The Players in a Crisis

The "Players" in a Crisis

A crisis' severity is not only determined by the magnitude of the problem itself, but also by which and to what extent stakeholders are affected. The severity of a crisis can also be measured by how such stakeholders respond to what has occurred.

The stakeholders, or "players" might differ depending on the type of business or industry in which an organization operates. Although the media is no doubt a critical and occasionally the most critical stakeholder involved, others, such as attorneys, are also extremely important. Whether in sports or business, it is not uncommon to have to consider a crisis' impact on dozens of stakeholders.

A single crisis usually involves many players. Enron's fallout also meant a crisis for shareholders, as well as Arthur Andersen, among others. This is not unlike the demise of the Festina team in the 1998 Tour de France, which created a crisis for not only the team, but also the International Cycling Union (ICU), and Festina, the watch company that sponsored the team.

Days before the 1998 Tour de France began, a masseur for the Festina team was stopped at the Franco-Belgium border. In his car were more than 400 performance-enhancing products. Three days after the Tour de France began, the masseur said the drugs were intended for team use. Days later, the ICU suspended Festina director Bruno Roussel, who later said he supplied the drugs to the team and, in fact, five riders indeed used them. After another team, Dutch TVM, was also questioned, riders protested at the 12th stage and six days later, five more teams dropped out. The less rapidly and thoroughly a crisis is handled the greater the likelihood its fallout will engulf more stakeholders, such as the organizers of the Tour de France in the aforementioned example.

For a traditional business, the critical stakeholders, in addition to the news media, usually include senior management and employees, customers, competitors, and the public sector. In sports, especially the four major leagues, the news media is also very important. So too are the broadcast networks that televise the games and sponsors (because each are de facto financiers), the athletes and their unions, and fans. Depending on the situation at hand, other "players" might play a critical role, including teams and their employees, as well as local, state, and federal governments.

Once the impacted stakeholders have been identified, they must be quickly and correctly prioritized to ensure that they are kept adequately "in the loop." Any failure to do so to the satisfaction of stakeholders could harm an organization's long-term business relations with them. Regardless of how stakeholders are prioritized, it is critical to reach the primary ones before they hear about the crisis secondhand probably from the media. Being proactive in reaching out to these stakeholders enables organizations to not only "tell their side of the story" first, but also demonstrates to key constituents that they are valued by the organization.