Event Detail

In crisis communication, as in investor relations, the numbers are what they are. You cannot change them. Your only hope is to explain why they are what they are and, if you are lucky, how you plan to improve them. A key step is first putting them into context. If your audience does not understand or disagrees with their meaning, there'll be slim chance of explaining how to improve them. In addition, if you do not put the numbers into context, someone else will, and they are under no obligation to do it in a way you would consider fair. This presentation will focus on just a few of the numbers generated during the Fukushima crisis and how TEPCO failed to put them into an understandable context. TEPCO's Fukushima failure was so complete that it is easy to criticize. However, that doesn't help most corporate communicators. Most of us are not working in a controversial industry in which our corporation is considered to be in collusion with government regulatory agencies, nor will we soon encounter a crisis stemming from a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, a 30-meter tsunami and a triple meltdown. But what we can learn from this disaster is how communicating within context helps stakeholders to better understand the crisis. We can also find parallels with other incidents of crisis communications, such as the BP oil spill. Gil Chavez is a professor and consultant. He teaches analytics (critical thinking and quantitative analysis) in the Globis MBA program, and marketing communications in the International University of Japan's MBA. His consultancy focuses on leadership communications and earned media. VENUE: Tokyo American Club, Manhattan (B2F) MAP: NOTE: This meeting is OFF THE RECORD