C. Ashley Santa Teresa
Professor Winship
CA 322 Advanced Public Relations
Final Exam: 03 May 2011
CHAPTER 1:
-Crises are unique moments in the history of organizations. An organizational crisis is a specific,
unexpected, and nonroutine event or series of events that create high levels of uncertainty and
threaten or are perceived to threaten an organization’s high-priority goals.
-Two types of crises:
oIntentional
Terrorism, sabotage, workplace violence, poor employee relationships, poor risk
management, hostile takeovers, unethical leadership
oUnintentional
Natural disasters, disease outbreaks, unforeseeable technical interactions,
product failure, downturns in the economy
CHAPTER 2:
-10 lessons on crisis:
oOrganization members must accept that a crisis can start quickly and unexpectedly
oOrganizations should not respond to crises with routine solutions
oThreat is perceptual
oCrisis communicators must communicate early and often following a crisis regardless of
whether or not they have critical information about the crisis
oOrganizations should not purposely heighten the ambiguity of a crisis to deceive or
distract the public
oBe prepared to defend your interpretation of the evidence surrounding a crisis
oWithout good intentions prior to a crisis, recovery is difficult or impossible
oIf you believe you are not responsible for a crisis, you need to build a case for who is
responsible and why
oOrganizations need to prepare for uncertainty through simulations and training
oCrises challenge the way organizations think about and conduct business
CHAPTER 3:
-Goal setting is important because they can help guide decision making for the organization.
-Partnerships are equal communication relationships with groups or organizations that have an
impact on an organization. They are established through honest and open dialogue about
important issues for each. Partners may be advocates for the organization or they may be
groups that are antagonistic toward the organization.
-Stakeholders are internal or external groups that can have an impact on the organization. It is
important to keep them in the loop because they are partners.
-You must tell stakeholders what the problem is and as much information as possible.
