In a financial crisis, a company may file bankruptcy, its stock may drop or it could face a class action lawsuit, Diamond says. Yet, it's easier for a company to recover from this because the market can always change and management usually survives. Speed is extremely important in getting information and responding to the public. This way you are able to shape the story and not have the media or victims shape it for you. But you still need to have fundamental concepts in place that can be used in most situations.
Corporations seem to be taking crisis communications far more seriously today.
After all, it has been shown time and time again that a corporate crisis that is not deftly handled can virtually destroy a product or even the company itself. According to a recent survey conducted by The Corporate Response Group and George Washington University, almost half of the companies responding reported an intensifying of headquarters' support of crisis management and an integration of their crisis plans into an overall corporate structure. In other words, no one is immune. What was perceived as the airline's lack of a quick and sensitive response most dramatically resulted in a loss of public and shareholder confidence and the resignation of its chief executive officer. Whole industries can suffer as a result of a crisis, as the chemical industry did in the aftermath of the Union Carbide accident in Bhopal, India.