Page 123 - Crisis Communication Practical PR Strategies

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1 104 Crisis Communication

capital city, Dublin. With the development of Dublin’s infrastruc-
ture and the rapid rise in property prices in the city, villages like
Ballivor were growing rapidly as more people had to move
outside the immediate Dublin area to find affordable homes.
The bulk of the 350 employees at NEC Semiconductors in
Ballivor came from within a 30-mile radius of the plant, with a
core group of longer serving staff from the village itself.
In drawing up its communication plan to announce the
closure, the NEC management had a number of issues to con-
sider. First was the need to ensure that no public announcement
was made and no information leaked before the staff had been
informed. Second, it was also important to notify the Irish
Government and the state bodies who had encouraged NEC to
come to Ireland in 1976 and who had supported the company
in the initial years through generous inward investment pro-
grammes. These programmes have resulted in Ireland attracting
virtually all of the leading technical and pharma companies to
set up manufacturing plants in the country. Intel, HP, Dell, Pfizer,
Wyeth and many similar businesses have provided a strong
base for the economic prosperity enjoyed by Ireland over the
past 15 to 20 years. Third, there were Tokyo Stock Exchange reg-
ulations to consider as the NEC Semiconductor parent company
was a listed company.
A programme was prepared involving local senior managers
with the aid of external IR and PR support with experience of
similar situations. The announcement day, 21 February 2006,
was selected based on the objectives listed above and a
schedule of activities prepared leading to that day. Media infor-
mation, Q&As and backgrounders were all prepared and
signed off by management in Ireland and Tokyo.
The timing of the announcement was problematic as the plant
worked three shifts around the clock. It was agreed that the
announcement should be made at 4 pm on a Tuesday so that
those coming off the second shift and those reporting for the
third shift would all be on the premises. This left one shift to be
included, which operated from 11 pm to 7 am. It was decided
that workers on that shift should be requested to return to the
plant following their shift for a company announcement
regarding its future. Advance notice of the meeting was also
given to the workers representatives, SIPTU (Services Industrial
Professional Technical Union) and government agencies and
representatives.