Who really controls communication during crisis?

When the idea of crisis comes up, a lot of people's minds run directly to public relations. Thoughts of strategic communication and how it can be used to smooth over the situation at hand. Some research into corporate communication has revealed that it is not the PR department who is controlling the communication but instead the legal department. Recently, Microsoft had problems when they allowed their legal department to handle a mistake within the corporation setting. Excuse the language, but the video really gets the message across to how Microsoft's decision has effected the opinions that people have on the company.



This is a prime example of what happens when companies do not consult their PR departments about communication methods. The funny thing about this video is that even this gentleman even has a proper response to the situation. Everyone knows that Bill Gates has a lot of money, so when he, one of the richest men in the world, asks for money back, it is very disturbing to the public. The gentleman in the video made a valid point, if they were going to make it publicly known, than they should have just admitted their mistake and Bill Gates should have just put it behind him and accept that he was going to lose a little bit more money. So, he would need to get rid of one of his many cars in order to help feed a family.

This issue started out as an internal crises and quickly escalated to a big public crisis was due to Microsoft's lack of planning and consideration. It was the legal department who wrote the letters that were distributed to the laid off employee's, and they did not consult with the PR team. What is extremely interesting is that Microsoft did not consider that this might turn into a big crisis for Microsoft. They are not denying any of the claims, yet they are not releasing any more information on the subject.

This is a lesson to all company's. When it comes to company communication, whether it is internal or external, a company needs to consult with their PR team in order to make sure the message was correct.