Deck 17: Crisis Management

Question 1

The speed of the Internet and the pervasiveness of social media and viral communications mean people and companies are

A) more visible.
B) a blink away from real or faux crisis.
C) less vulnerable.
D) more glamorous.

Answer 1

a blink away from real or faux crisis.

Question 2

What Warner Brothers movie's public relations team hand to manage a crisis after a gunman opened fire at its premiere in Aurora, CO?

A) The Dark Knight Rises
B) Gangster Squad
C) Argo
D) The Great Gatsby

Answer 2

The Dark Knight Rises

Question 3

To ________, crisis is "unplanned visibility."

A) Lance Armstrong
B) Edward Bernays
C) W. Howard Chase
D) James Lukaszewaski

Answer 3

James Lukaszewaski

Question 4

In the 21^st century, among the highest-paid, most well-regarded public relations practitioners are those who attempt to manage

A) investor relations.
B) community relations.
C) crises.
D) media relations.

Question 5

Exponential expansion of the number and depth of crises affecting various institutions and prominent people in American society has occurred because of all the following EXCEPT

A) talk radio.
B) balanced and objective journalism.
C) 24/7 cable news and commentary.
D) instantaneous Internet communication.

Question 6

Which element of society is NOT listed as having endured a poorly-handled crisis in the 21^st Century?

A) government
B) journalism
C) Hollywood
D) religion

Question 7

Who is credited with coining the term issues management?

A) W. Howard Chase
B) James Lukaszewski
C) Richard Scrushy
D) Hillard Fleishman

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT an element of issues management?

A) Anticipate emerging issues.
B) Deal with opportunities and vulnerabilities.
C) Complete a costs-benefits analysis.
D) Plan from the outside in.

Question 9

In a summary of the goals of issues management which of the following would NOT be included?

A) to help reduce risk
B) to help reduce organizational assets
C) to help manage image
D) to help preserve markets

Question 10

Issues management does NOT encompass which of the following?

A) anticipating emerging issues
B) identifying issue selectively
C) bottom-line orientation
D) assault of the dominant coalition

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT key to effective issues management?

A) evaluating costs solely in dollars without recognizing impact on reputation
B) anticipating issues before they arise
C) operating with consent of top management
D) dealing with vulnerabilities and opportunities

Question 12

Research findings that are important to consider in developing a risk communication strategy include all the following EXCEPT

A) when stressed, a person's ability to hear, understand, and remember decreases.
B) when stressed, people miss up to 80 percent of message content.
C) of the 20 percent that people hear, most content is negative.
D) when stressed, a person's ability to hear, understand, and remember increases.

Question 13

Risk communicators have developed a seven-step process to devise messages called

A) message ideation.
B) message assessment.
C) message mapping.
D) message management.

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT a standard requirement for message maps?

A) three key messages
B) seven to 12 words in a message
C) twelve to 17 words in a message
D) three supporting facts for each key message

Question 15

Message maps generally adhere to all of the following standard requirements EXCEPT:

A) three key messages
B) seven to 12 words per message
C) three supporting facts for each key message
D) three media outlets per message

Question 16

Which of the following is NOT a warning sign of a crisis?

A) surprise
B) insufficient information
C) escalating events
D) decreased outside scrutiny

Question 17

Which of the following is one of the five planning issues associated with heightened crisis preparedness?

A) Define the risk for each potentially impacted audience.
B) Describe the actions that might mitigate the risk for each risk defined.
C) Identify the cause of the risk.
D) All of the above

Question 18

Which of the following does most public relations professionals consider the cardinal rule for communications during a crisis?

A) Apologize.
B) Say, "No comment."
C) Tell it all and tell it fast.
D) Use an inexperienced spokesperson.

Question 19

Based on the definition of a crisis provided in the Harvard Business Review, when one occurs, you should

A) provide dramatic, even extraordinary, intervention.
B) identify the stakeholders.
C) analyze concerns.
D) ask outside experts to assist you.

Question 20

If a crisis occurs, typically you will encounter

A) a siege mentality, especially amplified by your legal advisors.
B) a sense of calm heretofore unknown.
C) masses of information.
D) increased internal scrutiny.

Question 21

In a crisis, which of the following is NOT likely to be a behavior of most reporters?

A) to point a finger
B) to be empathetic
C) to ascribe blame
D) to fulfill their role as a guardian of the public trust

Question 22

The first planning issue in preparing how to handle a crisis is to

A) describe the actions that mitigate the risk.
B) identify the cause of the risk.
C) define the risk for each likely affected audience.
D) demonstrate responsible management action.

Question 23

The most essential step in planning how to handle a crisis is to

A) identify the cause of the risk.
B) describe actions that mitigate the risk.
C) create a consistent message.
D) demonstrate responsible management action.

Question 24

In contrast to advice lawyers typically offer about a crisis, public relations people would advise that you

A) tell as little as possible as often as possible.
B) simply say nothing, especially why you are saying nothing.
C) provide prompt, frank, and full information.
D) speculate so the media have something substantive for their deadline.

Question 25

Research by the public relations agency Porter Novelli about communicating in a crisis indicates that

A) like fish that's a day old, a delayed response is likely to disturb media.
B) upwards of 65 percent of people hear "no comment" in a crisis and figure the person or organization is guilty.
C) most public relations people advise management to wait until things simmer down before responding.
D) adding a little emotion to your response is okay.

Question 26

The uncomplicated goals of crisis management include all of the following EXCEPT

A) Terminate the crisis quickly.
B) Limit damage.
C) Build a case for who or what was to blame.
D) Restore credibility.

Question 27

A crisis means that in dealing with media, you must establish "battlefield rules" that include all EXCEPT which of the following?

A) Establish gatekeeper headquarters.
B) Speculate even if it hurts.
C) Feed the media beast with verifiable numbers and information.
D) Try to find something that allows them to advance the story.

Question 28

Paramount in all advice offered about handling media in a crisis, above all else

A) never, never lie.
B) softly make your point once and move on.
C) engage the media in a battle, even war, so they know who's in charge.
D) go off the record.

Question 29

In no small measure the Internet and social media force people and organizations to have savvy crisis management counsel.

Question 30

Changes in technology and attitudes among traditional and nontraditional journalists and commentators have exponentially expanded the communications challenges facing people and institutions.

Question 31

Given the numbers and depth of scandals in government, politics, business, education, religion, and even in charitable institutions, the issues management domain is more important.

Question 32

Analyzing and limiting the impact identified issues may have on a person or organization is one of the five steps in the issues management process.

Question 33

Anticipating emerging issues is really part of pre-crisis planning more than of crisis planning itself.

Question 34

To do risk management well, you must have empathy for people whose intense emotions typically arise because they don't fully know or understand the science that underlies the potential impact of your organization's actions.

Question 35

The term crisis is associated with a major accident or disaster.

Question 36

Responsible management of a crisis can pay either dividends or be quite costly for years to come as the commissioner of Major League Baseball, and CEOs of Johnson & Johnson and Exxon would attest.

Question 37

Despite all the preparation, there still is an element of surprise and even a loss of control that practitioners will likely encounter as they try to manage a crisis.

Question 38

Heightened preparedness for a crisis includes defining the risks and describing actions to mitigate them.

Question 39

Because lawyers operate primarily in a court of public opinion, they have learned that in a crisis, it is best to quietly say as little as possible as soon as possible.

Question 40

Generally, in a crisis, when public relations people respond intelligently and quickly with honest information, rumors usually stop.

Question 41

In a crisis, public relations practitioners may like to think of media as friendly adversaries, but they must anticipate a "feeding frenzy"
and adopt "battlefield rules."

Question 42

Even though media may have a "box score"
mentality in covering a crisis, a public relations practitioner should avoid speculation.

Question 43

In simple terms, successful communications tactics in a crisis revolve around keeping to the facts, being open and concerned but not defensive, and maintaining credibility.

Question 44

During a crisis, it is important to create a vacuum of information. If you feed the media beast, the crisis will last longer.

Question 45

Being defensive is a good way to set boundaries for the media.

Question 46

The rule of thumb during a crisis is to communicate well with mainstream media and monitor social media 24/7.

Question 47

Some companies use a dark website which becomes live and contains relevant information for the outside world when a crisis strikes.

Question 48

Name some of the communications phenomena that currently affect the need to manage crisis.

Question 49

According to W. Howard Chase who coined the term, what is issues management?

Question 50

By following the definition for a crisis provided in the Harvard Business Review, what should you expect or do?

Question 51

What advice do lawyers typically offer regarding how to communicate a crisis?

Question 52

To be prepared for a crisis, what five planning issues would you consider?

Question 53

What is the point of a dark website? How is it used?