Code Red in the Boardroom: Crisis Management As Organizational DNA

Even several years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many organizations are ill-prepared to deal with crises, often opting to deal with them only after the fact. In Code Red in the Boardroom, Tim Coombs argues that crisis management should be a variety of activities that the organization performs daily to prevent crises from occurring. He defines the types of crises an organization might experience (both internal and external), draws from a wide variety of case examples, and showcases cutting-edge techniques that are being tested in the public and private sectors to demonstrate how crisis management can be hardwired into the corporate DNA, so that sensing, preventing, and responding quickly to crises become everyone’s responsibility. In the process, he explores evolving roles for executives, managers, and front-line employees in communicating and implementing crisis plans. Ultimately, the book shows readers how proactive crisis management makes the company stronger, more resilient, and adaptable to change. A glossary of key terms and templates for establishing a crisis management program make this book an essential resource for all organizations.

Even several years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many organizations delude themselves about crisis management. Some enterprises, especially smaller ones, still believe that a crisis cannot happen to them. Others have gone through the steps of creating a crisis management plan, but really pay no more than lip service to the program, and may, in fact, be creating a false sense of security that leaves the company even more vulnerable to attack, accident, crime, or other sources of crisis. Tim Coombs argues that crisis management should not just be something you do when a crisis hits. It should be a variety of activities that the organization performs daily to prevent crises from ocurring.

In Code Red in the Boardroom, Coombs defines the types of crises an organization might experience (both internal and external), draws from a wide variety of case examples, and showcases cutting-edge techniques that are being tested in the public and private sectors to demonstrate how crisis management can be hardwired into the corporate DNA--so that sensing, preventing, and responding quickly to crises become everyone’s responsibility. In the process, he explores evolving roles for executives, managers, and front-line employees in communicating and implementing crisis plans. Ultimately, the book shows readers how proactive crisis management makes the company stronger, more resilient, and adaptable to change. A glossary of key terms and templates for establishing a crisis management program make this book an essential resource for all organizations.

W. TIMOTHY COOMBS is Associate Professor in the Communication Studies Department, Eastern Illinois University, where he teaches courses in crisis management, corporate communications, and public relations. Previously on the faculty of Wayne State University, Clemson University, and Illinois State University, he is the author or coauthor of two textbooks, Ongoing Crisis Communication and Today’s Public Relations, and dozens of articles in such publications as Public Relations Review, Management Communication Quarterly, and the Journal of Public Affairs. He also consults on issues of crisis management, communication, and public relations for clients in the petrochemical, construction/engineering, and healthcare industries.