Failing to protect your constituents isn’t good for the reputation The FDA can’t figure out what exactly is sending hundreds of dogs and cats to the vet, but they know it’s related to the popular jerky treats sold by many big brands. Unfortunately, that information alone isn’t enough to keep them off store shelves, leaving …

Knowing the potential impact of negative events can help you properly prepare for crisis management The type of crisis you experience can drastically change the impact it has on your organization. To illustrate this point, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer conducted a study of 78 different crises of reputation, and created a chart documenting their impact on …

When I was living in New York City from 1968 to 1976, the New York Knicks were one of the most feared teams in the NBA. With players like Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, and Bill Bradley, the Knicks were a joy to watch, especially during their 1969-1970 season when they beat the Los Angeles Lakers …

Stop at the red and go on the green. Wait your turn. Treat others the way you would like to be treated. Certain timeless rules are better obeyed than broken. But are there certain rules that may need to be broken? In today’s constantly changing business world, many of the rules that guided previous generations …

The retailer needs Hallmark’s crisis management after changing classic song lyrics for the 2013 Keepsake ornament With every holiday season comes a new set of crises, and it looks like we’re seeing our first major Christmas-related reputation hit. Hallmark is taking a ton of heat online due to the ornament shown below, part of its …

A fundraising campaign brochure can be an important tool for communicating the worth of a campaign to a targeted audience, as well as for making an organization’s “family” more knowledgeable about their organization and the purpose and structure of the campaign. Often, when the subject of a campaign brochure publication comes up, it is greeted …

Did Allstate really try to crash its own Twitter account? Typically, having one of your web pages crash in the middle of a promo is a bad thing, but Allstate actually wanted its @Mayhem Twitter feed to crash as part of a recent social media promotion. If you’ve seen an Allstate commercial recently then you’ve …

Use cases and workflow diagrams are two essential practices or methodologies that will effectively demonstrate a functionality of a product. To understand their value, they have to be defined. Use cases are a way to show how a user, consumer, or customer can utilize, or operate a product or application. It systematically details the reason …

As a leader in your organization, part of your role during strategic planning is to help establish goals that provide a foundation for the rest of the plan. It is important that you ensure the foundation is solid. Here are 4 responsibilities your role requires in ensuring the goals established are strategically developed and aligned with the plan.

We all know bad customer service when we see it. It makes us frustrated and angry. It’s been known to ruin days, weeks, months, years, holidays–even Christmas. I’ve got a story to illustrate what I mean. This story is true. I won’t use any names in order to protect the individuals involved. I will, however, …