Current Events Crisis Analysis Essay
This paper should be written in an APA-Style format.
Your paper will be evaluated on the following:
- Content
- Grammar
- Structure and mechanics
- Relevance to the topic(s)
Note: Each essay will be submitted through Canvas
Current Events Crisis Analysis:
This assignment requires students to identify and examine a current example of a crisis taken from the news. Students will analyze various elements for consideration and apply course concepts. Students will critique the company/individual in terms of what was done well and what perhaps could have been orchestrated better and why.
Instructions:
Write about a company or industry that has faced or currently faces a crisis (or that is grappling with an issue which threatens to become a crisis.)
Include the following components: 1) analyze the underlying causation); 2) a stakeholder analysis; 3) review what the organization did in response, and 4) evaluate its effectiveness and determine whether other approaches might have been taken.
You should do an analysis rather than a description. In addition, you should include documentation of source material. Finally, whichever sort of topic you choose should be of real interest to you.
Length:
3-5 pages (it’s expected that you employ sources, attributions and bibliography.)
Be sure to provide informed and thoughtful answers to all of the guideline suggestions/questions.
Style:
APA Format
Visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab for more help with APA formatting.
Guidelines:
- Define the organization and its crisis / potential crisis.
- Crises develop in four stages: Warning (detection, prevention, preparation), Point-of- no-return (containment), Cleanup (recovery), and Back-to-normal (learning). What stage(s) apply to this crisis?
- Who do you think is in charge of managing the crisis?
- What are their highest priorities?
- What are their motives behind their decisions?
- Attempt to define the stakeholders and their concerns.
- What are the communication strategies?
- What are the messages?
- Are there any inconsistencies between early response and later response?
- Did the organization utilize any intermediaries to help manage its relationships with stakeholders?
- Evaluate the organization’s responses.
- Restores trust? Damaging? Honest? Explanatory? Plain speech vs. technical speech? Deflects or invites participation of those affected to seek solutions? Ignores, meets or exceeds stakeholder expectations?
- Were concerns dismissed? Was blame cast elsewhere? Were mistakes acknowledged? Sympathetic? Were public apologies made?
- In your opinion, how well was the organization prepared for this crisis? Explain.
- If an organization’s reputation has been damaged, how might it be restored?
- Can you detect or predict any potential benefits from this crisis?
Written Submission Guidelines
- Review the detailed written assignment instructions on how to submit your assignments and how to review the comments (feedback) from your professor.
- All written assignments on Canvas will be run through Turnitin to check for plagiarism. Your submission should not exceed 25% in similarity.
- Written assignment dropboxes will be available within the Assignments link off the course tools menu on the left-hand side of the page within Canvas, as well as in their respective modules as outlined in the syllabus.
- Within one week after the assignment’s deadline has passed, you will receive written feedback on your assignment.
- Late submissions will only be accepted for a maximum of 7 days past the due date. For every day an assignment is late, 10% will be deducted from the original point value, with a maximum reduction of 50% on assignments submitted 7 days past the original due date. Please refer to the “Acceptance of Late Assignments” section of the syllabus for more information.