Page 202 - Crisis Communication Practical PR Strategies

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Organizational Barriers 183
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Nike

Nike found this out a decade ago when it faced charges of
worker abuse at its subcontractor facilities in Asia. It received
bad press, lots of consumer threats, and was faced with possible
legal and regulatory actions. Its well-intentioned response was
to put into place, and publicize, a new set of corporate work-
place standards. The problem was that this response existed
mostly on paper, with very little inspection of its vendor sites, and
no real repercussions for its manufacturing partners who failed
to comply.
The company did try to fix the problem, but eventually it had
to go all the way into its procurement processes to make
changes. It stopped the practice of short-term, six-month con-
tracts with suppliers, which was creating a negative incentive for
its partners to push their workers to meet higher and higher pro-
ductivity demands. Nike changed its procurement processes to
build long-term relationships with its suppliers that offered
incentives for them to make, and afford, long-term improve-
ments in worker conditions.
Once faced with this issue, Nike had to make fundamental
business process and management changes, not just institute
some PR policy. What was the cost in terms of implementation
and lost business opportunity, not to mention their stock price,
while it worked through these fundamental business issues?

Assuming a quick fix will make the
problem go away

‘When it looks like it’s over, it’s just begun.’

The Nike example illustrates that there are no quick fixes during a
crisis or issues-management situation and that the problem rarely
completely resolves itself.
Many companies have a false sense of resolution. They think that by
responding with some PR programme, such as posting information on
the web, hosting an informational webinar, taking out an ad, or maybe
patching up community relations with a charitable donation, will
somehow fix the problem. They’re ready to move on to the next chal-
lenge, without really understanding the root of the problem, the