Fluent Essays

Please find the attached assignment description. The file Assignment discription2 is about the organization I chose. Crisis Management Plan (Template is provided from the second page) Written Plan. You will prepare the core components of a Crisis Management Plan (CMP) for the same organization you chose. (Intercontinental Hotel Groups) A Crisis Management Plan provides crisis team members with procedures, advice, and prepared support materials so that in the event of a crisis the team can respond as quickly and as effectively as possible. A crisis communication plan is part of the overall CMP and provides advice and reminders that can help the crisis team in its efforts.  The value of a creating a CMP and a crisis communication plan is its use as a reference tool. Crisis management is the art of developing an emergent strategy. The CMP should contain the information needed to manage communications during a crisis but should not be overly long. The crisis communication plan helps reduce response time by gathering much-needed background information including decisions regarding who does what, and trying to determine the sequence of events during a crisis to support as organized and efficient a response as possible.  For this assignment, you will need to consider and include: Template below Comment by Author: Revise this portion to identify the organization you have chosen for your crisis management plan. Make sure to also fill in the current date. The is the Cover Page for your assignment Centre for Emergency Preparedness Crisis Management Plan Date Created: mmm dd, yyyy Date Revised: mmm dd, yyyy Table of Contents Purpose of the Plan: 3 Plan Objectives: 3 Readiness Preparation: 3 Response: 4 Follow Up: 4 Appendix A: Contact Log 5 Appendix B: Emergency Operations Centre 6 Appendix C: Sample Scripts 7 Appendix D: News Conference Guidelines 8 Appendix E: Media Relations Reminders 9 In General 9 Handling Media Interviews 9 How to prepare for Broadcast Interviews 9 Dos and Donts During the Interview process 10 How To Handle Yourself During A TV Talk Show Interview 10 Tips On Appearance 10 How To Respond During A Newspaper Interview 10 After The Interview 11 Exercise Log 12 Document Revision History 13 Purpose of the Plan: Comment by Author: The is the Introduction portion of your plan. Modify this section to be specific for your organization. You will want to pay particular attention to some of the highlighted areas. <This section documents the main goals of the plan – for example:> A crisis communication plan provides policies and procedures for the co-ordination of communications within the organization, and between the organization and any applicable outside agencies (e.g. - the media, regulatory agencies, customers, suppliers, stakeholders (board of directors, shareholders, unions) and the public) in the event of an emergency or controversial issue. Emergencies may include fires, bomb threats, natural disasters, or major crimes. Controversial issues may include police investigations, protests or other situations that demand a public response. Comment by Author: Be specific here about any outside agencies or stakeholders that would apply to your chosen organization. Not all stakeholders are identified here, and not all stakeholders are relevant for all organizations. This plan not only addresses media relations and communications issues, but also includes operational procedures for the rapid assessment of potentially harmful situations and the methods for responding to these situations quickly and effectively. It is the goal of this crisis communication plan to establish guidelines for dealing with a variety of situations, and to ensure that staff and communicators are familiar with those procedures and their roles in the event of a crisis. The plan is designed to be used in conjunction with the normal decision-making hierarchy of the organization and does not supplant that decision-making process. Plan Objectives: <This section documents specific objectives – for example:> 1. To factually assess the situation and determine whether a communications response is warranted. Comment by Author: You may have similar objectives – but do be as specific as possible relative to your organization. 2. To assemble a Crisis Communication Team that will make recommendations on appropriate responses. 3. To implement immediate action to: · Identify those parties that should be informed about the situation. · Communicate facts about the crisis. · Minimize rumours. · Restore order and/or confidence. Readiness Preparation: Comment by Author: This is the Acknowledgements and Crisis Management Team Members section of your assignment. This is where you will include your vulnerability assessment (which you completed and may revise from assignment #1), where you will list your team members by role (you may make up names and contact information, but be sure the roles represent the functions you think should be on the crisis management team). The list of names and contact information is the Crisis Management Team contact sheet portion of you assignment. You can include a physical and virtual location for the CMT operations centre. This is the location where the team would gather after they have been contacted when a crisis is activated. The inventory of potential crisis that you will include here is the Crisis Risk Assessment portion of your assignment. You will include the vulnerability assessment and any modifications you have made in assignment #1. <This section documents the infrastructure and procedures in place prior to an emergency. Subsections should include: Inventory of potential crisis and public relations vulnerabilities Makeup of the Crisis Management team Team Assignments and Responsibilities Location of the Emergency Operations Centre(s)> Response: <This section documents how the organization will respond to an event or incident. Subsections should include: Assessment Procedures Comment by Author: This is the Incident Report and assessment procedures potion of your assignment, and provide a Stakeholder contact List worksheet. For the stakeholder worksheet, be as specific as possible about your chosen’s organization’s key stakeholders. Stakeholders could include specific media; specific investors; specific community leaders; specific union leaders; specific competitors, etc. Designation of a Spokesperson or Spokespersons Internal Communications External Communications Rumour Control Response Activity Checklist> Follow Up: <This section documents communications protocols within the organization and with outside agencies as well, including relationships with the media, both after the event, and before. Provisions for assessing and documenting the nature and severity of the incident are also documented in this section. Follow up information , Thank You Letters, Etc. Comment by Author: Here you will include the Post Crisis Evaluation Worksheet Rumour Control Post-mortem Meeting(s) Plan Update> Appendix A: Contact Log < A log should be established to record all telephone calls from the media or other parties inquiring about the crisis. This will help to ensure that the many callbacks required are not overlooked. It will also assist in the post-crisis analysis. The contact log should contain the following information: Date | Name, Title, Company and Telephone number of caller | Questions(s) asked | Person responsible for response | Additional follow-up needs> Date Caller Topic Follow Up Name: Title: Company: Telephone: By: Action: Name: Title: Company: Telephone: By: Action: Name: Title: Company: Telephone: By: Action: Name: Title: Company: Telephone: By: Action: Name: Title: Company: Telephone: By: Action: Name: Title: Company: Telephone: By: Action: Name: Title: Company: Telephone: By: Action: Appendix B: Emergency Operations Centre Comment by Author: Here you would provide additional details about your emergency operations centre / CMT operations centre location. <This section provides detailed information for each EOC location. For each EOC state the location, directions on how to locate, physical layout and supplies required.> Appendix C: Sample Scripts Comment by Author: You may wish to modify this sample script to reflect a possible vulnerability for your chosen organization. <This section will contain some pre-formatted press release or press conference scripts which can be used or modified quickly during initial incident response, during the on-going crisis and follow up.> Sample News Release A ___________________ at ____________________ involving __________________ occurred today at ________________ . The incident is under investigation and more information is forthcoming. A (what happened) at (location) involving (who) occurred today at (time). The incident is under investigation and more information is forthcoming. For instance: Comment by Author: This section is here for guidance. You would remove it from your plan. An explosion at 1210 Market Street, the main plant for the Acme Toy Company occurred today at 3 p.m. The incident is under investigation and more information is forthcoming. You could put down a definitive time for the next news conference or release of information if you know it but it is not necessary. This will not solve your problems, but may buy you enough time to prepare for the next news conference or release. You could also add information if it is available such as how many casualtys there are known up to this point or any other pertinent information available. Once again, this information should be definitive and not speculative, verify everything you say. This will help your credibility in the long run. Appendix D: News Conference Guidelines Comment by Author: You may leave this section as is <This section documents guidelines for conducting a news conference. For example:> 1. When you notify media of news conferences/availabilities, be sure to define what kind of event you are having. News conferences are held to announce something for the first time. Press availabilities are held simply to make individuals available to answer questions or demonstrate something. 2. Dont call unnecessary news conferences/availabilities. If its not worth their time, the media will only be angered. 3. If holding a news conference, try to tell media in advance some details of what you will be announcing. 4. Gauge the size of your crowd carefully when reserving a room; better to have too much than too little space. Make sure microphones, chairs, lighting and water are in place at least 30 minutes prior to the event. 5. Decide format in advance -- who will introduce speakers, who decides when question/answer period ends, and other details. 6. Decide in advance whether handouts are needed. If speaker is giving a talk for which there is a text, you may want to wait and hand out material after the talk so media will stay and listen. However, its advisable to tell the media you will provide a text of the speech so they are not irritated by having to take unnecessary notes. 7. Check to see what else is happening in your organization or in the community before scheduling a press conference. 8. Consider whether you need to let other organizations and agencies know you are having a news conference. (You may wish to invite others to attend or participate in your event.) 9. Decide who will maintain control at the news conference, who will decide where cameras are set up, who sits where. 10. Try to plan the length of the news conference, but be flexible. 11. Consider the time of the news conference. If you want to make the noon, 6 p.m. or 11 p.m. TV and radio news, you need to allow time for crews to travel and edit tape. 12. If you are going to set restrictions on an event such as limited photo access, try to put the restrictions in writing and communicate to the media at least 24 hours in advance. Appendix E: Media Relations Reminders Comment by Author: You may leave this section as is <This section documents guidelines for dealing with the media. For example:> In General 1. Always return media calls. The more co-operative you appear, the better. 2. Communicate with the media -- talk to them as well as listen to them. During crisis time, you may learn a great deal from the media that can be useful to you in further dealing with the crisis. 3. Avoid antagonizing the media. A short tone at a press conference, during a phone call, or elsewhere can affect your future relationship with an individual or other media who may hear the conversation. 4. Consider establishing a dedicated call-in phone line that will offer information to media or others. Information on news conferences, rumour control information, newly acquired information, can be placed on a tape that can be updated. This is particularly useful when regular phone lines are tied up with calls. 5. Consider how information you release to media may affect other agencies, businesses or individuals. If you say things that may result in media calling other agencies, call those agencies first to warn them of impending calls. 6. When talking to the media, be sure to give credit to other agencies, groups or individuals working on the crisis, including your own staff. 7. Try to be pro-active with new information. Even those things may be frantic; if you acquire new information regarding the crisis, reach out to the media. 8. Be honest. Don’t make false or misleading statements. Handling Media Interviews How to prepare for Broadcast Interviews · Prepare talking paper on primary points you want to make. · Anticipate questions--prepare responses. - Practice answering questions. · Cover controversial areas ahead of time. · Know who will be interviewing you, if possible. · Determine how much time is available. · Audiences often remember impressions, not facts. Dos and Donts During the Interview process · Do build bridges. · Do use specifics. · Do use analogies. · Do use contrasts, comparisons. · Do be enthusiastic/animated. · Do be your casual likable self. · Do be a listener. · Do be cool. · Do be correct. · Do be anecdotal. · If you dont have the answer or cant answer, do admit it and move on to another topic. - Dont fall for that A or B dilemma. · Dont accept what if questions. · Dont accept laundry list questions. · Dont go off the record. · Dont think you have to answer every question. · Dont speak for someone else --beware of the absent-party trap. How To Handle Yourself During A TV Talk Show Interview · Talk over lavaliere mike. · Audio check-- use regular voice. · If makeup is offered, use it. · Sit far back in the chair, back erect...but lean forward to appear enthusiastic and force yourself to use hands. · Remember... TV will frame your face--be calm, use high hand gestures, if possible. - Keep eyes on interviewer-- not on camera. - Smile, be friendly. Tips On Appearance · Avoid wearing pronounced strips, checks or small patterns. · Grey, brown, blue or mixed colored suits/dressed are best. · Grey, light-blue, off-white or pastel shirts or blouses are best. - Avoid having hair cut right before interview. How To Respond During A Newspaper Interview · Obtain advanced knowledge of interview topics. · Make sure you are prepared in detail; print reporters are often more knowledgeable than broadcast reporters and may ask more detailed questions. · Begin the interview by making your point in statement by making your major points in statement form. · Try to maintain control of the interview . · Dont let reporter wear you down. · Set a time limit in advance. · Dont let so relaxed that you say something you wish you hadnt. · Avoid jargon or professional expressions. · Reporter may repeat self in different ways to gain information you may no want to give. · Dont answer inappropriate questions; simply say it is not an appropriate topic for you to address at this time, or its proprietary for example. · Be prepared for interruptions with questions...it is legitimate for reporters to do that. · Do not speak off the record. · Remember, the interview lasts as long as a reporter is there. After The Interview · You can ask to check technical points, but do not ask to see advance copy of the story. · Never try to go over reporters head to stop a story. · Do not send gifts to reporters--it is considered unethical for them to accept them. Exercise Log Comment by Author: Here you can include the Simulation dates as the first Exercise date, and any comments you have from the simulation experience. Document Revision History <This section logs the date, type of exercise and any pertinent comments each time the plan is exercised..> Date Type of Exercise Comments Document Revision History Comment by Author: Fill in this portion as your first version. Remember to change the header and footer to reflect your organization when you are done. Document Revision History <On the last page of the plan, you will track of all revisions made to this document in the following table. Make an entry when the plan is first created and put in “Plan Created” in the Revision column. Keep the title page of the plan updated as well with the creation date and last revision date.> Date Author Revision Intercontinental Hotels Group is one of the leading global hotel chains in the hospitality industry, with two hundred and twenty hotels with 71,045 rooms globally. The intercontinental group hotel offers midscale and upscale services to its clients. As with every organization globally, Intercontinental Hotels Group has several vulnerabilities and crises that they might face in the future. A crisis is defined as an event that will result in an unstable and dangerous situation that will affect an organization. The crisis that this hotel industry faces ranges from diseases to credit card fraud, forcing the organization to take action to ensure that the brand of Intercontinental Hotels Group is not damaged. There are many crises that Intercontinental Hotels Group might face in the future. It is important to discuss these crises and rate the crisis in terms of likelihood of occurrence and severity of impact on the organization if the crisis occurs. Crisis-related information of the Intercontinental Hotels Group will be scanned from numerous sources. The sources used include scholarly publications, news, magazines, government documents, and theses and dissertations. Crisis Likelihood Impact Rationale Pandemic diseases such as covid-19 unlikely catastrophic I provided this ranking because pandemics such as covid-19 will close the operations of the intercontinental group hotel globally until the pandemic has been dealt with. The pandemic will also result in major losses in terms of revenue due to a lack of operations. These kinds of diseases will also result in major losses for the global hotel chain because the organization will be forced to pay its employees, premises, and tax in several countries without any revenue source due to the closure of the hotel chains ( Alonso et al., 2020). These kinds of diseases will also increase expenses for these organizations compared to low revenue generation. The reason being that the government will require them to implement a measure that will control the spread of the diseases; a good example is covid-19 testing of the hotels workforce after a certain period which will increase the cost significantly. Pandemic diseases will also affect intercontinental group hotel staff where most of the workforce will be laid off from work, affecting their livelihood source. Cybersecurity occasional critical Cybersecurity has become a major concern that is affecting different organizations in the world. Intercontinental hotel group is also one of the organizations which are affected by cyber-attacks. These will force the intercontinental hotel groups to invest and focus on preventing data theft and identity theft. An example of how cybersecurity has become a major crisis in the hotel business is Marriott International, where there was a data breach on November 20th, 2018. The result of the attack is that the personal information of more than four hundred million customers was exposed, including the contact information of the customers, passport numbers, travel information, and payment information ( Panai, 2018). Data security breaches will negatively affect the intercontinental hotel group because customers who value their privacy will lose trust in the organization. The loss of trust will damage the brand image and be costly to the intercontinental hotel due to lawsuits due to its failure to protect its clients information ( Berezina et al., 2012). In addition, liability claims due to fraudsters using information that has been obtained as a result of data breaches will result in significant losses for the intercontinental hotel group. Foodborne illnesses seldom catastrophic The reason for this ranking is that food safety is one of the biggest crises that the intercontinental hotel group has to prevent at all costs. Some of the diseases resulting from poor food handling include salmonella, campylobacter from contaminated chicken, and Escherichia coli. In addition, one of the most common infections that cause illness is Norovirus, which results in vomiting and diarrhea. This virus is a major concern because it spreads when it comes into contact with an infected person or contaminated surface. These viruses can result in significant expenses of intercontinental group hotels where the hotels can be shut down for extensive cleaning and sanitation depending on its severity. In addition, foodborne illnesses will damage the intercontinental hotel brand and result in losses for the organization due to claims, compensations, and lawsuits. Therefore, hotel continental needs to train its staff in food handling, sanitation, and health safety food procedures to address the issue of foodborne diseases. In addition, food vendors quality controls should also be established to ensure that the food provided is as safe as possible. Guest behavior frequent negligible Guests of the intercontinental hotel groups are the main reason why the global hotel chain is running. Without guests and travelers, the intercontinental hotel group will incur losses of a significant amount, resulting in its closure due to lack of revenue. However, guest behavior can cause one of the biggest crises that the global hotel chain deals with directly and indirectly. One such way is through lawsuits from persons injured or the guests damages to the guestroom. A good example is that of Plim Plaza, which was sued for six million dollars. The lawsuit resulted from Legionella bacteria, which was found present in water samples collected from different locations in the hotel by an investigation carried out by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The bacteria caused the death of one person, and five others fell sick. Physical crime likely moderate Over the past few years, there has been a recent increase in physical crimes in hotel organizations worldwide. The intercontinental hotel groups face an increase in physical crimes ranging from professional burglaries that use social engineering techniques to temporary drug laps in the hotel rooms ( Leung et al., 2018). Organized crimes in global hotels have also been on the rise. This has forced the intercontinental hotel to review its security awareness programs. The poor continental hotels have become easily accessible and less protected at night, resulting in increased gun violence. Fires likely catastrophic Hotel fires have the potential of escalating too fast, resulting in huge amounts of damage both on human life and property. Dealing with fires in the hotel is not easy because people are sleeping and are in their most vulnerable state. It is made worse because most hotel customers are not familiar with the hotel surroundings making it hard for them to escape. One of the most common places where fires start is in hotel kitchens due to the cooking equipment (Hu, 2016). In the kitchen, the fires result from frying medium, faulty or unsupervised equipment, and human error. Careless smoking is the other cause of fires. A study carried out between 2018 and 2019 determined that eight percent of fires in hotels were due to careless cigarette smoking. The other cause of fires in hotels is electric appliances which include lamps, hairdryers, and kettles. This electrical equipment can cause fires if not properly used by the hotel guests and staff. Therefore it is important for hotel intercontinental to have a fire safety plan and fire safety equipment. Fire detection systems should also be regularly maintained and tested to ensure that they are effectively working when there will be a fire outbreak. Courtesy transportation unlikely negligible Courtesy transportation of hotel guests has been on the rise in the hospitality industry over the past few years, resulting in it becoming a necessity, especially for the intercontinental hotels operating near airports. However, these vehicles and drivers present a whole variety of risks. These risks include accidents that might result in injuries to the customer being carried to the hotel. Such accidents will make the hotel intercontinental liable to the injuries of these persons. Accidents involving other vehicles or passerby might result in lawsuits which will result in the global food chain losing millions of dollars in lawsuits and compensations Staff seldom negligible Employees of hotels are a critical risk to the intercontinental hotel group. This is because some of the employees of these hotels might be working to harm the hotels reputation as revenge for an incident that happened to them. This can be seen where an employee of the hotel intentionally destroys the hotels property or does something that can put the hotel in legal trouble. These employees also work with gangs involved in hotel kidnappings or selling illegal drugs in the hotel premises. The kidnappings and availability of drugs in the hotels will damage the hotels brand name, resulting in people avoiding these global chain hotels. The result of this is that the hotel will lose revenue and close down. These employees might also be involved in property theft which has become a major concern in the hotel industry over the past few years. Even though towels and knives being stolen cannot be considered, they add up over the year, resulting in major losses, especially in intercontinental hotels with a large chain. Credit card fraud likely moderate Credit card fraud has been increasing in the hospitality industry because criminals are finding new ways to steal credit card information and use them in hotels. Research carried out in the united states of America found out that up to fifty percent of credit card frauds reported taking place in hotels. The rise has been in the increase because of the hotels allowing digitally-enabled check-in via hotel apps. The fraud tasters use the stolen credit card information to log into the customers account and book a hotel room with a card on file or using loyalty points which the customer has accrued from the hotel. The digital check-ins have made it possible for the fraudsters to check in to the hotel by completely bypassing the front desk, making it nearly impossible for the credit card holders identity to be verified. In addition, the hotels offering booking reservations have made it possible for the fraudsters to test the credit cards if they are active before using the credit cards in perpetrating credit card frauds in other digital sites. Sexual harassment of women likely moderate Sexual harassment of women in hotels has become a part of everyday life. Although it has become normalized, it is terrible, and it is one of the major issues affecting the hotel industry. Young women who are employees of these hotels have reported that they have been sexually assaulted on several occasions when performing their duties, such as cleaning the guest rooms (Kensbock et al., 2015). The increased number of sexual harassment cases is the presence of alcohol where customers are often intoxicated, resulting in them misbehaving. The other reason is that most hotels have a sexualized environment that encourages the customers to treat employees as sex objects rather than workers. Therefore, the intercontinental hotel group should ensure that the sexual harassment of employees is prevented or minimized.