ is to prevent negative outcomes and encourage beneficial ones. For example, Patagonia engages in and communicates about a range of what it calls "due diligence activities" to ensure fair labor practices and environmental responsibility. Patagonia publishes and abides by a strict code of conduct for suppliers, participates in Social and Environmental Responsibility (SER) audits, and publishes a complete list of factories that make Patagonia products on its web site.

Prior to the rise of social media, crisis managers talked about the importance of _________, the first few hours after a surprise crisis breaks when an organization has its best opportunity to get out ahead of crisis communication with accurate information. With social media, that opportunity has been reduced to minutes or even seconds.

In the life cycle of an issue, the stage when the organization has no choice but to accept the long-term consequences is known as the ___________ stage.

When New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was first charged with soliciting prostitution at a spa that was suspected of human trafficking, his representatives chose the _____________ strategy as his initial response. That changed a few weeks later, though, after evidence of his involvement became more public.

Barry is a vice president of public relations for a leading PR and digital marketing firm. He has learned that social media have transformed the nature of crisis communications. News, and misinformation in particular, now travels at the speed of light. Through social media, organizations are able to communicate with their most important publics in real time. But more important, organizations now have an opportunity to use social media to __________ their audiences and publics in a time of crisis.

In order to manage issues, public relations professionals must first _________.

The battery in Samsung's new smartphone is reported to explode and cause serious personal injury and property damage. Addison is assigned the responsibility of repairing the damage to the brand and rebuilding Samsung's reputation to avoid a significant threat to the company's future. This is an example of the PR management of __________.

When Target experienced a credit card breach, it wrote to the owners of about 40 million credit and debit card accounts to explain the situation and to offer one year of free credit monitoring services. While the company did not apologize, it did offer _____________.

When investigating an active E. coli outbreak in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control released a report that linked 53 illnesses in nine states, with 47 people who said they had eaten at a Chipotle restaurant. Twenty people were hospitalized. Chipotle was then criticized by some for paying more attention to GMO (genetically modified organism) issues than the more immediate issue of restaurant food-safety procedures. A big part of the "management" in "issues management" is deciding which issues require resources and when. This tactic is known as ___________.

A video of Domino's employees "tampering" with pizzas and joking about it went viral. The video received almost 1 million views before it was taken down. Domino's CEO, Patrick Doyle, posted his own YouTube video: a formal apology stating, "We sincerely apologize for this incident." Based on its impersonal delivery, the company received mixed reviews for the apology, otherwise known as ___________.

Reminding people of all the good things your organization has done in the past is one way to reinforce a relationship during or following a crisis. In PR, this is called __________.

Jacob is the head engineer for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. As the conducting expert on a collision crash test, his team noted that the gas tank located in rear of the Chevy Vega sometimes exploded on impact, which was not previously known or expected. He alerted General Motors, who makes the Vega, of the problem. At this point, General Motors has a _____________.

When Dave Carroll saw his $3,500 Taylor guitar being tossed around by baggage handlers at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, he spent nine months trying to reach an acceptable resolution with the airline. Carroll published a video on YouTube called "United Breaks Guitars" that earned more than 19 million views, and United coincidentally saw a $180 million drop in market valuation. This example illustrates _____________.

Bentley has just started a job at a PR agency where his main client is a local craft brewer. Bentley's father is the in-house PR professional at a competitor brewery. Bentley should disclose this coincidence to his supervisor to avoid _______________.

Tim Coombs defines _____________ crisis as "a significant threat to organizational operations or reputations that can have negative consequences for stakeholders and/or the organization if not handled properly."

Gwendolyn received a call from a reporter wanting an official statement about the rising number of negative comments on Facebook about her company's product. Gwendolyn's company is likely in the ____________ stage of managing the issue.

The Atlanta-area school systems received media attention for low scores on national standardized tests. They questioned the validity of the tests, claimed that the school system is under-resourced compared with that of other states, and focused on how hard teachers are working with so little compensation. This is an example of what crisis response strategy?

In a mechanical failure that caused a subway delay for four hours, commuters were understandably upset with the Mass Transit Authority. However, riders labelled the source of the crisis as _________, so the amount of responsibility they attributed to the Mass Transit Authority was relatively low.

Chipotle co-CEO Monty Moran turned to ________ when he blamed the CDC for the intensity of its E. coli crisis by saying that it was "fueled by the sort of unusual and even unorthodox way the CDC has chosen to announce cases related to the original outbreak."

As Carly is planning communication to publics affected by her company's crisis, she is considering how her publics consume information. Carly is planning a diverse communication approach to cover those who follow the company on social media, and the ______________, who she will need to reach through traditional media and offline word of mouth.