In the Unit 7 Assignment, you will assess a situation and create a crisis or risk communication plan that will be presented to a client with recommendations for addressing a current or past event of your choice. Your topic can involve an organization, product, individual, or cause (with instructor approval).

The text discusses several strategies for responding to a crisis. Review these strategies and apply them to a current event outlining your recommendations on how that crisis should be addressed for the most effective public relations outcome (maintaining or creating a positive image). Using your problem solving and decision making skills, include reputation management in your assessment and recommendations and support solutions with the decision tree, “conflict management life cycle,” the “variables affecting risk perceptions,” and “how to communicate during a crisis” sections in the text.

Your focus for your analysis, recommendations, and plan can be based on one of these two approaches:

1. Proactive approach – put a plan in place to address a situation in case it happens in the future (issues management process). Topics can be a product recall, human resource issue, natural disaster or other events.
2. Address a situation that has already occurred and analyze what should have been done and what was done well. Then base your recommendations on what would have been the most effective approach to the situation.

Content of your Unit 7 Assignment

Your conflict management presentation should be approximately 3-4 Pages

The Assignment should include:

1. Introduction into strategic conflict management from a public relations perspective (not a business perspective)
2. Your analysis of the conflict situation.
   • Background
   • Main events
   • Main crisis/ issues/ risks/ problems that need to be addressed.
3. Three main objectives of your crisis/ issue/ risk plan based on the problems identified
4. At least two or three specific strategies that you recommend to address EACH objective
5. Recommend a strategy for the management of image and reputation
6. Recommend a strategy for the management and use of social media during the crisis
7. Address any long term considerations
8. Overall conclusion

Although the analysis and recommendations need to be your original work, use APA style for citations and references of all support used from the text. Please refer to the APA Quick Reference and the Writing Center for APA formatting help.