All posts by James Donnelly

"Three Tough Q's" Interview Series

Three Tough Q’s: Hilka Klinkenberg

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Perhaps you’ve heard that the Chevy Nova once lacked sales in Latin America companies because the automobile’s name translates to “doesn’t go” in Spanish?  Although that story isn’t really true – it’s an iconic example of the perils of remaining ignorant of cultural sensitivities when doing business across borders. 

When companies face more serious cross-border crises, there’s usually a lot more than lost sales on the line.  Thus, I remain amazed at how many multinational businesses do not incorporate “cultural risk management” into their ongoing issues and crisis management programs. 

Understanding and addressing cultural risk is the realm of Hilka Klinkenberg, who is one of the senior members of the Global Coaching & Consulting Group.   

 Hilka and I connected back in 1994 when we explored whether she can lead a workshop at one of the Ketchum global director meetings.  Over the years, we’ve shared thoughts on client crisis situations that involve many a cultural faux pas.  We recently re-connected and Hilka has graciously agreed to address these Three Tough Q’s:

 

Q1:  Do multinational organizations need to “press their hands against the hot stove” before taking cultural risk management seriously?

No.  However, that seems to be the preferred modus operandi.  Cultural risk avoidance should be incorporated into the enterprise risk management of any large or small organization doing business outside its national boundaries.

Cultural risk arises when individuals or organizations are unaware of the basic values intrinsic in other cultures.  Consequences range from mild insults that can affect the tenor of a relationship – to possible imprisonment and huge financial losses.  Cultural crises can affect a global company’s product development and production, legal and political issues, human resources and relocation, marketing and advertising.  And, in today’s virtual world, any flashpoint can go viral in an instant. Continue reading Three Tough Q’s: Hilka Klinkenberg →

crisis response

Tourism Pro Questions on Crisis Management

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Recently, I led a breakout session at the Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism.   My topic was “effective crisis management foundations” – a condensed version of a training program that we’ve built at Ketchum.  It’s our belief that you cannot have strong crisis management approaches, nor plans or systems, without the foundation of a strong crisis management leader.   SALES PITCH:  If you’re ever interested in learning more about this leadership training opportunity from Ketchum, drop me a line. 

During the Q&A session, the tourism pros asked questions that may yield lessons for others, so I’ve captured those here.  Disclaimer:  Everything below is paraphrased from memory, since I couldn’t take notes during the session. 

  

Q:   When an organization faces a determined critic, when should criticisms be ignored, and when is it time to address the critic? 

A:    This is difficult to answer specifically because so many factors need to be considered.  However, in general, begin by analyzing the critic…and the criticisms.  Is the critic credible to your audiences that matter?  Is the critic making an impact on your business?  How much traction might the critic or criticisms gain through social media?  Are the criticisms easy to defend, or do they require deeper explanation?  If the latter, is there a way to tell your side of the story in a compelling way?  These are just starter questions, of course – there are many more factors to consider before “getting down in the mud,” if required. 

  Continue reading Tourism Pro Questions on Crisis Management →

planning and prevention

Small-ball crisis management elements

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I’m currently enjoying a late-summer trip with my golf buddies.  The schedule is hectic:  early-morning Ryder Cup watching, a morning golf round, lunch-on-the-run, an afternoon golf round, high-calorie/fat dinners, no-limit poker and sports talk into the wee hours.  Since playoffs are imminent, Major League Baseball is heavily discussed.

Every year, I contend that the home run is overrated.  Heavy debate ensues.

I provide context for my runs-scored argument in this article of The  Public Relations Strategist, a quarterly publication of the Public Relations Society of America.  The baseball analogy helps me may a point about crisis management:  crisis response gets all the attention, but other elements of holistic crisis management also deserve a share of the limelight.

Check out the article and share your thoughts below, please. 

Does crisis response get too much attention?  Should experts in our industry do a better job of promoting the importance of preparedness and mitigation elements of holistic crisis management?  (Also, baseball fans can let me know if you agree/disagree on my point about the overrated home run!)

"Three Tough Q's" Interview Series

Three Tough Q’s: Mallen Baker

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If you’re in the business of reputation management and/or corporate social responsibility (CSR), you need to be familiar with the musings of Mallen Baker.  Mallen is the founding director of a UK-based website on CSR, Business Respect.  Last month, Mallen was named a contributing editor of Ethical Corporation, a global business intelligence organization.  His bio paints the complete picture, but I really encourage you to follow his blog.  I find his voice to be one of the most persuasive and balanced on CSR and reputation matters.

That is certainly the case below, as Mallen addresses some of the intersections between CSR and crisis management through these Three Tough Q’s:

 

Q1:  In your experience, how often do CSR experts team up with crisis management professionals to assess and address threats, before they become crises?
      
This happens a lot less than it should.  Part of the reason is that we are only gradually improving the understanding of what CSR should be about – that it can play this role of avoiding a crisis.  For too many businesses it remains a low-level function that is about issues seen as peripheral to the business, rather than central to it.

It is changing.  I see more companies appointing internal senior people to CSR or sustainability posts. These companies have understood that they need people with weight and seniority who understand the business extremely well.  Companies that seek to bring outside CSR experts or environmental scientists into their posts are more prone to sidelining those people as specialists.

The most effective CSR teams aim to influence across the business.  They are still in the minority, and many teams are too focused on what goes in the CSR report to make real headway in this regard.

Continue reading Three Tough Q’s: Mallen Baker →

crisis response, opinion and insights

Pros and cons of “Citizen Broadcasting”

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Courtesy: 2mhdmdj

Last week’s dramatic, dangerous and bizarre situation at the Discovery Channel headquarters served as another reminder for the need to be ready to respond to senseless and unpredictable workplace violence.  

It was also a reminder that social networks are designed to scoop the media in the initial stages of an emerging crisis.  Some of the obvious reasons for this were captured in this story in The Washington Post.  Best callout:

Before camera crews and reporters could race to the scene, a shot of alleged hostage-taker James Lee was flashing around the world via Twitpic, Twitter’s photo-sharing service that lets people see whatever a cellphone camera captures seconds after the shutter snaps. The shot — full of menace and dread — was apparently taken by an office worker peering from a window several floors above the Discovery courtyard. The photo was apparently passed from an unidentified Discovery employee to another, who posted it on Twitpic.

 

Courtesy: Jeff Lake

Social networks “scooping” traditional news will continue and grow more common.  Some have tagged this as trend as “citizen journalism.”  I don’t like that tag.  “Journalism” typically provides context and has an embedded editorial process.  Instead, I prefer the term “citizen broadcasting” for these types of real-time alerts.

Depending on the type of crisis, “citizen broadcasting” can be a good or bad thing for the public. 

Continue reading Pros and cons of “Citizen Broadcasting” →