Crisis security for business abroad

The worst nightmare for a company is knowing that its people and assets are under siege in another country. And as anyone who has been in this situation can confirm in the midst of an escalating incident, it is the most emotional time for affected individuals and families.

Ironically, some of the methods of doing business in foreign countries designed to save money can actually put an organisation’s whole presence in that country at threat. For example, setting up a plant in an area where labour is plentiful but transport is difficult, can put security pressures on executive staff who are managing the project. They can be at risk from local criminal and political instability or their families can be at risk from the problems they may face travelling on dangerous roads.

The key to crisis management in this foreign business environment is the development of a plan that adds local knowledge and expertise to help manage the threats. Coming to terms with the most efficient response to a crisis or emergency will depend, to a great extent, on the reliability of the planning and preparation that takes place beforehand.

In a recent experience in an Asian country going through severe political change and instability, a large transport company had attempted to set up an emergency evacuation structure for their people. They were working to deal with the threat of terrorism or the possibility of politically motivated kidnapping. In certain parts of South America and Asia, there is a continuous problem with short term kidnapping for fast financial gain.

In some Asian countries, there is rarely a day that goes by where there is not some reference to a financial deal done with terrorists related to a kidnap situation.

In this case, the company was slow in putting together guidelines for protecting the organisation against potential problems. A number of employees at the company had decided to take a plan into their own hands. They decided that if their families were the victims of kidnap for ransom or any form of terrorism, they would create their own group of negotiators and deal directly with the kidnappers.

Their fear was exacerbated by an incident where the wife of one of the employees was threatened by a chauffeur driving their children to school. She fortunately was able to take control of the vehicle and drive her family to a safe situation. Her husband, with other expat friends, formed a local response group to deal with the situation, which led to a violent retaliation that involved company, government, police and consular officials. The situation did get out of control and the company was the loser. If they had a tested response plan there in the first place, the security threat would have been easier to deflect and control.

Finally, management stepped in and set up a formal crisis management plan that prescribed a security policy and offered guidance to ensure a state of pre-emergency readiness.

They worked with a private international security company to reduce the risks through a security program that identified the company’s exposures to problems in that region. Greater intelligence was gathered to ensure an understanding of the threats and appropriate measures were taken to protect the management and staff, but also to ensure continued operations.

Doing business in countries with unstable political structure calls for proactive crisis management.

Titanic crisis centenary

April 2012 is the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic. In January this year, the capsizing of the Costa Concordia sent a terrifying message that crisis management planning for passenger cruising has not progressed far in 100 years.

Safety was the central issue then, and safety was the issue on this new generation luxury ship. Again, almost 100 years later, passengers had to scramble to the other side of the sinking vessel as many of the lifeboats and rescue equipment were submerged. Also a key learning from the Titanic disaster was that passenger ships should have compartmentalisation to isolate flooding and allow water to be pumped away. This safety system appeared not to work on the Costa Concordia.

There are so many allegations of blame related to the company and the Captain from passengers on the bridge and "salute" manoeuvres that caused the ship to crash, to evacuations hampered by an ill prepared crew, the Captain deserting the ship and passengers bribing crew members for a place in lifeboats. The fact is, too many lives were lost in a shipping disaster that questions an industry lacking in regulation and safety standards.

Costa Cruises, owned by Carnival Corporation, say that Captain Shettino lied to the company and the ship's crew regarding the escalation of the incident. The confrontation between the Captain and the owners of the ship continues as the Captain has told the investigators that the company had instructed him to bring the ship close to the shore in a manoeuvre known as a "salute" to greet the people on the island. Records of the judge's statement in the hearing say that the Captain had "a total inability to manage the successive phases of the emergency".

Was there a crisis management and recovery plan in place? I think not. There seemed to be a breakdown in communication with passengers from ship to shore. Carnival's CEO Micky Arison took five days after the crisis unfolded to tweet - "I gave my personal assurance that we will take care of each & every one of our guests, crew and their families". This was included with a link to a Carnival press release promising to look after passengers. Then there were news reports that the cruise survivors have been offered a 30% discount on future cruises as part of possible compensation - a very insensitive approach to passenger relations.

The company was quick to blame Captain Shettino, but even if he was responsible for the incident, what controls and governance were in place to prevent the disaster occurring in the first place?

Six weeks after the Costa Concordia capsized, there was a major generator fire on the Costa Allegra in the Indian Ocean with a complete loss of power, sewerage, running water and air-conditioning. Helpless passengers waited days as they were towed to the Seychelles, fearing pirate attacks. There were no casualties.

The court of public opinion will decide on the future of the Costa brand but the centenary of the Titanic next month will show that little has changed in 100 years of luxury cruise ship accidents.

Virginia Tech shooting alert system "awesome"

In yesterday's tragic shooting at the Virginia Tech campus where two people were shot dead, the alerts to students were rapid. Four alerts were given in the first hour of the incident following a campus policeman being shot. They started as follows: "From VT alerts (12:37pm): Gun shots reports - Coliseum parking lot. Stay inside. Secure doors. Emergency personnel responding. Call 911 for help." Then several minutes later: "Suspect described as white male, gray sweat pants, gray hat w/neon green brim, maroon hoodie and backpack."

Virginia Tech has an alert emergency notification system for students, staff and faculty that uses a number of delivery methods to reach students via phone alerts, desktop alerts, electronic message boards, broadcast emails, PA systems and the Virginia Tech home page.

Early responses from students and staff say the system worked well. Some students told television media the alert system was "awesome". This immediate and proactive aspect of the emergency response to the university shooting was taking place as Virginia Tech officials in Washington appealed a $55,000 fine levied by the US Department of Education after the previous 2007 massacre which killed 33 people. The fine was imposed for waiting too long to notify students after the attack.

US State actions after the 2007 event included the following recommendations: to integrate campus emergency planning into State Emergency Plans, communicate emergency management plans to all educational institutions, students, parents and workers and develop clear communication plans and tools to communicate rapidly.

The US Federal enquiry key findings that came out of the 2007 event were that:

* Education officials, healthcare and law enforcement personnel are not fully informed about sharing critical information on dangerous persons.
* Parents, students and teachers must learn to recognise warning signs and encourage those who need help to seek it.
* It is essential to keep guns out of the wrong hands.
* Need to fully implement emergency preparedness through practice and communication.

In this week's Virginia Tech shooting, a huge number of social media sites carried student views and videos of the shooting scene - many of the images have been picked up and used by mainstream media.

Pre-planning communication with key stakeholders in a crisis is at the centre of strong crisis management. Effective, up-to-date communication systems typically enhance response effectiveness during a critical incident, and early reports indicate that the Virginia Tech emergency notification system was a valuable asset for campus stakeholders.

Crisis management - Responsive Business Prescription

Managing the constant barrage of crises in today's rapidly changing environment will ultimately rely on the use of the internet, the inter-connectiveness of the business value chain and managing the changing information status.

Dr. John Bates, Chief Technology Officer at responsive business specialist Progress Software, proposes that businesses plug in and profit in the face of constant crisis. In the special abridged edition of his forthcoming book, Business Attention Deficit, he says that organisations need to follow simple rules:

* "Gain real time visibility of business events as they happen.
* Proactively sense and respond to opportunities and threats
* Continually improve your business using 21st century techniques
such as social media, mobility solutions and the cloud."

Dr. Bates identifies recent rapid cataclysmic crises that put modern business on a war footing. He confirms that business has to be responsive and provide a bulwark against the worst case scenario, particularly related to the Flash Crash that wiped trillions of dollars off the US stockmarkets and confounded regulators and traders, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, escalating from an environmental crisis, and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan disrupting the supply chain in car parts and affecting the global automobile industry.

Identifying crisis threats needs to be constant. As an organisation changes, so do the threats. One year in a period of building, plant accidents may be high on the agenda and in another place, in another country, the threat of kidnap and ransom may be high on the agenda. As the organisation faces larger audiences, the threat of safety and security may be the priority. Once the threats have been identified, the priority is to determine the strategic and tactical responses that would contain, control and then recover from such an event.

Dr. Bates' book, "B.A.D. - How to plug in and profit in the face of constant crisis", was previewed at the Progress Revolution conference in Boston in 2011 and will be published in 2012.

Mine/Resource industry crisis preparedness

The mining resources industry has its fair share of risk. Some of the most sophisticated crisis management planning has been put in place by global mining and resource companies. Mining crisis management is tested, validated and integrated with emergency planning more than in most other industries. But the tragic loss of life in the mining industry continues as we saw in the recent Welsh colliery mining disaster, where the hunt for the miners ended with the news that all four miners were found dead. The tragedy played out typically through extensive live television, radio and press coverage, social media commentary and emotional family and community involvement throughout the escalation of the event.

In April 2010 in West Virginia, 29 miners were killed 1000 feet underground in the worst mining disaster in the US in 40 years. Thirty three Chilean miners were trapped in August last year in a massive cave-in. In this crisis, the miners were rescued in what was an outstanding example of rescue skills, crisis management planning and recovery. The miners were rescued after 69 days at 2,300 feet (700 m.) underground.

Currently, there is a Royal Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand's recent mine disaster in Pike River that killed 29 people. The Inquiry will examine and report on the causes of the explosions at the mine and subsequent loss of life, and all aspects of the safety regulatory regime and rescue operations at the mine.

Accidents will continue to happen. What resource companies and mining management must do is to shore up their strategic crisis management plans to link with emergency management plans, i.e.

* Be ready to make rapid strategic decisions as well as tactical response at site.
* Localise the response, while maximising corporate and strategic assistance.
* Create a tailor made plan around uniform standards.
* Train and validate plans with large simulations and training exercises.
* Start planning for recovery before a crisis occurs.
* Test critical information systems for sharing response actions.

What fundamentally distinguishes crisis-prepared from crisis-prone resource and mining organisations is their overall cultural view of crisis preparedness.

Product sabotage and social media

Criminal contamination is a crisis and this was never more obvious than the recent Nurofen product tampering in the UK.

One of the more popular painkillers, Nurofen Plus was criminally replaced with an anti-psychotic drug. Purchasers of the over-the-counter painkiller faced the serious situation that some packs contained a prescription only drug used to treat conditions such as schizophrenia instead of a simple headache. Reckitt Benckiser (UK) Limited recalled Nurofen Plus, reporting that sabotage was suspected. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) worked with the company and the Metropolitan Police to investigate.

Initially there seemed to be very little information regarding the recall provided on the Nurofen website or on the Facebook page. Some detail came in a basic statement on the website about ten hours later. Twitter identified public concern was being expressed by the consumer.

Being ready to respond to an escalating crisis via the web is as important as responding on radio and television and in the press. Utilising websites and social media will help control the high ground in an emerging or escalating critical product incident or product recall. This rapid communication tool can correct rumour and innuendo and protect the consumer, retain market share and manage the crisis.

It's almost 30 years since two mothers, two sisters, a bride, a 12 year old schoolgirl and a stewardess all took Extra Strength Tylenol and died from cyanide poisoning. This landmark case was managed very well by Johnson & Johnson, who developed a new tamper-proof package and worked with the FDA and the FBI to take control and virtually save their brand. The social media phenomena was not around then but maybe Johnson & Johnson would have used this tool to waylay fear and apprehension and communicate their product recovery. It is still in its early days for many drug companies and manufacturers.

When is a crisis plan out-of-date?

Recent oil spills, product recalls and natural disasters have identified major critical gaps in crisis planning processes. Systems change, authorities shift, equipment ages, new equipment is installed and, importantly, key people move.

A rapid response will save lives and property and should ensure minimal operational interruption, but there are a number of reasons why this may not be possible:

* ownership of the crisis management program have changed
* organisational changes have occurred across the business
* management expectations of crisis preparedness have altered
* emergency and crisis interface have not been tested recently
* new threats/risks have not been incorporated into the plan
* key stakeholders need reconfirming
* internal communication systems have not been validated recently
* loss of contact with essential agencies - fire, police, medical
* new employees are not familiar with contingency plans
* impact of "social media" in crisis has not been considered
* reputational and brand issues have shifted

A regular, formal crisis audit needs to be applied to confirm that all subsidiaries and contractors maintain the currency of their crisis plans. People become lazy about preparedness for crisis and live training exercises are the only way to ensure that crisis plans are functionally up-to-date.