Crisis communication

Posted: December 2nd, 2013

Crisis communication

E-mail to the Edible delights Board of Directors

Date: 18 February 2013

To: The Board of Directors Edible Delights Pty

From: The Public Relations Manager

Subject: Development of a state-of-the-art crisis management and communication plan

Dear George McCartney,

I would like to commend your immeasurable commitment to the goals and objectives of Edible delights Pty. I appreciate the support you are giving us to ensure that our company becomes the best in the industry.

I am writing to request you to endorse my request for the development of a crisis management and communication plan. This is due to the recent contamination incidents that caused the hospitalization of several of our customers. As you know, the incidents caused many losses, tones of goods were recalled to the factory and the company suffered a great loss of goodwill. Due to these incidents, the company’s reputation suffered a major blow and our competitors gained a slight edge over us.

The situation ran out of control because we did not have a crisis management and communication plan. If we had such a plan in place, the effects of the above incidents would not have been so adverse. I have done my research and come up with the proposition that we should invest $50,000 in the outsourcing of communication specialists for a period of six months. This team will develop and process a crisis management and communication plan for Edible delights. The crisis management and communication plan will enable us to maintain stability during times of such crises (Boin, 2008).

I hope you will consider this proposition. I look forward to hearing your response soon. Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

George James.

E-Mail to Edible Light’s Employees

Date: 18 February 2013

To: All Employees of Edible Delights Pty LTD

From: The Public Relations Manager

Subject: Development of a state-of-the-art crisis management and communication plan

Dear Employees,

I would like to commend all of you for the hard work and effort you are putting to ensure that we are the leading company in this industry and for your courage and determination during the recent crisis.

I would like to announce the formation of a crisis management and communication plan for the company. Such a plan will help us avoid crises like the one where our customers were hospitalized for consuming contaminated food and. That was a very tough period for us and we suffered massive losses as a result. The incidences were not handled properly and as a result we suffered heavy losses and we had to recall some products back to the factory. However, things could have been different if there was a crisis management and communication plan in place.

I therefore deemed it as necessary for the company to develop such a plan of its own. The plan will help us handle such mishaps properly and will assist in ensuring that we deal with such crises before they spiral out of control (Millar&Smith, 2010). The company has agreed to seek the assistance of professional who will assist us in developing a customized crisis management and communication plan for the company. The team will be with us for six months within which they will assist us establish our own crisis management team.

You are all requested to co-operate during this process. Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

George James.

References

Boin, A 2008, Crisis management, Los Angeles, SAGE Publications.

Lukaszewski, J. E 2000, Crisis communication planning strategies: a crisis communication management workbook, White Plains, N.Y., Lukaszewski Group.

Millar, D. P., & Smith, L. L 2010, Crisis management and communication: how to gain and maintain control, San Francisco, Calif, International Association of Business Communicators.