Crisis Management and Avoidance
In today’s business environment, a crisis can take many forms and can quickly shift your focus from business goals to damage control. These crises often become chaotic, highly adversarial and extremely fast-paced. The business crisis must be acknowledged for what it is. More importantly, it must be acknowledged for what it is not - business as usual:
- Unions organizing not by signing employees to membership lists, but by hiring experienced political managers to build campaigns against management policies - and diminish shareholder value
- Community groups attempting to stop multimillion-dollar projects from hospital acquisitions to commercial development through blogs, e-mail lists, text messaging, and creative field organizing
- Plaintiff’s lawyers content not merely to file pleadings, but retain sophisticated public relations firms to build public and shareholder pressure toward expensive settlements
- Regulators spurred to action by third party interest groups seeking to block a permit to operate or expand a business
Weathering a business crisis, as well as avoiding one, requires a clear-eyed assessment of the identity of the target audience(s), the means of communication most likely to reach that audience, and the message that will persuade that audience – keeping in mind that the opposition is likely making identical calculations. To avoid a crisis, you don't just need advice. You need a strategy. Combining experience in government, politics and the media with extensive legal experience, Waller Lansden attorneys are uniquely qualified to be your strategic advisors in a crisis.
Waller Lansden attorneys help clients manage and avoid business crises by providing a frank assessment of the company’s ability to wage a successful campaign. We develop strategies and tactics using an integrated approach that addresses legal, political, business and public relations issues to create a consistent message focused on both short-term challenges and long-range goals.
|
