Crisis Readiness is the Next Corporate Governance Issue, Crisis Management Expert Declares

Never Say Never: The Complete Executive Guide to Crisis Management Develops Practical Plan for 100% Crisis Readiness

New York and Washington, DC, May 1, 2008.................. International crisis management expert Len Biegel, in his new book, Never Say Never: The Complete Executive Guide to Crisis Management (Brick Tower Press 2008), declares that it is time for corporate America’s crisis managers to act like a profession. He writes that crisis managers – like CFOs or compliance officers – must work together across industries to develop best practices that boards of directors can use to evaluate the readiness of their executives and companies to survive various types of disasters.

Addressing an audience today at the Princeton Club of New York to launch the book’s publication, Biegel noted that corporate crisis management began over 25 years ago, during the landmark Tylenol tampering case. Since then, Biegel declared, private industry has endured hundreds of “wakeup calls” requiring them to respond to various types of disasters. Some have been handled well; others, such as the memorable Exxon Valdez and Enron crises were quite the opposite. In his new book, Biegel analyzes corporate America’s recent experiences during 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and explains in detail how some companies survived and why, and how other companies did not.

Recent surveys have shown that at least 25% of American businesses have done little or nothing to be better prepared to prevent or manage crisis of any type since 9/11. The excuses run from reluctance to spend the money to plan to the time it takes away from the daily business. “The reality,” Biegel states, “is that, when a crisis strikes a company, the cost in reputation, lost business and share price is far greater than any cost or perceived inconvenience in planning. A well-prepared company is ready to manage crisis quickly and minimize losses.”

The other reality, Biegel notes, is the reality of motivation. “We have hit a plateau of roughly 75% preparedness, but that is barely a passing grade. The remaining 75% - ie, those companies that are unprepared,” he states, “will remain unprepared until crisis preparedness becomes a corporate governance issue and CEOs are obligated to prepare. Someone must be in charge, and ultimately it is the company’s board to whom that CEO answers.”

Never Say Never: The Complete Executive Guide to Crisis Management includes a step by step action plan for corporate America to achieve these goals, including establishing a professional crisis management organization to act as the clearinghouse for best practices and to serve as a resource for corporate directors.