Southern Cross University: Crisis Management Plan for MnM Company

This report analyzes the importance of a crisis management plan for MnM Company, emphasizing its role in enhancing employee safety, improving public relations, and preventing reputational damage. It identifies characteristics of crises, such as the element of surprise and insufficient information, and discusses various crisis management strategies, including proactive, responsive, and recovery approaches. The report highlights the importance of communication, anticipation, and employee perspective in handling crises effectively. By implementing a comprehensive crisis management plan, MnM Company can mitigate negative impacts, maintain profitability, and ensure long-term success.

SOUTHERN CROSS UNIVERSITY
ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET
For use with online submission of assignments
Please complete all of the following details and then make this sheet the first page of
each file of your assignment – do not send it as a separate document.
Your assignments must be submitted as either Word documents, text documents
with .rtf extension or as .pdf documents. If you wish to submit in any other file
format please discuss this with your lecturer well before the assignment submission
date.
Student Names: John Smith (Student No.)
Yu Yan (Student No.)
Akshay Kumar (Student No.)
Vilma Santos (Student No.)
Unit Name:
Unit Code:

Tutor’s name:
Assignment No.:
Assignment Title:
Due date:
Date submitted:
Declaration:
We have read and understand the Rules Relating to Awards (Rule 3
Section 18 – Academic Misconduct Including Plagiarism) as contained
in the SCU Policy Library. We understand the penalties that apply for
plagiarism and agree to be bound by these rules. The work we are
submitting electronically is entirely our own work.
Signed:
(please type
your
names)
Date:

Title of Report
Title of Report
Submitted to (name of your facilitator)
Written by (list all students’ names and student numbers in the same order as in the
Table of Contents)
Date
1

Title of Report
Executive Summary
The report has thrown light on identifying the different kinds of crisis which can be affecting
the growth of the company in a negative manner. however, with the introduction of the
different kinds of strategies, it can prove to be beneficial for the growth of the company along
with improving the overall scenario of the workplace. The different kinds of crisis
management plan are required to be identified as it will be beneficial in improving the
scenario of the workplace positively.
2

Title of Report
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Characteristics of Crisis in Workplace.......................................................................................2
Overview of Crisis Management...............................................................................................3
Importance of Crisis Management Plan at MnM Company......................................................4
Types of Crisis Management Incorporated by MnM Company................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7
3

Title of Report
Introduction
The report throws light on analyzing the importance of crisis management plan which
will be helpful in increasing the safety as well as well-being of the different employees
working in the organizations. Furthermore, the crisis management plan will be helpful in
improving public relations and it will be preventing the tarnishing of the reputation. It
minimizes the downtime along with increasing the productivity of the company. In case of
MnM, the crisis management related activities need to be addressed appropriately which will
be helpful for responding to the different unexpected changes in a proper manner.
Characteristics of Crisis in Workplace
Firstly, there are different kinds of crisis such as technological or financial crisis that
can affect the overall efficiency of the organization. The main characteristics of the crisis of
the MnM Company includes the following:
It is the element of surprise as the crisis does not come up with a warning and it can
affect the overall profitability of the firm in a negative manner as well. The managers of the
company are not aware of the handling the crisis situation and due to lack of accountability, it
can affect the trust of customers from the company in different other situations as well
(Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger 2017).
Insufficient Information is the other crisis in which the companies do not gain any
kind of knowledge relating to the crisis which will be taking place. Moreover, the sudden
crisis is unexpected and it has the potential to generate extremely negative results in the
market as well (Theaker 2016).
4

Title of Report
Quick Pace of Events- Due to the sudden types of crisis which takes place in the
organizations, there is high degree of instability which causes the negative brand image of the
company in the market and there is no time to manage the change and it creates negative
impact on the company as a whole (Qrunig and Qrunig 2016).
Intense Scrutiny- Most of the times, it has been noticed that there is no scrutiny done
by the managers in the organizations which leads to perceived failure of the leadership which
is followed in the company (Lachlan et al. 2016). There can be different kinds of hacking
issues such as online data theft that can affect the growth and brand reputation of the
company negatively.
Overview of Crisis Management
As commented by Fearn-Banks (2016), the crisis management is the framework by
which the different companies deal with the different disruptive along with unexpected events
which threatens in order to harm the company or the stakeholders associated with the
company as well. The crisis or the disasters should be improved by the companies which will
improve the overall success of the company and it will improve the public relations and it
helps in maintaining long term success of the company as well. Moreover, as commented by
Doorley and Garcia (2015), the crisis management strategy is the corporate development
strategy which can be designed by the companies to prevent crisis to follow up the
advancement of the companies.
For instance- Samsung has faced the technological crisis in the organization wherein
the Samsung Galaxy S7 note which was explosive situation for the company. Due to the
technical fault of the engineers of Samsung, the company faced huge crisis which was sudden
and it affected the brand reputation of the company in a negative manner. The impact of the
5

Title of Report
crisis was felt keenly by Samsung which affected the overall brand image in a negative
manner.
However, from the overall scenario of mishap which was taken place at Samsung, it
can be identified that the company has taken different steps wherein they implemented the
large-scale recall of the faulty S7 notes and it helped the company in solving the situation
appropriately as well. In such scenario of the sudden crisis which was faced by Samsung, the
company tried to replace the handsets with the other handsets for the safety of the individuals.
From the respective instance, it can be analyzed that the sudden technological crisis of
Samsung affected the growth of the company, however the company addressed the crisis
tactfully and they maintained the level of profitability in the market in a proper manner.
Importance of Crisis Management Plan at MnM Company
Communication is the most appropriate aspect which should be considered to be the
most superior way of tacking the sudden crisis in the organizations. The character and
integrity of the organizations are dependent on the perception of the responses during crisis
situation and it helps in managing the process appropriately. In the MnM Company, there are
different kinds of steps which can be followed by the managers of the company to handle the
crisis in an effective manner.
Firstly, anticipating the crisis is the first and foremost aspect such as proactiveness is
necessary and essential as it will be helpful in adopting a focused approach to understand the
places the things can go wrong. Identification of the problem areas along with devising the
appropriate strategies to overcome the issue in a proper manner (Coombs, Holladay and
Tachkova 2017).
6

Title of Report
Secondly, employees are required to change their perspective while handling the
different crisis which can take place without prior notice. The employees need to deal with
stress as it will be helpful for them in handling the conflicts and it can be helpful for solving
the issues appropriately.
Lastly, communication with the suppliers and customers are the other approach which
should be managed by the company as it will be helpful for keeping them updated through
the usage of media. The updation should be early and often as it is better to over
communicate than to allow rumors to fill the void (Christensen et al. 2016). The honesty and
openness in managing the issues play a vital role as it will be enhancing the open and
transparent communication for the customers and employees present in the organization. The
overall transparency can be projected through the different communication channels such as
social media, interviews along with announcements which can be done for the stakeholders of
the company.
Types of Crisis Management Incorporated by MnM Company
When the crisis will be hitting the business, it is important for the company to have
and create a plan which will be helpful for making the company ready which matches the
situations at hand. In case of Responsive Crisis Management, it can be used for the different
scenarios such as financial and personnel crises wherein it is imperative which can provide a
timely response. The responsive crisis management situation helps the company in executing
the plan and it will be helpful for handling the unexpected roadblocks (Bundy et al. 2017).
The Proactive Crisis Management is the other type wherein it helps in anticipating
the potential crisis and it helps in preventing the same. In such scenarios, the company needs
to train the employees accordingly that will be helpful in preparing them for natural crises
effectively (Christensen et al. 2016).
7

Title of Report
Recovery Crisis Management is the last type wherein the company MnM Company
may not be able to handle the crisis immediately. However, the technological and personnel
crisis can blindside the business and it can cause long term negative aspects on the company
as well. In such scenario, the company may not be able to lessen the impact, however the
company MnM can begin to salvage the situation appropriately as well (Al Shobaki, Amuna
and Naser 2016).
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that there are different kinds of crisis which can affect
the reputation and brand image of the firm and the employees in a negative manner. in such
scenario, proper implementation of the crisis management plan is the most effective and
appropriate technique which should be implemented by the company as it will enhance the
situation and it will be improving the situation tactfully as well.
8

Title of Report
References
Al Shobaki, M.J., Amuna, Y.M.A. and Naser, S.S.A., 2016. The impact of top management
support for strategic planning on crisis management: Case study on UNRWA-Gaza Strip.
Bundy, J., Pfarrer, M.D., Short, C.E. and Coombs, W.T., 2017. Crises and crisis
management: Integration, interpretation, and research development. Journal of
Management, 43(6), pp.1661-1692.
Christensen, T., Andreas Danielsen, O.L.E., Laegreid, P. and H. RYKKJA, L.I.S.E., 2016.
Comparing coordination structures for crisis management in six countries. Public
Administration, 94(2), pp.316-332.
Coombs, W.T., Holladay, S.J. and Tachkova, E., 2019. Crisis Communication, Risk
Communication, and Issues Management. Public Relations Theory: Application and
Understanding, p.31.
Doorley, J. and Garcia, H.F., 2015. Reputation management: The key to successful public
relations and corporate communication. Routledge.
Fearn-Banks, K., 2016. Crisis communications: A casebook approach. Routledge.
Lachlan, K.A., Spence, P.R., Lin, X., Najarian, K. and Del Greco, M., 2016. Social media
and crisis management: CERC, search strategies, and Twitter content. Computers in Human
Behavior, 54, pp.647-652.
Qrunig, J.E. and Qrunig, L.A., 2016. Toward a theory of the public relations behavior of
organizations: Review of a program of research. In Public relations research annual (pp. 37-
74). Routledge.
9

Title of Report
Theaker, A., 2016. The public relations handbook. Routledge.
Ulmer, R.R., Sellnow, T.L. and Seeger, M.W., 2017. Effective crisis communication: Moving
from crisis to opportunity. Sage Publications.
10