Successful Crisis Outcome

As the incidence and severity of crises is rising with the complexity of technology
and society, crisis management is increasingly becoming a part of every manager’s responsibility and capability. PR professionals in both the corporate world and the non-profit sector need to understand the importance of following ethical guidelines and professional standards in planning, development, and execution of crisis communications programs.

Organizations could make ethical decisions to accept their responsibility, uphold accountability, enable access to information, and provide/facilitate humanitarian care when there are victims involved. These steps will also impact the process of image restoration and post-crisis organizational revival.

If the ethical principles have been conscientiously and effectively applied, the following criteria of a successful crisis outcome will have been met:

As the Chinese symbol for a crisis indicates, a crisis implies both danger and
opportunity. The value of perceiving a crisis as an opportunity is that it encourages reflection and learning through an evaluative procedure. A learning process has the potential to bring more adaptive responses to adverse conditions and help prevent future crises.