Ambidextr Media

What makes up a crisis in business? There are many ways to define it but one thing is for sure; a crisis is a stressful and difficult situation to be situated in as both the client and the entrepreneur. 

It is a part of the process of establishing a business, quite inevitable as such situations are unpredictable and come to surface at an unexpected timing. Nonetheless, it can always be solved through the help of PR.

Public relations is a significant part of a business’ expansion since it is the bridge that connects a company to the public, the media, and stakeholders and builds fervent business relationships through that connection. 

There are a lot of aspects in PR that are more than just media relations, but the specific part that handles threats in the business is crisis management; it has various elements that make up its whole purpose, however the key element of this is crisis communication.

An effective crisis management happens because of the essential interrelation between crisis communication and crisis management. But what is the difference between two parallel components?

Crisis Communication vs. Crisis Management

Crisis communication is a crucial factor of crisis management, involved in the propagation of messages to allies and partners in business regarding a crisis event. It is the backbone of recovering a company from its standing as it concerns the communication between the employees and the organization into strategizing a crisis plan, evaluating their performances, and overall decision-making as a whole. 

Crisis management, on the other hand, is the systematic approach of preparing, responding, and recovering from an event of crisis. It deals with disruptive threats that can harm the company and its stakeholders. It also involves communicating effectively to the customers and the general public where the company stands on an issue and how they will address it moving forward.

All in all, the two components are interdependent to each other and are fundamental to achieve an effective crisis management.

Crisis comes in several different circumstances hence let us define at least three types that businesses face: 

Organizational Crisis

This crisis happens within the organization, concerning financial conditions, reputational problems, technological adversities, and environmental disasters, posing as a consequential threat to the operations, image, and welfare of the company. 

Product Recall Crisis

A company’s business is at stake when it concerns the customer’s well-being; this crisis occurs when there is a malignant cause, safety and health hazard, and defect from the products or services that they are advocating. This then creates a distrust between the clients and the person in business, which can reach to other potential consumers, stakeholders, and the media, damaging the reputation the company has built.

Litigation Crisis

This can be correlated to the previous type of crisis as this leads to the risk of a company to face legal action done by the affected client as a result of negligence from the employees’ measures, the shortcomings of product or services, or any misconduct done during events held by the company. Allied organizations can also put a company they have invested in into a litigation crisis when a breach of contract takes place.

Crisis communication may be the key element that handles the interception of a crisis event nevertheless public relations as a whole provides businesses a stable hold in its standing, making sure the crisis does not intensify and damage the reputation and progress of the company.

Public relations is an important channel for businesses to reach the media, shareholders, and the public where potential customers lie. It is the technique that links all significant relationships together and forms an alliance that enables them to communicate their needs and concerns regarding their conditions with a company. 

With PR, businesses are able to connect with the world all while having the means to protect its standing from risks and build it back to progress when faced with an unpreventable crisis, which serves as a show beyond doubt that public relations is a means of survival.

Blog by Althea Jaira T. Forteza