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The Most Useful Crisis Management Examples: The Good, Bad, and Ugly

By Andy Marker | August 19, 2020

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Review crisis management examples to learn from others’ experiences with this comprehensive collection of case studies. Examples are organized by theme, and include crisis management successes and failures.

In this article, find crisis management examples organized by best practice , five of the costliest crises ever (and what was learned) , and examples of companies that have built the world’s most valuable brands by safeguarding their reputations.

What Is Crisis Management?

Crisis management refers to the practice of preparing for negative incidents, minimizing their damage and disruption, and getting an organization back on track as quickly as possible. Crisis managers anticipate likely threats and develop strategies to cope with their impact. To read more about crisis management please visit our "The Essential Guide to Crisis Management" article.

Effective Crisis Management Examples

Effective crisis management occurs when an organization employs skillful planning and a proactive response to avert a crisis entirely, limit its severity and duration, or turn it into an opportunity. These examples feature organizations that responded with transparency and agility.

CPG Product Crisis Management Example: Tylenol Product Tampering

In 1982, seven people in the Chicago area died after taking Tylenol capsules poisoned with cyanide. The tampering was believed to have occurred when someone injected the chemical into capsules and returned them to store shelves. The deaths remain unsolved, but the way Johnson & Johnson handled the episode has become a teaching case study for effective crisis management at Harvard Business School and elsewhere. In 2003, Fortune magazine named James Burke, the company’s CEO at the time, as one of history’s greatest CEOs for the way he handled the scare.

Below are some highlights of Johnson & Johnson’s handling of the crisis:

Fast and Decisive Action: According to a book on the case by Harvard Professor Richard Tedlow, on the afternoon of the first two deaths, the company halted all product advertising, sent 450,000 messages to hospitals, doctors’ offices, and other stakeholders, and established toll-free hotlines for consumers. At a cost of more than $100 million, the company recalled all products from store shelves — one of the first nationwide recalls — even though government officials felt that doing so was excessive. Additionally, Johnson & Johnson issued warnings to consumers not to take its pain reliever.
Honesty and Integrity: Despite evidence that the poison was introduced via store shelves, Johnson & Johnson did not try to evade blame. As a result, Burke was praised for his honesty. His integrity stood out in the context of the post-Nixon era and the unforthright handling of the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster. The company became a pioneer in developing tamper-proof packaging, and eventually moved away from capsules to a more tamper-resistant caplet. Burke was candid in expressing regret that the company had not done so right away.

In less than a year, Tylenol regained its market share and sales leadership, and according to a BrandSpark study, it continues to rank highly for consumer trust.

For a comprehensive look at crisis management in the Tylenol deaths, see this profile of Burke’s leadership and analysis of Johnson & Johnson communications .

Healthcare Crisis Management Example: Global Pandemic

While the global pandemic that began in late 2019 challenged many organizations, the calamity also highlighted examples of strong crisis management.

The Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi operates as a U.S. medical center in the United Arab Emirates. The hospital faced COVID-19 early in its migration beyond China. The clinic responded quickly in order to both expand its emergency capacity and continue providing care for cancer and transplant patients, as well as for those with other complex needs.

Dr. Rakesh Suri, CEO of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, says that forming a crisis management team (that included individuals from all levels of the organization) was a critical step, as doing so enabled the hospital to act with agility. The medical center also coordinated with other local hospitals to maximize resources and play to each institution’s strengths.

The executive team took extra steps to take care of staff, including talking honestly about their emotional challenges and providing sleeping rooms, meditation space, online workouts, nutritious food, counseling, and childcare.

An in-depth case study on the hospital surfaced several lessons, including the importance of preparing for worst-case scenarios, leaders empowering their teams to solve problems innovatively, encouraging candor, proactively engaging all stakeholders, and taking care of physical and mental well-being.

In business, companies had to pivot quickly as the pandemic changed the marketplace. A 2020 Harvard Business School study of 350 senior executives in China who faced the crisis early found some key commonalities among those who managed effectively, including the following:

Improve decision-making by moving away from the hierarchical model.
Collaborate in new ways with customers, suppliers, regulators, and even competitors.
Support remote work by changing company culture to prioritize trust and results over command-and-control and physical presence.
Ask employees to self-select for challenging assignments in order to get maximum ownership and motivation.
Embed new learning and innovative digital strategies that arise in a crisis into your organization’s muscle memory.

Examples of Bad Crisis Management (and What They Teach Us)

In contrast, examples of poor crisis management are usually marked by fundamental errors in preparation or execution of an emergency plan — and sometimes both. Often, these problems compound, which only multiplies the scale of the crisis.

This is especially true in so-called black swan events — incidents that are extremely rare, have severe consequences, and are generally perceived in hindsight to have been obvious to happen. Since the likelihood of a black swan event occurring is low, leaders may dismiss the risk (if they are even conscious of it). But, the grave consequences of black swan events can pose a much larger threat.

Following are real-world examples of weak crisis management and the lessons crisis managers can take from them.

Natural Disaster Crisis Management Example: Hurricane Katrina

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S. Gulf Coast and flooded New Orleans, causing more than $100 billion in property damage and killing more than 1,800 people. Even though the hurricane began as a natural disaster, the scale of the catastrophe was man-made. Various analyses of the response, including a report by Congress, focused on weak aspects of the crisis management and highlighted the following important lessons:

Preparation Is Key: In 2006, a study by the Army Corps of Engineers found that the levees built to protect New Orleans from flooding were incorrectly engineered, poorly built, and insufficiently funded. Additionally, government officials who were aware of the storm forecast did not make provisions to evacuate residents who did not have cars or could not afford bus fare, which left tens of thousands of vulnerable people stuck in the city. The government also didn’t position enough emergency supplies in New Orleans ahead of the storm.
Train Your Crisis Team: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was led by officials who were political appointees and had no experience in disaster management. A congressional review found that agencies handling the response were unsure of their roles and responsibilities. Government agencies failed to learn from a drill of a similar hurricane hitting New Orleans the previous year.
Simplify Communications and Decision Making: Federal and local crisis managers struggled to communicate due to equipment failure and incompatible technologies. Confusion among different levels of government paralyzed decision making. Ultimately, the crisis plan was too complex — with 29 federal agencies playing a role, duties were unclear and too much red tape hampered efforts.
Act Quickly but Not Rashly: About $2 billion spent by FEMA in Hurricane Katrina was wasted or fraudulently claimed, according to a New York Times analysis. In many ways, this was a symptom of a poorly planned and executed crisis response. For example, FEMA ordered $100 million in excess ice that truckers shuttled around the country for weeks while the agency tried to figure out where it should go (after storing it for two years, the government melted the ice). Additionally, the agency spent $7.9 million to renovate a former army base as a shelter in Alabama that only 10 people stayed at (the shelter closed within a month). Half of the mobile homes ordered as temporary housing — at a cost of $430 million — went unused.

For in-depth case study of Hurricane Katrina crisis management, see “Katrina and the Federal Emergency Management Agency: A Case Study in Organizational Failure. ”

Industrial Disaster Crisis Management Example: Bhopal Gas Leak

In 1984, a toxic gas leak from a Union Carbide India pesticide plant in Bhopal, India killed up to 30,000 people from immediate and long-term effects (according to estimates) and injured about 575,000. The accident is one of the world’s worst industrial disasters.

The leak was caused by the introduction of water into a chemical tank, which resulted in a heat-generating, runaway reaction. Several inquiries found evidence of company negligence, but an internal analysis blamed employee sabotage.

Researchers have written extensively about the accident, and some of the lessons cited are universally helpful in crisis management, including the following:

Rehearse Emergency Procedures: The plant did not have an emergency plan, and plant operators did not know how to handle an emergency. No effective public warning system or public education about the risks were in place.
Prioritize Crisis Readiness: The company reduced training and staffing at the plant to save costs. Supplies of gas masks were inadequate, and several plant safety mechanisms were either deactivated or faulty. Additionally, several experts found that there weren’t enough operators for the unit to function safely. On the night of the accident, the supervisor delayed investigating an initial small leak until after a crew break, rather than being proactive.
Share Information: A U.S. Union Carbide plant found earlier in the year that a runaway reaction in the chemical tank could happen, but they didn’t communicate it to the India plant. When the leak occurred, plant staff did not inform senior managers or local authorities. Most of the information on the chemical involved, including how to treat exposure, was proprietary and was not disclosed. So, public health authorities and hospitals in Bhopal did not know immediately what victims had been exposed to (and therefore couldn’t provide the best antidotes).

For in-depth case studies on the Bhopal accident, see Union Carbide Corp.’s site dedicated to the tragedy, as well as “ An Analysis of the Bhopal Accident” and “ The Bhopal Disaster and Its Aftermath .”

Five of the Most Costly Corporate Crises and Their Lessons

In addition to the human toll, a crisis can also be financially devastating for a company and its shareholders. Aside from direct costs, businesses may face fines, damage claims, legal settlements, damage to brand value, exodus of key revenue-generating staff, competitive disadvantages, and stock price declines.

Social media has compounded these effects. A study by Pentland Analytics that compared corporate crises in 2000 and 2018 found that social media amplified damage, doubling the loss of shareholder value (from a 15 percent to a 30 percent decline in the first year after a crisis).

The most costly crises have multi-dimensional financial impacts. Following are some examples of calamities that caused extensive financial damage to the companies.

Five of the Most Expensive Corporate Crises and their Lessons

1. Example: BP Deepwater Horizon

In 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil-drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, killing 11 employees and causing an oil leak that lasted for three months. This is the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.

The oil spill devastated the environment and tourism. Damage to the environment has been long-lasting — one study valued the impact at $17.2 billion . The spill also caused billions of dollars in negative economic impact on tourism in the region. Meanwhile, the financial toll for the company included the following costs:

Through early 2020, BP paid about $70 billion in clean-up costs, legal settlements, and fines.
In the two months after the spill, the company’s shareholders lost $105 billion as its stock price plummeted.
For a time, the company’s survival was in question. Its bonds crashed in value, and the company had to stop paying dividends for three quarters.
In the United States, the BP brand faced a backlash from consumers, and BP gas stations saw sales drop 10 to 40 percent in the immediate aftermath of the spill.
BP had to reduce its business spending for years, which analysis said put it behind competitors such as Shell, whose brand value rose 24 percent that year, according to Interbrand. BP dropped from the second-largest global oil company in 2010 to fourth, where it has remained.

Crisis Management Lesson: Create a Safety Culture Studies have attributed the accident to a series of human mistakes and technical failures in the context of a high-risk corporate culture and weak regulatory supervision . The studies noted overconfidence on the part of BP, based on many years of not having an offshore well blowout in deep water. They also cite a lack of planning for low-probability, high-impact oil spills.

Operators and managers grew accustomed to normalizing signs of potential trouble and ignored weak signals of looming disaster. Alarm systems on the rig were suppressed, and crucial equipment was not properly maintained. The Center for Catastrophic Risk Management at the University of California Berkeley blamed the absence of a safety culture and shortsighted prioritization of the bottom line. According to the center’s report, BP “forgot to be afraid.”

2. Example: Wells Fargo

For 14 years, until the practice was exposed in 2016, hundreds of thousands of Wells Fargo employees opened customer accounts without consent to meet sales targets and generate fees for the bank. The financial consequences included the following:

The bank paid more than $7 billion to settle government investigations and private lawsuits.
Wells Fargo lost business from the state governments of California and Illinois, as well as from the cities of Chicago, Philadelphia, and Seattle, among others who cited the illegal behavior as the reason.
In response to the scandal, in 2018, the Federal Reserve imposed a limit on the bank’s growth, putting Wells Fargo at a competitive disadvantage and costing it an unknown amount of potential increase in customers and loans.
The company lost $220 billion in stock market value in the two and a half years after the enforcement action. The stock hit a 10-year low in May 2020, faring far worse than its peers.
The bank has racked up heavy expenses related to the crisis, including legal fees, investigation costs, and spending on an ad campaign aimed at restoring consumer trust.

Crisis Management Lesson: Live Up to Your Company Values to Avoid Scandals According to the government, Wells Fargo executives were aware of the abuses as early as 2002, but failed to act despite espousing a culture of integrity. The executives imposed such aggressive sales targets for staff that many employees said they felt they had no choice but to engage in the illegal practices. The government is pursuing some individual executives for their roles.

For an in-depth discussion, you can read the full report issued by the U.S. House of Representatives .

3. Example: Equifax

In 2017, Equifax, a credit reporting bureau, suffered a data breach that gave hackers access to sensitive personal information for 147 million consumers. The incident was the most expensive data security breach to date. In 2020, four members of China’s People’s Liberation Army were indicted in the United States in the breach.

The company had $1.7 billion in legal settlements, fines, fees for consultants, lawyers, and investigators, and the cost of providing credit monitoring and identity protection to consumers.
In the week after Equifax disclosed the breach, the company lost $5.3 billion in market valuation as its stock price declined 31 percent.
For the first time ever, a credit rating agency downgraded its outlook on a company over cybersecurity concerns. A credit rating downgrade increases a company’s borrowing costs. Moody’s dropped its rating on Equifax to negative from stable in 2019, two years after the breach, citing continued high costs related to the hack. Moody’s further projected that the spending would continue to hurt Equifax’s profitability.

Crisis Management Lesson: Take Crisis Prevention and Planning Seriously A congressional investigation found that relatively basic mistakes at Equifax led to the breach. For example, the attack occurred through a server vulnerability that was a known issue. Equifax had previously notified its system administrators to patch the issue, but the person responsible for the point of entry did not get the message because Equifax’s email list was out of date.

An expired digital certificate allowed malicious network activity to stay hidden. Proper data governance protocols, which limit user access to sensitive information, were not in place — this allowed the attackers to run about 9,000 queries to find the consumer data. The attack lasted about 76 days before it was discovered.

The company’s public response contained many missteps (including directing consumers to a website that had bugs, according to IT experts) and as such, did not inspire confidence. For example, the site asked consumers, who had just had personal information stolen via Equifax, to enter most of their Social Security numbers to find out if they were included in the hack. The company mistakenly tweeted a phishing link for the response website four times instead of the correct URL, according to Wired magazine.

Crisis management experts said Equifax lacked comprehensive prevention and response plans and faulted the company’s slow disclosure. (Equifax discovered the breach in July 2017 but did not reveal it until September 2017.) Given the sensitivity of the information in their database, Equifax should have had much more robust preparation, experts said.

For details on crisis management planning, see “ Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Crisis Management Plan .” You can also use one of these free disaster recovery planning templates to help get your business back on track.

4. Example: JP Morgan Chase

In 2012, a trader in JP Morgan Chase’s London office, nicknamed the London Whale, ran a portfolio of esoteric derivative investments. The trader was part of a team whose mandate was to hedge the bank’s operating risks. But, the whale’s investment strategies turned out to be flawed, and the size of these transactions was so great that they affected world credit markets. The whale’s trades ultimately lost money on a massive scale, and the company sustained the following financial impacts:

Investment losses of $6.2 billion.
JP Morgan Chase received fines of more than $1 billion by U.S. and British regulators.
Senior executives were stripped of $75 million in compensation after an internal investigation.
The company had to pay one hundred and fifty million to settle a shareholder class action lawsuit.
A loss in stock market value of $14.4 billion in the two days after disclosing the problem.
The company’s reputation as a careful risk manager was also damaged. In 2012, research company Interbrand found that the value of JP Morgan’s brand had dropped 8 percent, to $11.5 billion.

Crisis Management Lesson: The C-Suite Needs to Stay on Top of Risk When he realized the full potential for disaster, the London Whale, whose real name is Bruno Iksil, suggested that the company immediately take a loss on the positions. This move would have resulted in much less financial damage.

But, according to a U.S. Senate report, his managers began to conceal the magnitude of losses. They produced a shadow spreadsheet and hoped the investment positions would turn around, which resulted in mounting losses.

Reviews of the episode found that risk-management practices for the division were less rigorous than for other areas of the bank. First, the bank ignored warning signs from its risk metrics and then changed the risk standards (so the warning signs went away), according to a company report.

Although people internally realized the potential extent of losses, bank management downplayed them in public. In 2012, CEO Jamie Dimon dismissed the incident as a “complete tempest in a teapot,” the Senate report said, a position he would later reverse.

The bank‘s investigation found that there was too little scrutiny of the London activities by its top management. In the aftermath, the bank strengthened risk management and made the review team more independent to address the group-think mentality that limited questioning of the investment strategy, JP Morgan said. The episode sparked calls for tougher regulation.

5. Example: Facebook

In March 2018, a whistleblower told two newspapers that a British firm called Cambridge Analytica had bought data about 87 million users and their friends without their consent from Facebook. The company used the data to build voter profiles that Cambridge sold to election campaigns, including Donald Trump’s presidential run.

The episode sparked a scandal over user privacy at Facebook, the biggest of many. CEO Mark Zuckerberg was called to testify before Congress. The company faced investigations by regulators in the United States and Britain, as well as lawsuits from several jurisdictions.

The financial repercussions included the following:

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission imposed a $5 billion fine against the company — the largest ever. The FTC said Facebook’s behavior violated a previous consent decree with the agency. The Securities and Exchange Commision fined the company $100 million and British regulators fined 500,000 pounds.
Engagement on Facebook dropped by 20 percent in the months after the scandal, a metric that affects the company’s ad revenue.
Facebook users’ confidence in the company dropped 66 percent in the weeks after the scandal broke and Zuckerberg testified before Congress, according to a Ponemon Institute survey. Some users quit Facebook (including 3 million Europeans) in the subsequent months over privacy abuses. The hashtag #DeleteFacebook began trending on social media, and public support for tighter regulation of social media grew.
Growth in Facebook revenue and users dropped in the quarter after the Cambridge Analytica affair. The company’s stock valuation lost $130 billion in two hours after the news, weakening the social network’s forecast further.
Facebook sustained a drop in brand value of 6 percent (about $2.9 billion) for the year to $45.2 billion, according to Interbrand.

Crisis Management Lesson: Apologize When You are Wrong U.S. investigators found that Facebook violated consumer trust by allowing a third party to collect users’ personal data without their knowledge. The data collectors also violated Facebook policies that required deleting the data.

Facebook CEO Zuckerberg was silent for five days before issuing a statement acknowledging that mistakes had been made. Facebook users heavily criticized the response, prompting Zuckerberg later to say, “I’m sorry” in media interviews. IT experts said the response was slow and underwhelming.

Critics faulted Facebook for technical decisions that resulted in app developers being able to access information about users’ friends, saying safeguards were inadequate. Commentators such as Tufts University cybersecurity expert Susan Landau also criticized Facebook for not taking legal action against Cambridge Analytica and for failing to inform users whose data was taken until well after the news broke.

The company placed full-page newspaper ads, made changes to data-handling practices, and implemented other reforms, but consumer trust remained damaged. Analysts said Facebook’s gestures, including its lack of apology, rang hollow and came too late.

Best Crisis Managers Safeguard Their Brands

Protecting your reputation is an important aspect of crisis management, and conveying authenticity and empathy is paramount when anyone is harmed.

Reputation research firm RepTrak found in a 2020 survey of 80,000 consumers globally that corporate responsibility (made up of workplace quality, governance, and corporate citizenship) accounts for 41 percent of its reputation. (For details on how and when to apologize, see “ Models and Theories to Improve Crisis Management .”)

Corporate reputation is an important influence on consumer behavior. RepTrak data shows a company with an excellent reputation activates willingness to buy among 79 percent of consumers, compared to 9 percent for companies with poor reputations.

Companies that maintain strong reputations through the decades are typically examples of strong risk and crisis management. But that is not to say they have necessarily avoided all calamities: sometimes, these organizations have faced a pivotal crisis and turned it into an opportunity to achieve long-term reputation strength.

Reputation is the primary determiner of brand value, which is a company asset that can be worth billions. Interbrand found that the value of the top 10 global brands in 2019 was collectively almost $1 trillion.

Top 10 Most Valuable Global Brands*

Apple: $234.2 billion
Google: $167.7 billion
Amazon: $125.3 billion
Microsoft: $108.9 billion
Coca-Cola: $63.4 billion
Samsung: $61.1 billion
Toyota: $56.2 billion
Mercedes: $50.1 billion
McDonald’s: $45.3 billion
Disney: $44.4 billion

*Source: Interbrand, 2019

Crisis Management Examples by Best Practice

Crisis case studies help illustrate best practices and how companies apply them. The following examples show how crisis management leaders and laggards performed on fundamental best practices in specific situations.

Crisis Management Best Practice: Form a Crisis Team

While you should have a designated crisis management team, you may also need smaller teams focused on particular issues. Cross-functional teams are often especially effective. Free team members from their normal duties while they are handling the crisis, remove constraints, and give them the resources they need, such as specialized external experts. When the crisis is over, review the team’s performance. (For more about crisis management teams, see “How to Build and Effective Crisis Management Team.”

Example: When Volkswagen faced a crisis over its diesel-emissions scandal, Oliver Larkin, group head of investor relations, told IR Magazine that the company “immediately put in place a task force team, with representatives from the communication side but also from the technical side and the legal side evaluating the information as it was coming through – and those people were working 24/7.” The group’s focus was on messaging, VW’s reputation, and relationships with major investors, and other responsibilities were put aside. Specialists, who were situation consultants, also joined the effort.

Crisis Management Best Practice: Have a Plan

Hopefully, your crisis management plan includes a communications plan that you’ve detailed in advance. But if not, or if you overlooked anything relevant to the crisis at hand, do some quick planning at the beginning of the crisis. Make sure to plan for social media, and draft holding statements. To learn how to write a plan, read “ Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Crisis Management Plan .”

Examples: In a case study of what not to do, Amazon faced negative attention around its 2019 Prime Day shopping promotion. Staff around the world protested over alleged poor working conditions and abusive company policies. Actions leading up to and on the day sparked media coverage, calls for legislative action, and late-night TV segments. Amazon did not comment publicly, defying public relations best practices. PR experts speculated the company did not have a crisis communications plan to mitigate the damage.

As an example of strong crisis communications, the American Federation of Government Employees, the union representing 700,000 employees of the U.S. federal government, responded to the coronavirus crisis with a multi-pronged communications plan. The goal was to draw attention to concerns over a shortage of protective gear and testing, policies, and short-staffing.

The union sued the federal government for hazard pay, and then targeted individual agencies by publicizing the plights of their staff to the media with press releases, TV appearances, and a daily newsletter. Internally, the union sent daily email alerts and digital campaigns to local leaders, weekly updates to members, mass texts, and memes to get the word out.

Crisis Management Best Practice: Pick the Right Spokesperson

Choose an individual who has the knowledge and training to address the crisis and is in a position of authority. You can coach the right person on working with the media, but putting a representative who lacks expertise in front of the cameras will backfire: your organization will come across uninformed or incompetent.

Example: During the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infection Diseases for more than 30 years, brought expertise to his role as explainer in chief to the American public.

He conveyed the importance of citizens staying home with clear and consistent messaging, and he deftly handled complex questions about science from the media. He gave interviews on social media, podcasts, sports shows, digital news sites, as well as traditional media, to reach all demographics, including teenagers.

Crisis Management Best Practice: Be Present

In a serious crisis, leaders should always be on site, either at headquarters or the location that makes the most sense. Cancel business trips, and return from vacations.

Example: In early 2020, wildfires burned more than 20 percent of Australia’s forests and killed 26 people. During the disaster, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison faced an outpouring of anger from citizens and intense media criticism after secretly taking a Hawaiian vacation and having his staff deny it.

The prime minister’s representatives refused to disclose his location, igniting a social media storm and dominating media coverage. Then, an Australian tourist shared a photo he snapped with the leader on a Hawaiian beach. The government had to backtrack, which caused huge embarrassment and a scandal about the cover-up.

Crisis Management Best Practice: Respond Quickly

Issue a statement within the first hour of a crisis and publish frequent updates. Keep customers and other stakeholders informed about progress. If you’re unsure about frequency, err on the side of too much communication, rather than too little.

Example: In 2018, after switching delivery companies, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) suffered supply problems that caused a shortage of chicken at its U.K. restaurants. The company was forced to close more than two-thirds of its locations.

Even though the crisis response group initially had little information about the problem, the team quickly acknowledged the issue publicly. Within hours the team explained what had happened, how it was being addressed, and when it would be solved.

“Our instinct was that we had to face the issue head on: a chicken restaurant without chicken. Not ideal,” a spokeswoman for KFC told Raconteur at the time. “We were responding live as we received new information. We acted fast in assessing the issue and working out the best approach.”

In a negative case study, General Motors in 2014 did a series of vehicle recalls due to faulty ignition switches that affected 30 million cars. The company ultimately paid about $4.1 billion in repair costs, victim compensation, and fines.

But perhaps even more damaging was the revelation that the automaker had known about the problem for at least a decade , at one point blaming the fault on short drivers and heavy key chains. The resulting publicity and congressional hearings harmed GM’s reputation, and one senator described the company as having a “culture of cover-up.”

Use a crisis communications strategy template to help you assign important responsibilities and build a process and response plan in the early stages of a crisis. For all other crisis management templates please visit our template article . You can also learn about step-by-step instructions on how to build a strong crisis management strategy , including free templates and tips from experts.

Crisis Management Best Practice: Be Compassionate

Respond empathetically to show that your organization cares about people. Fear of lawsuits often causes companies to resort to carefully parsed legal language or circumspection. While minimizing liability is important, showing your human side goes a long way to winning goodwill and defusing anger, which often is a motivating factor in lawsuits.

Example: In 2019, Boeing responded to news that its 737 MAX airplane had caused two crashes and killed 346 people due to faulty software by insisting the aircraft was safe and that there was no engineering or technical problem.

The CEO blamed poor pilot training. Governments around the world grounded all the planes. Crisis communications experts criticized Boeing’s handling as slow, legalistic, and lacking empathy. Moreover, they noted that Boeing’s stated values include acting with the highest ethical standards, taking personal responsibility, and valuing human life above all else, and that these should have guided its response.

Crisis Management Best Practice: Speak the Truth

Be upfront and transparent, and don’t hide behind euphemisms or jargon. The truth will eventually become clear, and obfuscating will only cause further mistrust and resentment.

Example: In a negative case study, United Airlines forcibly removed a 69-year-old doctor from an overbooked flight leaving Chicago in 2017. Security officers dragged him off the plane. A passenger captured the scene on video and bystanders reported the officers threw the man against an armrest. The doctor later said he lost two teeth and had a concussion and broken nose.

United CEO Oscar Munoz told employees by email the passenger had been “disruptive and belligerent.” In a public statement, he said the airline had to “re-accommodate” the man, a euphemism for the procedure of removing a paying passenger from the flight so an airline employee could have the seat.

The video of the doctor’s rough treatment went viral on social media and showed that the doctor had not acted out as Munoz claimed. United faced a wave of public anger, and its stock lost $1.4 billion in value. Munoz later apologized and promised the incident would not happen again, but his planned promotion to United’s chairman was canceled.

Crisis Management Best Practice: Focus and Move Ahead

Give the crisis full attention, but do not lose sight of your future. Whenever possible, align your crisis response actions with the long-term vision and overarching goals of your organization.

Example: In early 2020, Delta Air Lines (like all carriers) faced a catastrophe as a global pandemic virtually eliminated demand for airline travel. While challenges persisted, the airline began working toward regaining financial stability.

CFO Paul Jacobson, who crafted and led Delta’s financial crisis response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, canceled his announced retirement to help rebuild the airline. To accomplish this task, Jacobson used strategies such as securing emergency government aid and deferring long-term capital spending.

Crisis Management Best Practice: Communicate Clearly

Present information openly and in a way that others can understand. Recognize that personal perspective influences how everyone interprets information. Don’t hide from bad news.

Example: In 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated little more than a minute into flight, killing all seven crew members. Investigations found the cause was the failure of an o-ring seal in a solid rocket booster that allowed pressurized burning gas to escape and cause structural disintegration.

Poor communication and decision-making were determined to be major contributing causes to the disaster. The investigating commission found the launch should not have been approved. They cited a lack of effective communication between the decision-makers and the engineers, the absence of a formal communications channel which isolated management, and selective listening. The panel found the decision to proceed with the launch was based on incomplete and misleading information.

Crisis Management Examples by Type: Social Media, Product Problems, and More

Crisis management case studies are especially instructive when you compare how two organizations coped with relatively similar problems. The following examples are organized around crisis type, including social media crises.

Examples of Social Media and PR Crisis Management

Social media has enabled users to spread negative or embarrassing information about a brand in a nanosecond. Companies need to monitor social media actively and act quickly to address public relations problems. Unflattering episodes can go viral, severely damaging a company’s reputation.

Examples of Good Social Media Crisis Management

The most effective uses of social media to address company crises are typically characterized by speed and, when appropriate, humor — although companies should also address underlying issues.

Example: Popeye’s In 2019, Popeye’s debuted a fried chicken sandwich that consumers praised on Twitter, comparing it favorably to rival Chick-fil-A’s offering. Chick-fil-A responded with a tweet promoting its sandwich as “the original.” Popeye’s shot back cheekily, “Y’all good?” The retort ignited the so-called “chicken-sandwich wars,” which Popeye’s won as Americans flocked to its stores.
Example: Red Cross In 2011, the American Red Cross defused a crisis over a rogue tweet with humor. A staff member mistakenly sent a personal tweet to the organization’s account: “When we drink we do it right #gettngslizzerd.” As the tweet started to spread, Red Cross defused the PR nightmare with this tweet acknowledging the error: “We’ve deleted the rogue tweet but rest assured the Red Cross is sober and we’ve confiscated the keys.” A beer brand mentioned in the original tweet responded by asking its fans to donate to the Red Cross.
Example: Tide In 2018, teenagers uploaded to social media videos of themselves eating Tide laundry detergent pods, which are poisonous, in the “Tide Pod Challenge.” Rather than trying to ignore the controversy, manufacturer Procter & Gamble swung into action by lobbying social media platforms to remove the videos, mounting a communications campaign, and placing its own video of NFL player Rob Gronkowski urging people not to swallow the pods on social media and broadcast television.

Examples of Bad Social Media Crisis Management

Crises can start or worsen on social media when brands display insensitivity or are slow to react to growing negative engagement. Following are some examples of companies that mishandled social media.

Example: Gillette In 2019, razor maker Gillette sought to promote the values of the #MeToo anti-sexual harassment movement with a video that it placed on YouTube and in ads. After a century of promoting men who use its products as alpha males and virile, the company in the video first showed men bullying and mansplaining, and then contrasted them with empathetic men who stop others from bad behavior toward women. Despite some scattered praise, the video got twice as many dislikes as likes on YouTube, and calls for a Gillette boycott arose. Twitter users bashed the company for negatively stereotyping men and shaming its customers.
Example: Tinder In 2015, dating app Tinder responded to a negative article about it in Vanity Fair magazine with a 31-tweet rant. The tweets were defensive, included profanity, and a claim that the app had helped people in North Korea meet dates. The overreaction made Tinder the butt of jokes and drew negative attention to the company.
Example: Applebee’s In 2013, a waitress at restaurant chain Applebee’s posted a customer’s receipt on Reddit (with the name visible). The customer had written a critical comment about an automatic 18 percent tip added to the bill for a big party. Applebee’s said on Facebook, “We wish this situation hadn’t happened.” Thousands of negative comments flooded in every hour. The story went viral, and Applebee’s response was panned by PR experts as pouring gasoline on the fire. The company’s social media team answered Twitter comments by copying and pasting its corporate policy statement, which users perceived as a snarky response. Then, failing to keep up with the flood of reaction, the company disabled user posts on its Facebook page. Next, the team posted an update with the corporate statement, hiding the previous statement and more than 20,000 comments. Users perceived the tactic as deleting their posts, which enraged them.

Examples of Crisis Management Involving Product Problems

Product crises can be especially damaging for companies because their sales and brand are likely to suffer. Effective crisis management can ensure that the fallout is minimized. Poor crisis management can make it worse.

Examples of Good Crisis Management of Product Problems

Companies that manage crises caused by faulty products well show concern for customers, take responsibility for the issues, and respond decisively with improvements.

Example: Mattel In 2017, toy maker Mattel recalled nearly 2 million toys that were tainted with outlawed lead paint. The act angered parents and attracted regulator attention. The problem stemmed from a contract manufacturer that used paint not authorized by Mattel. Within a few days, Mattel identified the factory, halted production, and launched an investigation. The company voluntarily expanded its review and made two more product recalls, even adding an unrelated problem. The company imposed stringent new tests on products before they could be sold, changed suppliers, and put its own staff in contract manufacturing plants. Mattel communicated consistently and repeatedly apologized. The company won praise for its swift and honest response, and the company now enjoys a reputation of trustworthiness.
Example: Samsung In 2016, Korean electronics company Samsung faced a crisis when its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones exploded due to a battery problem. Sales slumped as airlines banned passengers from carrying the phone on board. Samsung responded by immediately taking accountability, being transparent about not immediately knowing the cause, and vowing to determine the problem. The company put 700 engineers on the problem and opened the research to third parties. When the problem was identified, the company communicated the issue clearly and introduced quality assurance and safety features. Samsung also launched a campaign aimed at tying its brand image to a larger purpose and improving its culture. In the next year, Samsung’s brand value rose 9 percent, according to Interbrand, and its Galaxy S8 yielded record profits the following year.

Examples of Bad Crisis Management for Product Problems

Examples of poor crisis management by companies over product issues are often marked by slow acknowledgement or even denial.

Example: Takata Japanese auto parts maker Takata produced car airbags that exploded and were linked to at least 14 deaths. Governments recalled some 70 million airbags by 2017. Studies of the problem found design and engineering flaws. Before the extent of the problem became clear, Takata did not want to face embarrassment or prosecution. A senate report found that the company manipulated test data and did not adequately address safety concerns. The report concluded the company’s safety culture was broken. Takata ultimately went bankrupt with an estimated $15 billion in liabilities for recall and other costs.
Example: Nike In 2019, U.S. star college basketball player Zion Williamson sprained his knee when his Nike shoe broke, little more than 30 seconds into a highly anticipated game. The crisis quickly gained the name “shoegate” in the media. The company’s stock dropped $1.1 billion the next day, social media buzzed with jokes and jabs, and commentators described the incident as a brand failure. While the incident did not inflict long-lasting damage on the company, Nike was panned for waiting for three hours to issue a response. They stumbled by minimizing it as an “isolated incident,” while media reports pointed out four other recent similar shoe malfunctions.

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Harvard Business School →
Faculty & Research →
August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
HBS Case Collection

Amazon.com, 2021

Format: Print
| Language: English
| Pages: 48

Related Work

November 2017
Faculty Research

Amazon.com, 2016

Amazon.com, 2016 By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth
Amazon.com, 2021 By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin

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The truth will not reveal itself.

from The Center for Investigative Reporting

How Amazon hid its safety crisis 

How Amazon hid its safety crisis

Will Evans | September 29, 2020

Robots. Prime Day. Holiday peak. Internal records show Amazon has deceived the public on rising injury rates among its warehouse workers.

In fact, as senators have fired off letters to the company and workers have led walkouts over health and safety, Amazon has engaged in an unapologetic public relations campaign. Robots, Amazon insists , are good for workers. “They make the job safer,” Jeff Wilke, one of two CEOs under Bezos, told PBS FRONTLINE last September. And Prime Day and the holiday rush are so well orchestrated, Amazon has claimed, that injury rates stay flat or even go down during these buying frenzies. Thanks to “diligent record-keeping,” Amazon told Business Insider , “we know for a fact that recordable incidents do not increase during peak.”

But a new cache of company records obtained by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting – including internal safety reports and weekly injury numbers from its nationwide network of fulfillment centers – shows that company officials have profoundly misled the public and lawmakers about its record on worker safety. They reveal a mounting injury crisis at Amazon warehouses, one that is especially acute at robotic facilities and during Prime week and the holiday peak – and one that Amazon has gone to great lengths to conceal. With weekly data from 2016 through 2019 from more than 150 Amazon warehouses, the records definitively expose the brutal cost to workers of Amazon’s vast shipping empire – and the bald misrepresentations the company has deployed to hide its growing safety crisis.

Amazon warehouse injury rates

Look up injury rates at the Amazon warehouse that ships your package, along with more than 150 other warehouses across the country.

The internal reports cheer incremental progress in a specific month or region; call out problem warehouses with the worst injury numbers; and detail safety initiatives, action items and pilot projects. While the reports show a committed drive to improve processes with technology or design changes, they don’t propose reducing the intense workload for Amazon’s warehouse employees, which is what helps drive Amazon’s speed.

Amazon often points to the tens of millions of dollars it has invested to enhance safety practices. Yet Amazon’s injury rates have gone up each of the past four years, the internal data shows. In 2019, Amazon fulfillment centers recorded 14,000 serious injuries – those requiring days off or job restrictions. The overall rate of 7.7 serious injuries per 100 employees was 33% higher than in 2016 and nearly double the most recent industry standard.

Serious injury rates at Amazon fulfillment centers

Catching Amazon in a lie

Amazon says its warehouses are safe for workers. But the numbers reveal that workers are getting hurt much more often than the company claims.

About an hour south on Interstate 5 from Amazon’s Seattle headquarters is DuPont, Washington, and a company warehouse called BFI3. Last year, its workers experienced the highest injury rates of any Amazon fulfillment center in the country: 22 serious injuries for every 100 workers. That’s a rate more than five times higher than the most recent industry average.

Serious injury rates at Amazon’s DuPont warehouse

A former senior Amazon safety manager said that within a year or two of introducing the robots, the unintended consequences had become clear to Amazon’s safety team. “We vastly underestimated the effects it was going to have on our associates,” said the former safety manager, whom we agreed not to name because he left on good terms with the company and, overall, has a positive impression of how Amazon otherwise handled safety. “We realized early on there was an issue. It was just – you’re already moving that way at light speed, so how do you take a step back and readjust?”

As far back as December 2015, just over a year after Amazon debuted its fleet of robots, OSHA issued a hazard alert letter against an Amazon robotic warehouse in New Jersey. OSHA called out Amazon for conditions that resulted from the robotics innovation: “The company exposed employees to ergonomic risk factors including stress from repeated bending at the waist and repeated exertions, and standing during entire shifts up to 10 hours, four days a week and sometimes including mandatory overtime shifts.”

The federal agency recommended measures – such as an extra rest break and rotating employees to different jobs throughout the day – that Amazon has yet to implement across its warehouse network. And Amazon’s data show that by the end of 2016, its robotic warehouses had significantly higher injury rates than its traditional facilities.

Yet in May 2019, Wilke, Amazon’s co-CEO, said in a tweet, “What some folks may not know is that the robots make those jobs better and safer.” He also said robots allow “people to take advantage of their innate human creativity instead of doing rote things over and over again.”

Amazon’s robotic fulfillment centers have higher serious injury rates

Injuries at Amazon’s sortable warehouses

“I’d have managers sitting there watching these people work very improperly” he said, “and they don’t say anything. Because it’s about rate and productivity.”

In 2018, Amazon safety officials did what they called a “deep dive” analysis into why so many workers at the DuPont warehouse gave negative feedback in a routine safety survey. To the question, “Does the safety training match the real world expectations of your job?” 36% of the site’s workers gave an “unfavorable” response. For months, that was the safety question with the worst response, and it wasn’t budging even with retraining.

Trying to figure out why, Amazon got a common explanation from workers, according to the report: The work “requires me to move too quickly, so I am forced to either cut corners or not make rate.”

The report said BFI3 leadership was seeking “to improve processes and ensure that they can be performed safely at rate.”

Yet not one of the dozens of safety initiatives described in the 2018 and 2019 internal safety reports obtained by Reveal suggests slowing down production quotas to reduce injuries.

“In the end, I don’t think it’s that hard of an issue,” Wendt said; the answer is to “lower the rate.” But, he added, “I don’t think that was ever an option in their head or even thought of as a route to take.”

Wendt left Amazon for a fire department job in early 2019. That year, the warehouse’s injury problem got even worse.

Cecilia Hoyos accounted for two of the injuries on the warehouse logs that year. For one, in July 2019, the heavy lifting and repetition caught up with her. After an entire shift spent unloading a trailer – grabbing heavy boxes and putting them on a conveyor belt – she had a hard time walking to her front door. Trying not to complain, she returned to unloading trailers the next day.

“It was killing me, but OK, that’s my job,” she said.

After a break, Hoyos found she couldn’t walk back to her workstation. She ended up with a hip injury that put her off work for months, according to Amazon’s injury logs. That and other work injuries have left her in constant pain, she said, leaving her feeling like her 80-year-old mother when she climbs stairs.

Hoyos said Amazon should have workers rotate jobs to lessen the repetitive strain. But managers don’t listen, she said. “They say no because they only think about the rates.”

Warehouse leaders would, however, offer pizza parties as a reward for a streak of injury-free shifts, Wendt said – so some workers would push through the pain rather than be the person who cost their co-workers free pizza. Managers were effectively “offering rewards for not reporting injuries,” Wendt said.

In February, a group of 15 U.S. senators, led by Sherrod Brown, Bernie Sanders and Tammy Baldwin, demanded that Bezos make a long list of changes in Amazon’s warehouses after Reveal’s initial investigation.

“These reports make clear that by placing such a priority on speed and quota fulfillment, your company requires employees to risk their safety and health to perform and keep their jobs,” the letter reads . The senators also demanded a response from the company.

Brian Huseman, Amazon’s vice president of public policy, pushed back on the idea that the company had a worker injury problem, telling the senators that other companies underreport their injuries. “In 2016, we decided to change our approach to recordkeeping and design a system that reported all injuries – no matter the severity,” he wrote in response to the senators.

But the 2015 OSHA investigation of the fulfillment center in New Jersey found that Amazon had failed to record more than two dozen injuries as required, leading to a $7,000 fine . And several former Amazon safety professionals told me that the company used to systematically hide injuries by having safety staff write up “justifications” for not recording injuries that should have been counted by federal regulations.

Days after the senators sent their letter, Jay Carney, Amazon’s senior vice president for global corporate affairs, went on CNBC to talk about the company having raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour. When asked about the letter, he echoed the argument that the company’s injury rates are so high today only because it initiated a policy of zealous compliance.

“Across the country, injuries are woefully underreported,” he said. “That was true at Amazon a number of years ago, and then we changed the way we report injuries. That spiked the numbers for us. We report well above what’s required by OSHA.”

Fagan helped lead that 2015 inspection as a medical officer for OSHA. She found Amazon’s on-site clinics would send injured workers back to work instead of referring them to another clinic for proper medical attention. “What we learned was really surprising, actually shocking,” she said.

Fagan went on to investigate Amazon warehouses in New Jersey again and found the same problems with medical care. Workers were still being discouraged from reporting injuries in 2017 and from seeking outside medical attention in 2019, Fagan found. In another hazard alert letter , OSHA criticized Amazon for explicitly allowing AmCare, Amazon’s system of on-site medical clinics, to delay sending workers to a doctor for up to 21 days. The result was that workers’ injuries got worse while they waited for proper medical care, she said. “The company did not improve,” Fagan, who has since retired, told me.

“I mean, that’s shameful,” she said. “This is a company that makes enormous profits.”

Amazon also has selectively released flattering numbers to inquiring Congress members, even when the big picture is far grimmer. Last November, after Reveal reported that the 2018 injury rates at a warehouse in Fall River, Massachusetts, were nearly triple the industry average, Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III wrote to Bezos “seeking answers about why so many Massachusetts workers are getting seriously injured at Amazon fulfillment centers.”

Huseman responded , “The injury data by itself does not tell the full story.” He declined to provide the 2019 annual injury numbers the lawmakers had requested, but cited one data point: The 2019 holiday peak produced a lower rate of injuries requiring time off work compared with 2018, a change he attributed to “the continuous improvement initiatives executed locally and companywide.”

Serious injury rates at Amazon’s Fall River warehouse

Line chart of serious injury rates at an Amazon warehouse in Fall River, Massachusetts, that shows rates have increased since 2016.

When things didn’t improve, the next month’s report, in March 2019, documented a more drastic solution: “To address the flat recordable rate, the site has … terminated the use of an occupational clinic with poor performance.”

The warehouse, the report said, also would ensure “strong” use of the on-site AmCare first aid and “reduce the probability of associates transitioning to external clinic care.”

The next month, in April 2019, Amazon contracted with a new clinic for its injured Colorado workers: Advanced Urgent Care & Occupational Medicine, a local operation that promoted itself online as “OSHA-Sensitive.”

According to the Advanced website , Julie Parsons, then its occupational medicine medical director, believed in “treating injuries such that they are not OSHA recordable, if possible.”

Serious injuries at Amazon’s Thornton warehouse

Recorded injuries began to decline after Amazon contracted with an “OSHA-Sensitive” clinic.

Heat map of weekly serious injury rates at an Amazon warehouse in Thornton, Colorado, that shows injury rates have declined since spring 2019.

Katharine Mieszkowski

Katharine Mieszkowski is a senior reporter and producer for Reveal. She's also been a senior writer for Salon and Fast Company. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, Slate and on NPR's "All Things Considered."

Her coverage has won national awards, including the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award two years in a row, an Online News Association Award, a Webby Award and a Society of Environmental Journalists Award. Mieszkowski has a bachelor's degree from Yale University. She is based in Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.

Soo Oh was the enterprise editor for data at Reveal. She previously reported data stories, coded interactive visuals and built internal tools at the Wall Street Journal, Vox.com, the Los Angeles Times and The Chronicle of Higher Education. In 2018, she was a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University, where she researched how to better manage and support journalists with technical skills.

Andy Donohue

Andy Donohue was the executive editor for projects for Reveal. He edited Reveal’s investigations into the treatment of migrant children in government care, Amazon’s labor practices, rehab work camps and sexual abuse in the janitorial industry. He was on teams that have twice been Pulitzer Prize finalists and won Investigative Reporters and Editors, Edward R. Murrow, Online News Association, Third Coast International Audio Festival, Gerald Loeb, Sidney Hillman Foundation and Emmy awards. He previously helped build and lead Voice of San Diego, served on the IRE board for eight years and is an alumnus of the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University.

Esther Kaplan

Esther Kaplan is a former editor-at-large of Reveal, leading the organization's investigative reporting. She previously was editor-in-chief of Type Investigations, where she was part of teams that won three Emmy Awards, a Polk Award, a Peabody Award and an IRE Medal. She has written for Harper's Magazine, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Nation and many other publications. She is the author of “With God on Their Side: George W. Bush and the Christian Right” (New Press) and was a 2013 fellow with the Alicia Patterson Foundation. Earlier in her career, Kaplan was a senior editor at The Nation; features editor at Poz, the national AIDS magazine; communications director at Communications Workers of America Local 1180; and a host of “Beyond the Pale,” a weekly radio program covering Jewish culture and politics on WBAI in New York. She began her journalism career as an assistant editor at The Village Voice, where she became a regular contributor. Her writing has won the Molly National Journalism Prize, the Sidney Award, the Clarion Award and other honors.

Matt Thompson

Matt Thompson was the editor in chief of Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. Prior to his arrival at Reveal, he served as the executive editor of The Atlantic, overseeing new editorial initiatives and planning, developing the magazine's recruitment and talent development operations, and guiding strategy for podcasting and digital membership. He's also one of the founding hosts of “Radio Atlantic,” the organization's pioneer podcast. Previously, as the deputy editor of TheAtlantic.com, Thompson oversaw digital coverage teams and developed editorial projects in conjunction with site editors.

Before joining The Atlantic in January 2015, Thompson was director of vertical initiatives (and mischief) for NPR, where he led the creation of several teams of broadcast and digital journalists, including Code Switch, which covers race, ethnicity and culture; and NPR Ed, which covers education. During his time with NPR, he worked with public radio stations across the country on editorial strategy and co-wrote the organization’s ethics handbook. Prior to NPR, Thompson worked as an editor and reporter for news organizations around the U.S., including the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, The Fresno Bee and the Poynter Institute. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors for The Center for Public Integrity and is a co-founder of Spark Camp.

Nikki Frick

Nikki Frick is the associate editor for research and copy for Reveal. She previously worked as a copy editor at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and held internships at The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times and Washingtonpost.com. She has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was an American Copy Editors Society Aubespin scholar. Frick is based in Milwaukee.

International sites

August 19, 2022

Written by Amazon Staff

Amazon’s COVID-19 blog

We provided more than $2.5 billion in bonuses and incentives for our teams globally in 2020. Full details .
We established a $25 million relief fund for partners, such as delivery drivers, and seasonal associates facing financial hardship or quarantine.
With an eye on customers, Amazon is vigorously combating price gouging to ensure fair pricing and fight entities seeking to profit off the COVID-19 crisis.

A group of a few dozen individuals inside of the Amazon Spheres

1,000 Medtronic ventilators to be delivered to India starting May 5.
Amazon is fully funding the first lot of 100 ventilators set to arrive in India starting May 5 and will be sent to the hospitals with the most urgent needs.
Amazon in collaboration with the U.S.-India Business Council, is working with the National Institution for Transforming India and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to define the distribution plan for these ventilators.

A woman wearing an Amazon mask gets a COVID-19 vaccination while in her vehicle. The man issuing the vaccine is wearing an Amazon vest, mask, face shield, and gloves.

Images from the ASPCA in thanks to Amazon for donating thousands of items, including 6,500 pounds of pet food

Kyoto University Hospital in Japan received Fire 7 tablets.
National Cancer Center Hospital East in Japan received Fire 7 tablets.
An Amazon Gift Card donation helped Tallaght University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, enhance the technology in patient rooms, ICU and nurses’ stations.
Central and North West London NHS Trust received Fire HB 8 tablets.

Deploying 100 million+ masks
Adding 2,298 handwashing stations
Adding 5,765+ janitorial staffers to our typical teams
Deploying an additional 34 million gloves
Adding 48 million ounces of hand sanitizer
Adding 93 million sanitizing spray bottles and wipes
Deploying more than 31,000 thermometers and 1,115+ thermal cameras
Ask Alexa to open the Mayo Clinic Answers on COVID‑19 skill for guidance on symptoms, prevention, coping, treatment, and more.
New and existing Fire TV and Fire tablet owners in the U.S. will receive a complimentary one-year subscription to the Food Network Kitchen app. A special “We Cook Together Weekend” on Food Network Kitchen this weekend (May 2, 3) will let you cook along with your favorite chefs from home.

Stream "Mondays with Michelle Obama" from the YouTube app on your Fire TV every Monday through May 11.
Sesame Street and Headspace launched a new meditation series for children. Families with kids can watch Cookie Monster and Elmo on the YouTube app on Fire TV.
Amazon Live is also partnering with Kellogg's to host At Home Cooking, a livestreamed cook-a-thon to support Feeding America, on Thursday, April 23 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET. The stream is available to anyone in the U.S. via the Amazon Shopping App on compatible Fire TV devices, and by visiting amazon.com/live on Fire tablet, desktop, and mobile.
The Seattle Children's Hospital received Kindle Kids Edition devices and Fire HD 8 tablets to help isolated patients and their families stay connected and entertained while in treatment.
Albero Della Vita—a non-profit organization based in Italy that fosters the development of children, their families, and communities—received Fire HD 8 tablets so families in need can stay entertained and communicate with loved ones while in isolation.
The Seattle Storm, a professional basketball team based in Seattle, received Echo Dot devices to give away to fans participating in the Seattle Storm daily workout series , which encourages people to stay active while at home. Fans can ask Alexa to set daily reminders to break a sweat with the Storm Workout skill voiced by Sue Bird.
More than 30 TV shows and movies from HBO including Big Little Lies, McMillion$, Ballers, Silicon Valley, Succession, and more. These shows are available now, for free, to Amazon customers in the US. To access this free content from HBO, customers just need to sign into their Amazon Account—no Prime membership required.
CBSN, a 24-hour news channel from CBS News, is available for free on Prime Video in the U.S. Anyone with an Amazon account can now access 24/7 news coverage from CBS News through Prime Video. Like HBO, to access CBSN on Prime Video, customers just need to sign into their Amazon Account—no Prime membership required.
The top 30 MLB games from 2019, as well as nearly 80 NBA Hardwood Classics, are now available for Prime members in the U.S. looking to get their sports fix while play is suspended.

One of the Amazon Spheres is light in blue to support front line workers.

Northwell Health, one of the leading, non-profit healthcare systems in New York, received Echo Show devices to help staff communicate with patients in isolation, reducing the need for staff to enter patient rooms and conserving personal protective equipment.
University of California, San Francisco hospitals received Fire HD 8 tablets to help medical professionals communicate with patients remotely, and patients can also use the tablets to communicate with family and friends while in isolation.
The Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation received Fire 7 tablets and Fire 7 Kids Edition tablets for patients in isolation and families to use at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak campus in Michigan.

An image of Andy Jassy on a blue background and text that reads "The Path, Andy Jassy."

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Case Studies

Organizational Development

Amazon: Legal Woes, Crisis, and Resilience

Amazon: Legal Woes, Crisis, and Resilience ^ W21186

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Publication Date: April 21, 2021

Source: Ivey Publishing

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeff Bezos, the chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc. (Amazon), became the world's richest person by adding US$6 billion to his net worth by the end of March 2020. While the worth of other billionaires was decreasing because of the unprecedented market volatility created by the pandemic, retail sales surged to a record level for Amazon. To meet the additional workforce requirements created by the sudden rise in demand, Bezos announced a new hiring drive for Amazon's warehouses and delivery network. The announcement came when Amazon's labour practices were under the scrutiny of New York State and New York City authorities for the disputed "wrongful termination" of a warehouse worker. Amazon's conduct was vehemently condemned by labour unions, labour supporters, the media, and New York City authorities. At the same time, Amazon employees expressed their concerns about the hiring of additional workers, as more workers could further aggravate the workplace safety issues at the company's warehouses. Bezos vehemently claimed to be committed to workers' health and safety and announced new paid sick leave and hazard benefits policies for workers who were not working from home. Was the authorities' scrutiny of Smalls' termination and the workplace safety measures at Amazon's facilities a signal of legal battles looming for Amazon? Was Bezos protecting the wellness of his employees? Did the new policies and safety measures point toward a change in Bezos's crisis management strategy? How could Amazon move from a greed/profit perspective to a profit with purpose perspective? How should Amazon manage in an almost permanent crisis-like situation? Jyotsna Bhatnagar is affiliated with Management Development Institute. Parul Gupta is affiliated with Management Development Institute.

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مجلة البشائر الاقتصادية (Sep 2021)

Crisis Management And Strategic Responses Of Amazon Company To Covid-19 Pandemic

Aissaoui Fatma,
Elhazzam Mohammed

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The purpose of this research paper is to provide recommendations to commercial organizations in Algeria when managing crises by examining Amazon organizations that manage the similar nature of crises on a daily basis. By examining the ongoing operations of crisis management to the covid-19 pandemic in the organization, this research paper will analyze if there are any essential learnings that can be applied for commercial organizations. More specifically the paper examines how Amazon organizes, composes, and coordinates, and analyzes if our commercial organizations can make use of a similar structure.

crisis management
strategic response

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Amazon Case Study: Supply Chain, Fire Phone Failure, and More

The picture provides introductory information about Amazon.

In 1994 Jeff Bezos quit his job and launched a new company in his garage. Nowadays, we know this company as Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos is the second-wealthiest person alive. There is a lot a student can learn from the Amazon case study, and we know where to start.

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🔗References

📚5 things you didn’t know about amazon.

Originally Amazon had only five most profitable products: compact discs, computer hardware and software, videos, and books. The site generated $20,000 per week in sales in the first month.
When choosing a name, Bezos was looking through a dictionary. He chose “Amazon” because it was associated with something “exotic and different.”
Amazon was an early competitor of Google when it started a project called Block View, with panoramic street views of neighborhoods.
Amazon works on a futuristic delivery system, allowing customers to get their packages within 30 minutes using small drones.
At the end of 2020, Amazon employed 1.271 million workers worldwide, more than Google and Meta combined.

💡 Best Ideas for an Amazon Case Study

Amazon is one of the largest online retailers in America, dealing with a wide range of consumer products. Various business factors affect Amazon’s performance. Here is the list of topics to consider for your Amazon case study.

Amazon’s board of directors.
Amazon’s corporate values and vision.
Amazon’s significant partnerships.
Logistic strategies in Amazon.
Amazon’s bestselling products and services.
Subsidiaries owned by Amazon.
Amazon’s supply chain.
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Amazon’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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🤝 Amazon Supply Chain Case Study #1

Fulfillment and sortation centers,
Delivery stations,
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Prime now hubs,
Warehousing.
Technology.
Manufacturing. The expert warehousing and delivery strategies ensure that products are easily accessible from any country globally. At the same time, the company uses countless robotic solutions to pick and pack orders and store inventory.
Amazon’s global supply chain. Amazon operates eleven online marketplaces worldwide, allowing sellers to grow their business internationally and independently of where their business is physically located. When a company registers to sell its products on the Amazon marketplace, they gain immediate access to customers who trust the Amazon buying experience.
Unpacking and inspecting incoming goods.
Placing goods in storage.
Picking goods for an individual shipment.
Packing orders.

The picture introduces Amazon's 7 biggest competitors.

🌱 Amazon Sustainability Case Study #2

Sustainable transportation in Amazon. Transportation is a significant component of Amazon’s business operations and a crucial part of its plan to reach net-zero carbon by 2040. The company optimizes its transportation network through efficiency enhancements, technological innovations, and alternative solutions, allowing it to deliver packages more sustainably.
Amazon’s sustainable shopping initiatives. In October 2021, Amazon provided its customers with more than 200,000+ climate-friendly products. The list includes health and household items, office products, and electronics. Climate-friendly products are labeled in shopping results and have additional sustainability information on their product pages.
Amazon devices are becoming more sustainable. Amazon incorporates recycled plastics, fabrics, and metals into many new devices. In 2021, the company launched many new smart home devices and accessories, including up to 60% post-consumer recycled plastic and 100% post-consumer recycled fabric, depending on the product.
Diversity and inclusion in Amazon. Amazon seriously takes its commitment to respect and value employees from all backgrounds, including gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and disability. The company as well serves diverse customers and operates in various communities. The policies and procedures Amazon has for employees, selling partners, and customers focus on diversity and inclusion.

🛒 Walmart vs. Amazon Case Study #3

Walmart vs. Amazon: size. Before comparing the two retail giants, note that there is a difference between Walmart’s overall and e-commerce sales . Amazon currently controls nearly 38% of the United States e-commerce retail market, while Walmart only controls approximately 8% of the retail e-commerce market. However, it should be no surprise that Walmart’s physical locations vastly outnumber Amazon’s.
Walmart vs. Amazon: customers. Walmart’s and Amazon’s customer demographics are nearly identical when viewed by generations or income levels. The only thing that differs is the average number of customers. Amazon has approximately 300 million customers worldwide, while Walmart (including physical stores) has 220 million customers.
Walmart vs. Amazon: marketing services. Amazon and Walmart are very similar and set high standards for other retail companies regarding marketing. The difference is that Amazon has more options, which isn’t surprising since Amazon has been focused on e-commerce for 25 years.
Walmart vs. Amazon: member benefits. Both Walmart and Amazon have premium subscriptions that bring shopping to a new level. These subscriptions give customers access to perks and benefits, for example, one-day shipping of products. This ongoing competition between the two commercial giants allows meeting their current customers’ demands and expectations more efficiently.

On average, around 4000 items are sold on Amazon per minute.

📱 Amazon Fire Phone Failure Case Study #4

The Amazon Fire Phone origin. The Fire Phone is a smartphone developed by Amazon and manufactured in 2014. At first glance, the phone runs Amazon’s Fire OS , which is a slightly different version of Android without the Google apps or the Play Store. One of the phone’s most distinctive features is the five front-facing cameras. Those cameras detect hand gestures, which makes it possible to navigate the phone without touching it.
The Amazon Fire Phone promise. The original Amazon idea was to create a 3-D display visible from multiple angles. The company ended up only with facial recognition, which allowed the phone’s cameras to track a user’s gaze and adjust the 3-D effect with background images. Unfortunately for Jeff Bezos, customers didn’t find any practical applications for 3-D lock screens.
The Amazon Fire Phone failure. When Fire Phone was released, Amazon customers couldn’t afford a $650 smartphone. That was even more expensive than the price of the iPhone 6, released that same year. Pre-orders of the iPhone 6 exceeded four million units within 24 hours of availability, setting a record for Apple and high competition for Amazon. Soon, it became apparent that the Fire Phone had failed to appeal to Amazon’s customers, and there was no genuine interest in this innovation.

🧑 Amazon Crisis Management Case Study #5

How Amazon managed the coronavirus crisis. Facing empty store shelves during the pandemic, shoppers turned to Amazon for needed products. The company had to spend billions of dollars on coronavirus-related investments like employee safety gear. Amazon also hired 36,400 people in the first three months of the pandemic to fulfill all the customer orders. CEO Jeff Bezos acknowledged that was the most challenging time the company had ever faced, but Amazon could handle this crisis.
Amazon’s environmental impact. In 2019, Amazon released a report with details on the company’s impact on the environment. That year, the company emitted 44.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, almost equal to Norway’s annual emissions. Amazon created the Climate Pledge program to save its brand image and promised to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Amazon’s clashes with labor. In 2021, one of Amazon’s employees started a discussion on Twitter, saying that its workers do not even have time to visit a bathroom in their workplace. Referring to the multiple reports alleging poor working conditions at the company, Amazon insists that all the accusations were false. Otherwise, people would not have been joining Amazon’s workforce.

🔥 40 Hot Titles for an Amazon Business Case Study

Customer service in Amazon company.
Performance evaluation of Amazon company.
Amazon.com’s information systems.
Transportation and logistics department in Amazon.
Amazon company’s strategy and customization.
Advantages and disadvantages of Amazon company.
Amazon’s sales and marketing strategies.
Amazon company’s supply chain management.
Amazon.com company’s e-commerce.
Organization and leadership in Amazon company.
Amazon vs. Walmart: giants of the retail industry.
Amazon company’s success factors.
Amazon and Yahoo companies’ differences.
The competitive influence of Amazon company.
Apple vs. Amazon: companies’ success.
Amazon and eBay: e-business applications.
Local and global markets of Amazon company.
Principles of team management at Amazon.
Cybersecurity measures for Amazon Web Services.
Corporate valuation of Amazon.com.
Amazon’s innovation and sustainability.
Amazon’s e-business model.
The Amazon effect and the future of retail business.
History of Amazon’s development.
Consumer perception of Amazon.
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Amazon’s distribution systems in the United States.
Amazon Company’s marketing management.
Security measures for Amazon.com.
Competitive strategies of Amazon.com.
Amazon: vision, mission, and strategy.
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How does Amazon diversify its business processes?
Working conditions in Amazon company.
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Comparison of Google and Amazon leadership styles.
Amazon Company’s logistics operations.
Jeff Bezos’s leadership and the Amazon revolution.
E-Reader market dominance of Amazon.
Amazon company’s collaborators and competitors.
Top online stores in the United States in 2022, by e-commerce net sales – statista
Supply Chain – Amazon Sustainability
Amazon’s Policy Positions
eCommerce Sales & Size Forecast – trade
Amazon’s Environmental Impact Delivers Climate Change Concerns | Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center at the University of Washington

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Mcdonald’s supply chain issues – a case study on supply and demand analysis.

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How amazon and authorities are responding to crises created by tornadoes.

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EDWARDSVILLE, IL - DECEMBER 11: Destruction is seen outside a damaged Amazon Distribution Center on ... [+] December 11, 2021 in Edwardsville, Illinois. According to reports, the Distribution Center was struck by a tornado Friday night. Emergency vehicles arrived to start rescue operations for workers believed to be trapped inside. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

The tornado that struck an Amazon distribution center on Friday is the latest example of the deadly, destructive and random nature of a weather-related crisis.

The responses by the online retailer and authorities to the impact of the dozens of tornadoes that swept across several states are providing business leaders with important examples of the best practices for managing and communicating about a crisis.

The U.S. National Weather Service issued tornado warnings on Friday night for areas in several states including Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri and Illinois.

MAYFIELD, KY - DECEMBER 11: People search through a tornado-damaged building on December 11, 2021 ... [+] in Mayfield, Kentucky. Multiple tornadoes tore through parts of the lower Midwest late on Friday night leaving a large path of destruction and unknown fatalities. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

CBS News reported that, “About 33 tornadoes were reported across several states overnight, as of Saturday morning, according to CBS News meteorologist and climate specialist Jeff Berardelli...The strongest tornado went through four states and may have been on the ground for 250 miles, which, if confirmed, would be a record.”

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Best covid-19 travel insurance plans, tornado hits amazon warehouse.

According to Reuters , “Many people were trapped after a roof partially collapsed at an Amazon.com Inc. warehouse near the U.S. city of St. Louis late on Friday, after tornadoes and strong storms roared through the area, local authorities said.

“The Colinsville Emergency Management Agency said it was a ‘mass casualty incident’, adding that multiple people were trapped inside the warehouse in Edwardsville, southern Illinois.”

EDWARDSVILLE, IL - DECEMBER 11: Amazon truck cabs are seen outside a damaged Amazon Distribution ... [+] Center on December 11, 2021 in Edwardsville, Illinois. According to reports, the Distribution Center was struck by a tornado Friday night. Emergency vehicles arrived to start rescue operations for workers believed to be trapped inside. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

Best Practices

Based on news reports as the impact of the crisis continues to unfold, here are the best crisis management practices that Amazon and authorities in the states where the tornadoes struck are following.

Issue A Statement To News Organizations As Soon As Possible

Amazon released this statement to Newschannel 20 and Fox Illinois shortly after midnight: “The safety and well-being of our employees and partners is our top priority right now. We’re assessing the situation and will share additional information when it's available, said Richard Rocha, Amazon Spokesperson.”

Cheryl Dixon is an adjunct professor of strategic communication at Columbia University, a communication strategy consultant and a former marketing and brand executive. She observed that, “Amazon’s response to the media is very appropriate: acknowledge the severity of the situation, share concern and care for those impacted, state their action plan and share a commitment to follow up when possible.

“It struck the right emotional tone by acknowledging the devastating tragedy and offered condolences to all who were impacted; however, the company made it clear that their priority lies in the safety of its employees and partners,” she said.

Tell People What You Are Doing

Dixon noted that, “Through [their] statement, Amazon also acknowledges that it is still assessing the situation—this is best practice to avoid spreading misinformation while taking action. This response satisfies the need for a quick response and active involvement while giving it the room to focus on investigation and recovery, allowing emergency management officials to take the lead in sharing information on the damages and impact.”

Assess The Damage

The New York Times reported that, “Thirty workers made it out of the building safely by themselves, the police said...About half of it’s missing, it’s gone,” Captain Mayfield said of the building, which is about 400,000 square feet. The other half of the building remained standing on Saturday morning, he said, adding that workers were able to safely evacuate from that area.

“Captain Mayfield said that the remaining part of the building would probably have to be demolished. “I don’t see anyway that they can salvage it,” he said.

Address The Crisis

Reuters reported that, ‘’President Joe Biden on Saturday directed that federal resources be surged to locations with the greatest need after a series of tornadoes and severe weather ripped through seven U.S. states, the White House said.’’

Get The Facts

“An Amazon spokesperson said the company was assessing the situation and damage at the facility,” the news organization reported.

According to the White House, Biden was briefed by FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O’Malley Dillon, and White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Julie Chavez Rodriguez.

“Because damage assessments are ongoing, further briefings will be provided to the President in the course of the day,” according to a news release from the White House.

Tell People What You Know As Soon As You Know It

According to news reports , “Police Chief Mike Fillback at a press conference early Saturday said there was “more than one fatality... at least two.”

“He said authorities are still working to confirm how many people were at the facility when it was damaged. He said he believed the number was about 50.”

Have The Right Priorities

Andy DiOrio, Amazon’s regional PR manager, told me this afternoon that, ‘The clean-up and recovery efforts are being led by local law enforcement and officials. Our focus right now is on assisting the brave first responders on the scene and supporting our affected employees and partners in the area’.

MAYFIELD, KY - DECEMBER 11: Interior view of tornado damage to Emmanuel Baptist Church on December ... [+] 11, 2021 in Mayfield, Kentucky. Multiple tornadoes tore through parts of the lower Midwest late on Friday night, leaving a large path of destruction. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

Show Empathy

Fox News reported that, “Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was blasted on social media Saturday after the top executive championed his latest pet project but failed to mention the catastrophe that hit one of his warehouses ....Bezos failed to mention his lost employees [who died when the warehouse was hit by the tornado] when he took to social media to applaud the successful landing of another of his space tourist missions.”

Express And Show Your Concern

Amazon issued this statement: “We’re deeply saddened by the news that members of our Amazon family passed away as a result of the storm in Edwardsville, IL. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their loved ones, and everyone impacted by the storm. We also want to thank all the first responders for their ongoing efforts on scene. We’re continuing to provide support to our employees and partners in the area.”

The White House announced that President Joe Biden spoke with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear this morning ‘’to express his condolences for the lives lost and the devastation that Kentucky experienced as a result of the extreme weather that impacted multiple states overnight.

‘’The President indicated that he has directed FEMA and other Federal agencies to provide the speediest assistance possible to impacted communities. The President and the Governor agreed to stay in contact throughout the day as search and rescue operations and damage assessments are ongoing.’’

In the afternoon, the White said Biden spoke with Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Missouri Governor Mike Parson, and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to express his condolences for the lives lost and the damage impacting their states as a result of the tornadoes and extreme weather overnight. The President asked each Governor what his state needs and how he can be most supportive.

‘’The President expressed his commitment to delivering assistance as quickly as possible to impacted areas via FEMA.’’

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker tweeted: "My prayers are with the people of Edwardsville tonight, and I've reached out to the mayor to provide any needed state resources."

Advice For Business Leaders

As I wrote in March, “If they have not done so already, companies should account for weather-related emergencies in their crisis management plans.

‘ If they don’t have those plans in place now, they should take steps to prepare and implement as soon as possible. Given recent extreme weather events and the continued impact of climate change , being “weather-ready” is more important for business leaders than ever before.’’

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Crisis Management

Amazon Is Prime Example of Need for Internal Comms Crisis Planning

By Melissa Hoffmann

Unless you live under a rock (that doesn't have WiFi), you are likely aware that today is Amazon Prime Day. It's when the ubiquitous shopping site offers Black Friday-esque deep discounts on everything from electronics to apparel and household items. But the highly publicized event grabbed headlines instead for global protests and a work stoppage in Minnesota . Some Amazon staff are upset over working conditions and employment policies. This coordinated effort was timed to coincide with Prime Day, stealing from the fervor Amazon has worked hard to drum up. Tainting Prime Day has some considering a Prime Day boycott .

The Amazon employees' concerns are not new , but they were strategically ramped up as Prime Day approached. Last week, after a public protest statement by employees did not yield fruit , former Amazon workers said they would stage a rally outside CEO Jeff Bezos’ $80 million mega-condo in Manhattan. The effort was part of an eight-city protest of Amazon Web Services' plans to supply Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement division with its facial-recognition software. Pilots who fly for Amazon Air also said Friday that they are launching a digital ad campaign to protest their low pay. Former employees are publishing first-person accounts of allegedly horrific working conditions at Amazon. The AFL-CIO also released a statement today in support of the employees. It is urging legislative action .

The Prime Day protests could not have been much of a surprise to the e-retailing giant.

And it chose not to address them. Except of course, for Amazon SVP of operations Dave Clark responding on Twitter to a scathing segment on warehouse conditions by John Oliver.

As a fan of the show, I enjoy watching John make an entertaining case for the failings of companies, governments and most recently - Mount Everest. But he is wrong on Amazon. Industry-leading $15 minimum wage and comprehensive benefits are just one of many programs we offer... https://t.co/3PACVFyJPa — Dave Clark (@davehclark) July 1, 2019

It is unclear if Amazon has plans to try to mitigate this. In addition, its actions so far deviate from many of the best practices for companies handling a major employee uprising or internal communications crisis:

Start with candor as a core value. Amazon's senior management does not appear to be seeking constructive feedback from employees, and instead is ignoring the concerns raised. Having employees be brand ambassadors is important, and employee feedback can often bring about change that improves the organization. This was also evident in Amazon's refusal to consider a climate change plan that 7,700 employees proffered in May.

Set up internal channels for discussion. It is not clear if Amazon has these, but its employee protests are invariably being conducted on the public stage. This would indicate that attempts to communicate internally have failed.

Anticipate employee concerns and questions and expect internal comms to go viral. Amazon knew in advance employee uprisings would mar Prime Day. It could have demonstrated its humanity and built up its brand reputation by publicly acknowledging staff concerns or even announcing policy changes.

Display empathy. See above. Amazon's refusal to acknowledge employee complaints is adding fuel to those grievances. The brand appears heartless.

Another crucial aspect of effectively handling an internal communications crisis is learning from that crisis. What, if anything, has Amazon learned? Amazon's inaction will be an important case study for communicators—can a brand be too large and successful to be held accountable for its internal policies in a meaningful way? When it comes to the impact of poor internal crisis comms, will Amazon's power make it an exception?

PRNEWS has reached out to Amazon for comment. We'll update this story with any response.

Melissa Hoffmann is content director for PRNEWS. She can be reached at [email protected] . Twitter: @editormelissa

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Three Recent Crisis Management Case Studies That We Can Learn From

It’s been a wild and fascinating period recently in the world of crisis management. Let’s take a look at three highly visible crisis management case studies from 2018, looking in particular at what we can learn from them:

United Airlines customer service failures

What Happened

It’s close to a year ago that videos shot by fellow passengers of Dr David Dao being forcibly removed from United flight 3411 blew up on social media and, very soon thereafter, the mainstream media.

It started when airline staff in Chicago asked passengers for four volunteers to give up their seats to make room for United employees headed to Louisville. No-one volunteered.

Four passengers were then directly asked to remove their luggage and vacate their seats. Three complied, one did not.

Staff insisted and Dr Dao continued to stay in his seat. Then airport police were called.

That’s when the events unfolded that have been seen millions of times on video .

A passenger with a bloodied face, who had paid for his seat, being forcibly dragged down the aisle as he yelled complaints.

Next morning, United CEO Oscar Munoz issued a statement justifying what happened, describing it as ‘re-accommodating the customers’. Munoz also sent an email to United staff commending the actions of the crew.

More recent mishaps with United Airlines’ treatment of traveling pets has both reminded people of the Dr Dao incident and focused yet more attention on United’s continued failure to build a customer-focused culture.

What We Learned

This was a perfect illustration of the need for speed .

It took United a day to respond, and even then their response was inadequate, betraying any understanding of the role of social media in reporting and magnifying failures in company customer services.

By Monday morning the story of what happened on flight 3411 had been told and viewed by millions. It took United several days to finally respond in a way that acknowledged the seriousness of what happened and how it made the airline look in the eyes of customers and regulators.

It was too late.

The damage to the reputation and business of United lingers to the present day – refreshed by the unfortunate incidents with the pets.

Equifax and the Data Breach

On July 29 2017 Equifax discovered a massive data breach which affected the personal information of up to 143 million Americans, including social security numbers and driver licenses. The company believed that the hack had taken place several weeks earlier, even as early as mid-May.

Equifax waited until September to make a public announcement of the problem.

The data thieves knew where to target. Equifax is one of three nationwide credit-reporting companies that track and rates the financial history of U.S. consumers. The companies are supplied with data about loans, loan payments and credit cards, as well as information on everything from child support payments, credit limits, missed rent and utilities payments, addresses and employer history, which all factor into credit scores.

Subsequent events only made the situation worse:

The website and consumer telephone lines set up by Equifax so that people could get information and sign up for credit protection were overwhelmed and it took weeks to get them working effectively.
It was reported that three executives sold nearly $2m in shares after the breach was discovered but before being publicly revealed.
Equifax subsequently twice upped its estimate of the numbers of consumers impacted – by 2.5 million in October 2017 and by 2.4 million in February 2018.

This is why we build crisis preparedness plans .

A data breach must have been very high on the potential risks that Equifax faced. Given their business, any data loss is serious.

A plan would have had laid out the crisis team, how they should work together, the steps to take, the initial messaging and statements – and the process for escalating the response as it got worse.

Nothing in Equifax’s slow motion and bungled response suggested it had anticipated and planned for such an event.

KFC and the shortage of chicken

In February 2018, KFC had to close more than half of its 900 stores in the United Kingdom because of a shortage of…chicken.

The social and mainstream media enjoyed the irony of a chicken shop without any chicken and went to town on the story.

The cause was a delivery problem after the chain switched its contract to DHL which said that due to ‘administrative problems’ a number of deliveries were cancelled or delayed.

Loyal customers vented on Twitter and took their families to McDonalds. Some even complained to their local politicians.

Then KFC, even while struggling to get the restaurants re-opened, managed to switch the narrative entirely.

It ran an apology advertisement that was extremely funny (especially to the brand’s core younger consumers) while taking ownership of the problem.

The company was widely applauded by customers and the media for its deft handling of the situation and became the poster child for how well to handle a crisis.

Among the key elements in a best-in-class crisis response plan are:

An understanding of the brand’s key stakeholder, particularly the core consumers. Who are they? Where are they? What are there key considerations? What’s likely to be on their minds when the brand is facing challenges.
An understanding of the brand’s promise and ‘voice’. How is it positioned? What’s likely to support or break the trust in the brand in how it responds to a crisis.

KFC’s clever, authentic and borderline obscene response showed it deeply understood both these factors.

It knew its audience (young, hip and irreverent) and it followed through in exactly the kind of tone and language that was consistent with how the brand was positioned in other, more positive marketing.

The result was a swift abatement of the criticism for the closed stores – and the sound of widespread applause for a model crisis response.

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From Crisis to Recovery: An Airline Crisis Management Case Study

In the aviation industry, crises are inevitable.

From mechanical failures and natural disasters to public relations nightmares, airlines often find themselves facing critical situations that can significantly impact their operations, reputation, and the safety of their passengers.

The key to mitigating the fallout and preserving customer trust lies in effective crisis management.

In this blog post, we delve into an airline crisis management case study and examine what was nature of crisis and what strategies were employed to manage the crisis.

Let’s discover the essential elements of effective crisis management in the airline industry.

We present here British Airways for airline crisis management case study.

The crisis experienced by the British Airways

British Airways, a prominent airline with a strong reputation, faced a major crisis in 2017 that significantly impacted its operations and reputation.

The crisis unfolded when an IT system failure occurred, leading to a massive disruption in the airline’s services. The failure affected critical systems, including flight scheduling, check-in, and baggage handling, resulting in widespread flight cancellations and delays.

Thousands of passengers were left stranded, and the incident garnered significant media attention, further exacerbating the negative publicity for British Airways.

The IT system failure occurred during a busy travel period, compounding the challenges faced by the airline. Passengers experienced frustration and inconvenience, with many unable to travel as planned.

The incident not only affected the immediate flights but also created a ripple effect, causing disruptions in subsequent days as British Airways struggled to recover and regain normalcy.

This crisis event was particularly notable due to its widespread impact and the visibility it received. The incident raised concerns about the airline’s operational resilience, IT infrastructure, and customer service capabilities.

It became imperative for British Airways to manage the crisis effectively to restore customer confidence, protect its brand reputation, and address the underlying issues that led to the IT failure.

Amidst the chaos, British Airways faced the daunting task of resolving the IT issues, communicating with affected passengers, and implementing measures to prevent future disruptions.

The crisis management team worked tirelessly to assess the situation, coordinate efforts across various departments, and implement recovery plans.

Analysis of British Airways’ Crisis Management Strategies

British Airways’ response to the IT system failure crisis in 2017 showcased several crisis management strategies that were vital in mitigating the impact of the incident.

Here is an analysis of some of the key strategies employed by the airline:

Swift Communication and Transparency

British Airways recognized the importance of prompt and transparent communication with affected passengers. The airline swiftly acknowledged the crisis, informing customers about the IT failure through various channels, including social media, its website, and direct communication with passengers. By providing timely updates and being transparent about the situation, British Airways aimed to keep passengers informed and manage expectations during the disruption.

Customer Support and Assistance

Understanding the frustration and inconvenience faced by passengers, British Airways made efforts to provide support and assistance. The airline set up dedicated helplines and customer service centers to handle inquiries, rebooking, and compensation claims. These channels served as crucial points of contact for passengers seeking information, rebooking options, or compensation claims. The availability of dedicated support demonstrated British Airways’ commitment to addressing customer concerns during the crisis.

Compensation and Rebooking Options

To compensate affected passengers for the disruption caused by the IT failure, British Airways offered various options. Passengers were provided with the choice of rebooking their flights, receiving a refund, or transferring their booking to a later date. By providing flexible rebooking options and compensation, the airline aimed to minimize the negative impact on customers and demonstrate its commitment to resolving the situation.

Learning and Preventative Measures

In the aftermath of the crisis, British Airways focused on learning from the incident and implementing preventative measures to avoid similar disruptions in the future. The airline conducted a thorough investigation to identify the root cause of the IT failure, and based on the findings, implemented changes to enhance the resilience of its IT systems and prevent similar incidents from occurring again.

Timely and Transparent Updates

British Airways prioritized communicating with affected passengers promptly and transparently. The airline utilized multiple channels, including social media, its website, and direct communication, to provide timely updates about the situation. By sharing accurate and up-to-date information, British Airways aimed to keep passengers informed about flight cancellations, delays, and alternative arrangements.

Alternative Travel Arrangements

British Airways proactively assisted affected passengers in making alternative travel arrangements. This involved rebooking passengers on later flights, exploring available options with partner airlines, and offering flexible ticket policies to accommodate changing travel needs. By providing these alternatives, the airline aimed to minimize the disruption to passengers’ travel plans and demonstrate its commitment to resolving the situation.

Enhanced IT Systems and Infrastructure

Following the IT system failure, British Airways undertook initiatives to enhance its IT systems and infrastructure. The airline conducted a thorough investigation to identify the root cause of the failure and implemented measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. This involved strengthening IT protocols, improving system redundancy, and enhancing cybersecurity measures. By investing in infrastructure improvements, British Airways aimed to enhance operational resilience and reduce the likelihood of similar disruptions occurring again.

Employee Training and Preparedness

British Airways recognized the importance of employee preparedness in crisis situations. The airline provided additional training to staff members, equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge to handle future crises effectively. By investing in employee training, British Airways aimed to improve response times, communication with passengers, and overall crisis management capabilities.

Collaboration with Industry Partners

British Airways collaborated with industry partners, including technology providers and aviation authorities, to learn from the incident and implement industry-wide best practices. By engaging with external stakeholders, the airline aimed to gain insights into system reliability, data security, and crisis management strategies. Collaborative efforts helped British Airways stay updated on emerging trends, enhance its own practices, and contribute to the overall improvement of the aviation industry’s resilience to similar crises.

Continuous Evaluation and Improvement

British Airways adopted a proactive approach to continuously evaluating and improving its crisis management strategies. The airline conducted post-incident reviews, gathered feedback from passengers, and implemented lessons learned to enhance its crisis response protocols. By embracing a culture of continuous improvement, British Airways aimed to build a more resilient organization capable of effectively managing future crises.

Evaluation of the airline’s recovery and reputation restoration

The evaluation of British Airways’ recovery and reputation restoration following the IT system failure crisis involves assessing the airline’s actions and their impact on rebuilding customer trust, restoring its reputation, and regaining market confidence.

Here’s an analysis of the recovery efforts and reputation restoration by British Airways:

Resumption of Operations: One crucial aspect of British Airways’ recovery was the successful resumption of normal operations after the crisis. The airline focused on minimizing the disruption caused by the IT system failure and gradually restored its flight schedule. By efficiently getting flights back on track, British Airways demonstrated its ability to overcome challenges and resume services, which helped instill confidence in passengers and stakeholders.
Proactive Customer Engagement: British Airways actively engaged with affected customers to address their concerns and provide necessary support. The airline prioritized customer service, offering dedicated helplines, customer service centers, and personalized assistance to affected passengers. By demonstrating responsiveness and a customer-centric approach, British Airways aimed to rebuild trust and improve customer perceptions of the airline.
Compensation and Amends: British Airways’ compensation efforts played a vital role in restoring customer faith and satisfaction. The airline offered various forms of compensation, including refunds, reimbursements, and additional perks. By providing tangible benefits to affected passengers, British Airways aimed to make amends for the disruption and alleviate the negative impact on customers, fostering goodwill and loyalty.
Transparent Communication and Rebuilding Trust: Transparent communication was a cornerstone of British Airways’ efforts to rebuild trust. The airline consistently provided updates on the progress of the recovery, sharing information on system improvements, and measures taken to prevent future disruptions. By being transparent about its actions and sharing insights into the steps taken, British Airways aimed to regain trust, transparency, and credibility with customers and the broader public.
Reputation Management and Public Relations: British Airways engaged in strategic reputation management and public relations initiatives to repair its brand image. The airline leveraged communication channels, such as press releases, media interviews, and social media platforms, to highlight its recovery efforts and the steps taken to prevent similar incidents. By proactively managing its reputation and addressing public perception, British Airways aimed to rebuild its standing in the industry and regain market confidence.
Continuous Improvement and Learning: British Airways demonstrated a commitment to continuous improvement by learning from the crisis. The airline conducted thorough post-incident evaluations, gathering feedback from passengers, and implementing lessons learned to enhance its crisis management capabilities. By showcasing a dedication to learning and improvement, British Airways aimed to foster a culture of resilience and preparedness.

Key Lessons Learned from British Airways crisis management

The crisis management experience of British Airways during the IT system failure yielded several key lessons that can be applied to future crisis situations.

Here are some important lessons learned from this airline crisis management case study:

Importance of Preparedness: British Airways’ experience highlighted the criticality of being prepared for unforeseen crises. The airline recognized the need for robust contingency plans, comprehensive training programs, and regular drills to ensure employees are equipped to handle crises effectively. Preparedness enables an organization to respond swiftly, mitigate the impact of a crisis, and maintain essential operations.
Effective Communication is Paramount: Timely and transparent communication emerged as a vital lesson from British Airways’ crisis. Clear and honest communication helps manage expectations, provides necessary information to affected parties, and demonstrates an organization’s commitment to resolving the situation. Communication channels should be diverse, including social media, dedicated helplines, and direct messaging, to reach customers effectively.
Customer-Centric Approach: British Airways’ crisis response focused on prioritizing customer needs and satisfaction. By offering support, compensation, and personalized assistance, the airline aimed to alleviate passenger inconvenience and rebuild trust. Placing customers at the forefront during a crisis helps maintain loyalty, mitigates reputational damage, and fosters long-term relationships.
Collaborative Efforts and Employee Engagement: British Airways’ crisis management emphasized the importance of collaboration and employee engagement. Cross-functional coordination and teamwork are crucial for a successful crisis response. Employees should be empowered, trained, and encouraged to contribute their expertise during crisis situations, fostering a sense of ownership and commitment to the organization’s recovery.
Continuous Learning and Improvement: British Airways’ experience underscored the value of continuous learning and improvement. Post-incident evaluations, feedback gathering, and implementing lessons learned are essential to enhance crisis management capabilities. Organizations should view crises as opportunities for growth and use the insights gained to strengthen resilience and prevent future occurrences.
Proactive Reputation Management: British Airways recognized the significance of proactive reputation management during a crisis. By engaging in public relations efforts, transparently communicating recovery actions, and highlighting preventative measures, the airline aimed to rebuild trust and credibility. Organizations should be prepared to actively manage their reputation to limit long-term damage and regain stakeholder confidence.
Infrastructure and System Resilience: The IT system failure crisis emphasized the critical role of infrastructure and system resilience. British Airways’ focus on enhancing IT systems, strengthening redundancies, and improving cybersecurity measures was crucial in preventing similar incidents. Organizations must invest in robust infrastructure and regular assessments to identify vulnerabilities and ensure system reliability.

Final Words

The incident of IT system failure of British Airways serve as a text book airline cirsis management case study. British Airways’ response to the crisis highlighted the importance of preparedness, effective communication, a customer-centric approach, collaboration, continuous learning, and proactive reputation management.

The airline’s focus on being prepared, both in terms of contingency plans and employee training, enabled a more efficient and coordinated response. Timely and transparent communication with affected passengers proved crucial in managing expectations and rebuilding trust. British Airways’ customer-centric approach, through support, compensation, and personalized assistance, demonstrated a commitment to addressing customer needs and mitigating the impact of the crisis.

Here is a related case study: Boeing crisis management case study.

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ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BGZVSN7S
Publisher ‏ : ‎ BPB Publications; 1st edition (October 30, 2022)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 30, 2022
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1752 KB
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About the author

Sarah armstrong-smith.

I have had a long and impactful career in business continuity, disaster recovery, cybersecurity, and crisis management, which enables me to operate holistically to understand the threat landscape, and how this can be proactively enabled to deliver effective resilience.

I want you to know that as someone who has spent over 25 years working on the strategic, tactical and operational response to major incidents and crises, I have walked in your shoes and know the kind of things you're dealing with.

I currently operate as the Chief Security Advisor in Microsoft, and act as an executive sponsor to strategic and major customers across Europe. Prior to joining Microsoft, I worked for several large institutions including Thames Water, AXA, EY, Fujitsu, and the London Stock Exchange Group. I have been on the front-line of many major incidents including IT failures, data breaches, and corporate fraud. I talk passionately about the 'human-aspects' of cyber and building trust and transparency.

As a Fellow of the British Computer Society and international keynote speaker, I have been rececognised as one of the most influential and inspiring leaders in tech.

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The Most Useful Crisis Management Examples: The Good, Bad, and Ugly

What Is Crisis Management?

Effective Crisis Management Examples

CPG Product Crisis Management Example: Tylenol Product Tampering

Healthcare Crisis Management Example: Global Pandemic

Examples of Bad Crisis Management (and What They Teach Us)

Natural Disaster Crisis Management Example: Hurricane Katrina

Industrial Disaster Crisis Management Example: Bhopal Gas Leak

Five of the Most Costly Corporate Crises and Their Lessons

1. Example: BP Deepwater Horizon

2. Example: Wells Fargo

3. Example: Equifax

4. Example: JP Morgan Chase

5. Example: Facebook

Best Crisis Managers Safeguard Their Brands

Crisis Management Examples by Best Practice

Crisis Management Best Practice: Form a Crisis Team

Crisis Management Best Practice: Have a Plan

Crisis Management Best Practice: Pick the Right Spokesperson

Crisis Management Best Practice: Be Present

Crisis Management Best Practice: Respond Quickly

Crisis Management Best Practice: Be Compassionate

Crisis Management Best Practice: Speak the Truth

Crisis Management Best Practice: Focus and Move Ahead

Crisis Management Best Practice: Communicate Clearly

Crisis Management Examples by Type: Social Media, Product Problems, and More

Examples of Social Media and PR Crisis Management

Examples of Good Social Media Crisis Management

Examples of Bad Social Media Crisis Management

Examples of Crisis Management Involving Product Problems

Examples of Good Crisis Management of Product Problems

Examples of Bad Crisis Management for Product Problems

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