The Spin Doctor

Crisis dos and don’ts

In an earlier post, I looked at the kinds of crises an organization should prepare for, in particular a smouldering crisis such as Swine Flu.

Last year, I became involved with one of the dairy companies (not Sanlu Group) in mainland China accused of adding melamine to its milk products. When they first approached us, they were in a panic. In some countries, senior managers found guilty of similar charges face stiff penalties; in China, the penalties are even more severe.

Swine Flu: Crisis, what crisis?

The debate rages on as to whether concern over the current Swine Flu epidemic is the product of a media fear-mongering campaign or a very real public health crisis. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, organizations in both the private and public sector were right to prepare for the worst when the epidemic first erupted.

I’m part of a team currently preparing a crisis management and communications plan for a NASDAQ-listed company based here in Hong Kong, and I have to admit we were caught off guard when stories on Swine Flu started coming in. Perhaps it was because we were still so focused on the actual process of preparing the plan.