Damage Control Strategies

Introduction

Every company’s goal is to make a profit while ensuring that its customers are satisfied. This objective increases the sales and the effectiveness. Today, many companies are able to advertise themselves through the social media platforms influencing the process of globalization.  However, in some occasions, this strategy might damage the company’s public image. To tackle this, the public relation department of the company takes steps and strategies that would save the company’s reputation. This essay examines the strategies used by the companies to save their public image and how effective the strategies are by giving an example of a company that suffered from the negative publicity. This essay examines an event that led to negative results for the General Motors and the solutions that the firm used to address the issue.

General Motors Image

General Motors, a leading manufacturer and assembler of automobiles and trucks in the United States and other countries, like Korea, experienced the challenges that made the government save it from the bankruptcy. Additionally, the firm was forced to recall almost two million cars back due to a defect in them. It was reported that General Motors’ cars had a problem in their ignition switch which can make the driver lose control of the car. The problem in the car caused the steering and the brakes to be disabled which contributed to the death of a number of American citizens (Berr, 2014).

Strategies Used

Managing the Situation

The acceptance of the fault made it easier for the company to deal with the loss of the sales and the lawsuits while managing the public reputation. The reporters were called to the company not to make it seem as the company refuses the problem (Goldberg, n.d). Owing to the situation, the apologies were made with an intention to sooth the public fury. After the incident, General Motors management accepted their mistake fully. They announced that they did know about the problems in their automobiles that were sold despite the defects. 

Communicating the Situation

Effective communication from the management made it easier to stop the rumors and the spread of the information from unreliable sources. The decision to address the reporters in pubic is a proof of the commitment to the safety of their customers. The company’s CEO addressed the situation and explained to the public the main problems with the automobiles and how to avoid a crash (The Associated Press, 2014). Communicating the situation helped to save its image since it proved that they had nothing to hide. Despite the fact that they opened the company to investigations, it proved that they could be relied on.

Taking Responsibility

The company should outline the solutions to solve the situation. This would be regarded as an attempt to take responsibility. General Motors did more. In fact, they recalled the automobiles that had the ignition switch problem for repair. They offered their customers loan cars to use during the repairs which showed that the company was responsible for their mistakes and respected their customers. This strategy was effective as the company created the new standards and techniques that would ensure consumer safety in the future.

Alternative Strategies

The company could write posts and the news on their websites and social media accounts that highlighted the possible positive solutions. Those posts should have been distributed through all the channels which would help them to boost the relationships with the public. Finally, this would help to restore faith in the company’s products.

Conclusion

General Motors experienced negative publicity resulting from a bankruptcy and defective motor vehicles. Thus, the management had to address the issue in the following ways: managing, communicating and taking responsibility. The management properly confronted the issue by accepting the problems. Consequently, it was the first step towards the improvement.