Crisis Management Gone Wrong

A look at the Exxon Valdez oil spill crisis. The Exxon Valdez oil spill is one of the most highly scrutinized crisis management cases. Over 1,000,000 barrels of oil spilled into the water when an oil tanker went aground entering the Prince William Sound.

Proper crisis management highlights a few key steps to follow, of which Exxon did a poor part of demonstrating in its crisis response.

1. Timeliness of response:
Exxon CEO waited 6 days before he spoke at all to the media about the oil spill. Our Text, outlines the its best for the company to respond on the issue within 36 hours of its exposure.

2. Don't Constantly Deny Media

Exxon continued to deny the media's request to answer questions. This does nothing but give reason for the media to be creative and publish its own assumptions as to the questions they are trying to figure out, which most probably is not accurate.

3. Keep Information Accurate

Exxon didn't efficiently verify the information to be revealed to the media. This caused Exxon to have released contradictory information, creating an image of foolishness and led many to doubt what information was actually true and correct.

Be sure to respond quickly, have uniform information, and work collaboratively with the media to ensure less gossip stories that create and circulate rumors.