Reference no: EM132455200
Students will work independently to complete a mock crisis exercise . Develop a Crisis Plan to address the facts of the crisis scenario below. Manage the crisis as if in real time and focus on the process of communicating with internal and external stakeholders as you manage the situation. Please incorporate concepts discussed in class and in the text in developing your communication strategies.
Students will be graded on the following:
- Quality of written crisis plan
- Overall communication regarding the management of the crisis
- Ability to concisely summarize points
- Thoroughness of plan and applicability to the scenario
- Correct spelling, grammar, etc.
- Crisis plan components
- Crisis team and roles of each person
- Process or steps you believe the team should take in terms of dealing with the crisis
- Key stakeholders
- Vehicles to help communicate with each of these stakeholders
- Outline how you will deal with or use the media
- Incorporation of digital and social media (if applicable)
- Official statement
- Q&As that show your messaging, anticipated questions, and how you will answer them
Crisis Scenario
You are a communications professional at a major oil refiner, where a fire ignites several storage tanks and leads to an explosion at approximately noon on December 24 (Christmas Eve day). The explosion kills three men at the refinery, and ignites tanks containing 3.6 million gallons of heating oil. The media are on site attemptig to interview employees and first responders, filming live footage of the scene. The fire is extinguished more than 15 hours later.
The refinery is adjacent to a community that includes a large senior assisted living center and a neighborhood filled with yound families/children. Both the senior citizens and parents of younger children and several pregnant women are extremely worried about the air quality caused by the explosion. And there are rumors of a possible evacuation on several blocks nearest to the refinery. A nearby Catholic church is well known for its midnight Christmas Mass as well as other services on December 24th and 25th and parishioners include the local congresswoman and state's governor.
Analysts say that as a result of the explosion and subsequent need to import heating oil into the region, heating bills for consumers will skyrocket. Due to the bitterly cold weather in much of the country, demand for heating oil - and the price of it - are at record high levels.
The media is speculating about the cause of the fire and the implications for your company if found at fault.
As Director of Communications you have been asked to prepare a communications plan to deal with the crisis. Describe the steps you would take; list the members of your crisis team and their respective roles; list key stakeholders; draft a statement that includes your key message points; and, draft potential questions with model answers addressing each of your key stakeholders. Also include information about how best to get messages out to each group of stakeholders.