Crisis Preparedness Tips

When your business is just a single fish in the big pond of commerce, it’s easy to become complacent about cyber security. No matter what size your business, determining how to secure your company’s data, devices and networks should be a priority for every business leader today, by using MissionMode crisis preparedness tips. At a recent roundtable, thought leaders from Interbrand, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Institute of Risk Management and Symantec discussed 10 things that every business owner should think about regarding cyber security. It’s Not All About You (or Your Business)...
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The most important thing to do when disaster strikes is to follow the how-to manual and crisis preparedness tips developed, updated and tested as a result of business continuity planning completed well before the plan needs to be executed. Not only is it a federal requirement by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) since Hurricane Katrina that healthcare facilities have a disaster recovery plan in place, your facility’s preparedness is a matter of life or death. Here are the top things to do to ensure your healthcare facility...
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Last December retail giant, Target, fell victim to a data breach in which hackers broke into their point-of-sale system and obtained personal information and credit card numbers impacting 110 million customers.  This was one of the largest data breaches in history and it exposed major shortcomings in Target’s crisis response readiness which led to the recent departure of chief executive, Gregg Steinhafel and CIO, Beth Jacobs. Other retail and financial industry leaders should look closely at Target’s handling of this crisis and review their own readiness to handle a similar...
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Part three of a three-part series Would an actor go on stage after just flipping through the script a couple of times? Of course not! So, once you have your business continuity plan or crisis preparedness plan together and everyone has had the appropriate training, it’s time for dress rehearsals. Or, as they’re known in the world of business continuity, crisis simulations. Without further ado, I bring you the fifth and final step of “5 Steps to Effective Crisis Preparedness”. 5. Crisis Simulations If you’ve never been through a fire...
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Part two of a three-part series In part one of this series, I covered the first two steps of crisis preparedness—vulnerability assessments and crisis planning. Today, we continue our discussion with more insights that will help you strengthen your organization against crises. 3. Evaluating the Need for Crisis Support Systems Evaluating the need for crisis support systems is probably the most under-employed element of effective crisis preparedness. What do we mean by a “Crisis Support System”? For any given organization, a Crisis Support System is the physical or organizational infrastructure...
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Part one of a three-part series Being prepared is an essential part of crisis preparedness and incident management, but it seems that a new corporate giant is caught without a clue on an almost daily basis. The current hot topics are just the latest in the parade of easily preventable crises that have damaged the finances and reputations of companies around the globe. In this three-part series, I’ll get you on your way to effectively preparing for crises, as well as addressing common mistakes. How to Prepare for Crises: An Inside...
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In today’s global economy, public health emergencies such as flu pandemics, natural disasters, chemical accidents and bioterrorism can wreak havoc on the health of your employees, business continuity and economic security. What steps can you take to preserve and protect your business before a crisis strikes? Click here for MissionMode crisis preparedness tips. The infographic below shows how initiatives and resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention help you safeguard your business from everyday health threats and major public emergencies. The infographic is provided by The CDC Foundation....
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It’s no surprise that crises can have a dramatic and prolonged effect on organizational reputation and share value. But new research now documents what we have known intuitively for a long time – that crises cost executives their jobs, and the stock market is brutally unforgiving of poor crisis preparedness and management performance. A study by international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Derringer examined 78 major reputation crises across 16 stock exchanges – including New York, London and Australia – and found not only a share price hit but an increased...
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The Crisis Insights blog was created for professionals who deal with crises and incidents, even if that’s not in their job description. Since its founding in 2012, there have been more than 100 posts on a wide range of crisis management topics. We have collected the 13 most popular articles in an eBook, “The Best of Crisis Insights”. eBook topics range from crisis management and crisis communications to organizational resilience. Download the eBook to further your professional education and you will: Learn the core principles of crisis communications Master the art of...
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  One of the most important issues facing public relations and communications professionals around the world remains the need to be prepared to deal effectively with crises. A massive international study of practitioners has ranked the importance of crisis preparedness second only to dealing with the speed and volume of information flow. And of course increasingly rapid information flow these days makes crisis management even harder. This decisive data comes from what has been called “the largest, most comprehensive study of leadership in public relations and communication management ever conducted,”...
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