Assessment - Introduction

Serious aviation safety and security events are comparatively rare. That fortunate fact, however, means that when they do occur, it is quite possible that the company will not be adequately prepared to respond. Too often a company has a crisis response plan, but it is little more than a seldom-read chapter buried in an operations manual. Failure to respond quickly and effectively, however, can have dire consequences. Besides, while serious accidents can have a devastating impact on an aviation company, lesser safety or security events can be equally damaging. The nature and extent of crisis response varies significantly with the scope and nature of a company's operations. A major airline operating throughout the world, for example, has very different crisis response needs than a local charter helicopter service.

What is necessary for every company, however, is to have a plan to gain control of the situation as quickly as possible. Gaining control not only means effectively and appropriately managing the details of the crisis response itself, it also means controlling the message - assuring that the company is seen by the media and others as the most reliable source of information, and that stakeholders are aware of the company's actions to competently and, when appropriate, compassionately address the situation. Of course, the best way to be seen as competently managing a crisis is, in fact, to competently manage it. Crisis management plans must be made, regularly updated, and rehearsed.

A crisis management team should be identified and everyone involved must know their roles and responsibilities. Procedures must be in place for rapidly notifying and assembling the team, with provisions made ahead of time for all necessary equipment such as computers, telephones and handheld devices. Consultants and other essential outside re¬sources should be identified in advance. Even an otherwise well-managed situation, however, can have a bad outcome if communications are not handled properly. It is critical that organizations communicate quickly - and in the right way - with all necessary parties, which can include employees, first responders, airport personnel, the news media, families of the crew and passengers, and investigators. A consistent and coordinated messaging strategy is essential, and a communication plan should be an essential part of the overall crisis response plan.

In Aviation Crisis Management - Emergency Response Planning, a critical requirement is to develop, establish and maintain a social media policy. Thanks to social media websites, virtually anyone can become an undesignated company spokesperson, potentially creating a public relations nightmare. Through a company's social media policy, also employees need to be made aware that it is not acceptable to be perceived as repre¬senting the company in their social media activities, and that confidential or sensitive information should never be disclosed.

In addition1, IATA (Dec 2012) manual 'Dealing with the news media after an aviation accident - Best Practices in the age of social media" provides "best practice" communication guidelines are intended to help airlines, manufacturers, airports, investigating bodies and other involved parties to communicate effectively after an aircraft accident or major incident, to protect their own reputation and the reputation of the industry itself. Coombs2 (2007), also provides guidelines in his article "Crisis Management and Communication". Finally, Unmetric (2013) report "A statistical analysis of how airlines in the major middle-east perform on social media" available at http://simpliflying.com/2013/a-statistical-analysis-of¬how-airlines-in-the-major-middle-east-perform-on-social-media/, takes a look at how airlines in the Middle East fared on social media.

Assessment

In 2500 words individual report:

(1) Address the role of Social Media in Aviation Crisis Management and Emergency Response Planning.

(2) Provide your reflection to a crisis management - emergency response planning case study of your choice (i.e. Aviation safety or security related) as well your appraisal to the decisions and actions taken by the organization, mainly related to social media.

(3) Provide your findings, alternatives and recommendations on how an aviation organization should apply a comprehensive social media policy throughout the three phases of crisis management (i.e. before crisis, during crisis and right after crisis).

However, you shall assume that there is no single correct answer to this coursework. In reality, your answers would be correct only if:

1. Clearly identify benchmarks or measures that will indicate to you whether or not the solution is working.

2. Generates other's group feedback or from those who are charged with implementing the solution (or are affected by it) and if that feedback:
• Reflects the effectiveness of the decision.
• Indicates whether or not the solution is achieving its purpose.
• Is timely and can be fed back into operational, administrative, and policy units.

Additional Remarks

1. This is an individual report.

2. Your report should be limited to 2500 (+/- 10%) words excluding any Appendices.

3. The following is an indicative template you may use for your report:

Cover Page
Abstract / Executive summary (max 100 words) Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations (if any)
List of Figures (if any)
List of Tables (if any)

Introduction

Background

Aim and objectives Structure of the report

Social Media -Crisis Management and Emergency Planning Case Study
Findings and recommendations
Critical reflections
Conclusions
References Appendices

4. The C\A! Marking Scheme is shown in the next pages.

5. Course work Weight: 70% of the overall module assessment

6. CW Hand out Date: Last day of the module delivery block

7. CW Hand in (Submission) Date: To be submitted at the end of the eight weeks module period. The exact date is set by the graduate registrar

Attachment:- IATA social-media-crisis.rar