Abstract
A crisis can come about as a consequence of an unpredictable outcome or unforeseeable result of some event that had been considered a possible hazard. In response to this, the paper, seeks to discuss crisis and crisis management taking the case study of the coca cola company. The way Coca-Cola managed the Belgian crisis was a classic case of one of the toughest public relations fiascos in the corporate account. The event as well spotlights the penury and importance of a crisis management design to forestall such disasters in the future
Introduction
The word crisis refers to a state of unstableness or peril, as in social, economic, political, or international matters, which result from a decisive change. Likewise, Crisis management refers to the application of strategies that are contrived to assist an organization deal with a sudden and substantial adverse event. Crisis communications relate to the perceptual experience of an unforeseeable outcome that threatens important expectancies of stakeholders and which can jeopardize impingement an organization's performance and beget negative results.
Scenario statements
The coca cola company has in the past experienced a series of public relations crisis with one of the worst public relations nightmare being in the year 1999. The public relations fiasco in 1999 entails the crisis experienced by the Coca-Cola Company based in Belgium, Europe. During the time, students from Bornem, Belgium fell ill as a result of taking the company’s products.(Nemery, et al. 2002). The students as well noticed that the coke products that had purchased possessed an evil smell. Likewise, city officials in the town of Belsele had as well, raised issues with the company over the bad smell from their vending machines. As a result, therefore, the company had to recall approximately 30 million cans and bottles, depicting the largest ever product recall in its 113-year history.
Likewise, the company has faced allegations of racial discrimination in which it faced a lawsuit in the 1999 spring. Approximately fifteen hundred employees in the America sued the company for racial discrimination.
Crisis management plans
A crisis can come about as a consequence of an unpredictable issue or as an unforeseeable result of a particular event that had been considered a possible hazard. In either font, crises almost invariably postulate that determinations be made speedily to limit damage to the organization. Product harm crises such as that of the Coca-Cola Company can be devastating events for businesses. (Regester, et al. 2008). For that reason, one of the first activities in crisis management designing is to key out an individual to serve as a crisis manager.
Some of the crisis management practices that the coca cola company should adopt include the establishment and training of a crisis management team from within the organization. Probably again, the company also may identify a crisis management firm that possesses a proven track record in the managing crisis in the business area.
Likewise, in order to avert a crisis in the enterprise, the company needs to involve as many stakeholders as possible in its activities. For instance, in order to prevent issues such as racial discrimination, the company needs to involve its stakeholders in decision making. Consequently, there is a need to make the stakeholders part of the planning and action stages so as to avoid conflict.
Lastly, a good strategy for managing crisis within the company is through developing response plans for several potential crises that may occur. The company needs to identify individual potential crises troubles and come up with potential solutions to them. (Ferrell, et al. 2010). In doing so, the company needs to develop monitoring systems and practices that detect early warning signals of any foreseeable crisis.
Conclusion
The Coca-Cola firm is one of the successful and recognized brand globally. The ethical issues that the company has seen has helped it keep the Coke name comparatively untarnished. To date, the company endeavors to melt off their moral matters to a minimum in order to reach a global market.
Reference
Nemery, B., Fischler, B., Boogaerts, M.,Lison, D., & Willems, J., (2002).The Coca-Cola incident in Belgium, June 1999. journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology. 40,(11), 1657–1667.
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2010). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases : 2009 update. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Regester, M., Larkin, J., & Regester, M. (2008). Risk issues and crisis management in public relations: A casebook of best practice. London: Kogan Page.
