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Brief Contents
1. Preface
2. Acknowledgments
3. • Chapter 1 A Need for More Crisis Management Knowledge
4. • Chapter 2 Risk as the Foundation for Crisis Management and Crisis
Communication
5. • Chapter 3 The Crisis Mitigation Process: Building Crisis Resistant
Organizations
6. • Chapter 4 Crisis Preparing: Part I
7. • Chapter 5 Crisis Preparing: Part II
8. • Chapter 6 Recognizing Crises
9. • Chapter 7 Crisis Responding
10. • Chapter 8 Postcrisis Concerns
11. Epilogue
12. Appendix: Possible Case Studies
13. References
14. Index
15. About the Author
Detailed Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1 A Need for More Crisis Management Knowledge
Crisis Management Defined
Disaster Defined
Organizational Crisis Defined
Crisis Management
The Initial Crisis Management Framework
Past Staged Approaches to Crisis Management
Outline of the Three-Stage Approach
Precrisis
Crisis Event
Postcrisis
A More Advanced View: The Regenerative Model of Crisis
Importance of Crisis Management
Value of Reputations
Stakeholder Activism
Digital Naturals
Broader View of Crises
Negligent Failure to Plan
Employer Duty of Care
Crisis Leadership: An Overlooked Resource
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
• Chapter 2 Risk as the Foundation for Crisis Management and Crisis
Communication
Enterprise Risk Management
Issues Management
Reputation Management
Risk Management
Boyd’s OODA Loop
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
• Chapter 3 The Crisis Mitigation Process: Building Crisis Resistant
Organizations
Observe: Finding Red Flags
Internal
Orient: Collect the Information
Orient: Analyze the Information
Summary
Decide and Act: Take Preventive Action
Evaluate the Effectiveness of the Threat Reduction
Paracrises: A Review of Action and Evaluation
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
• Chapter 4 Crisis Preparing: Part I
Diagnosing Vulnerabilities
Assessing Crisis Types
Selecting and Training a Crisis Management Team
Functional Areas
Soft Skills
Task Analysis
Group Decision-Making
Working as a Team
Enacting the Crisis Communication Plan
Listening
Implications for Crisis Management Team Selection
Applications for Training
Improvisation’s Relationship to Crisis Management Team
Training
Special Considerations
Selecting and Training a Spokesperson
The Spokesperson’s Role
Media-Specific Tasks of the Spokesperson
Appearing Pleasant on Camera
Answering Questions Effectively
Presenting Crisis Information Clearly
Handling Difficult Questions
Spokespersons in a Digital World
Resilience: Training for All Employees
Conclusion
 Discussion Questions
• Chapter 5 Crisis Preparing: Part II
Developing a Crisis Communication Plan
Value
Components
Crisis Appendix
The CCP Alone Is Not Enough
Other Related Plans
Reviewing the Crisis Communication System
Mass Notification System
Crisis Control Center
Social Intranet: Internal Digital Platforms
Stakeholders and Preparation
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
• Chapter 6 Recognizing Crises
Selling the Crisis
Crisis Framing: A Symbolic Response to Crises
Crisis Dimensions
Expertise of Top Management
Persuasiveness of the Presentation
Organizing the Persuasive Effort
Resistance to Crises
Crises and Information Needs
Crises as Information Processing and Knowledge
Management
The Unknown
Information Gathering
Information Processing: The Known
Information-Processing Problems
Serial Reproduction Errors
The MUM Effect
Message Overload
Information Acquisition Biases
Group Decision-Making Errors
Summary
Information-Processing Mechanisms
 Structural Elements
Procedural Elements
Training
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
• Chapter 7 Crisis Responding
Form of the Crisis Response
Responding Quickly
Speaking With One Voice: Consistency
Transparency: The New Openness
A Strategic Focus in Crisis Communication
Objectives: What Crisis Communication Hopes to Accomplish
The Target Audiences for Crisis Response Strategies
Communication Channels and Platforms for Crisis
Communication
Immediate Feedback and Crisis Communication
The Sources for Crisis Communication
How It All Comes Together
Content of the Crisis Response
Instructing Information: Physical Harm
Adjusting Information: Psychological Well-Being
Reputation Management
Crisis Response Strategies
Evaluating Reputational Threats
Effects of Credibility on Crisis Response Strategies
Crisis Communication Is Not Magic
Follow-Up Communication
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
• Chapter 8 Postcrisis Concerns
Crisis Evaluation
Crisis Management Performance Evaluation
Data Collection
Organizing and Analyzing the Crisis Management
Performance Data
Impact Evaluation
Specific Measures: Assessing Objectives
 General Measures
Summary
Knowledge Management: Organizational Memory and Learning
Organizational Memory
Organizational Learning
Knowledge Management: Connecting the Pieces
Continuity of Actions
Memorials and Shrines
The Big Picture
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
Epilogue
Musings: Taking an Evidence-Based Approach Seriously
Musings: Simplicity, Complexity, and Effectiveness
Musings: Time and Crises
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
Appendix: Possible Case Studies
References
Index
About the Author
Preface

Purpose of the Text

Crisis management is a challenge any organization can face and one that
many fail. When crisis management fails, stakeholders and organizations
suffer. All organizations must become prepared for crises. VW, Southwest
Airlines, and Ikea are prominent and respected companies, but each has
recently faced crises and handled them with varying degrees of success.
Crisis communication is the lifeblood of crisis management. When crisis
communication is ineffective, so is the crisis management effort. There is a
lot of research and many cases about crisis communication. The vast writings
about crisis communication and management remain a blessing and a curse.
It is great to have so much information, but it is hard to find and organize it
all. The writings about crisis communication and management are
fragmented, as people write about crises from very different perspectives.
This situation can leave managers struggling to organize bits of information
or missing critical resources entirely. Writers often focus on their specialties
and fail to make connections to ideas and concepts developed in other
specialties. In turn, this fragmentation precludes a fuller understanding of
crisis communication and management that is gained by integrating the
various perspectives. Add to this the fact that a number of related
communication concepts have applications to crisis management but have yet
to be integrated into the literature, and the situation becomes even more
complicated. Practitioners, researchers, and educators are limited by this
fractured approach. The primary purpose of this book is to provide a resource
that integrates and organizes a wide array of practitioner and research
writings about crisis management. Taken together, this information helps to
create evidence-based crisis communication. Evidence-based is an approach
taken in any discipline that involves interventions, such as medicine, social
work, and management. An evidence-based approach combines the best
research with practitioner experience to guide interventions. Crisis
communication is an intervention designed to lessen the negative effects of a
crisis for stakeholders and the organization in crisis.
The emphasis throughout the book is on the role of communication in the
crisis management process. Management in general must recognize the value
of strategic crisis communication and the value of crisis management. The
book is designed to be a body of knowledge that aids managers, researchers,
and educators. Process is an important word here. Too many people think that
crisis management means having a crisis management plan or responding
when a crisis hits. This is a very reactive and rather limited approach to crisis
management. A richer, more proactive approach to crisis management
explores the entire process. Managers should think of crisis management as
akin to SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats. Through crisis management, organizations identify
what the weaknesses are and what an organization is failing to do to address
threats and prepare for crises. Strengths are the elements of crisis
management an organization does well. Opportunities are the resources an
organization can access before, during, and after a crisis. Threats are those
factors that can evolve into crises. A quick crisis SWOT analysis will awaken
management to the need to take crisis management and crisis communication
very seriously.

Audience for the Text

The book is written for both students and practitioners. Students, primarily
undergraduate, are given an applied approach to crisis communication that is
rooted in theory. Ideally theory should inform practice, and I have selected
the best of the crisis communication and management research for gaining
insight into the process. Practitioners can use the book to enhance their
understanding and execution of crisis communication. This book is designed
to be used to help those who are or may become crisis managers. Any
individual with a background in corporate communication, organizational
communication, public relations, or management may find themselves on a
crisis team. The information in this book should help to make a person a
more effective crisis team member.

Organization of the Text

Throughout this preface I have mentioned the crisis management process.
Crisis management can be organized around three stages: precrisis, crisis
event, and postcrisis. The book follows this three-part structure. Chapter 1
provides a discussion of the three-stage approach to crisis management.
Chapter 2 highlights the increased importance of social media to crisis
management. Chapters 3 and 4 focus on the prevention aspect of precrisis,
while Chapters 5 and 6 develop the preparation aspect of precrisis. Chapter 7
concentrates on the crisis event stage, and Chapter 8 explains the postcrisis
stage. The epilogue considers how communication technology and
globalization will influence the future development of crisis communication
and reflects on the key insights the book provides.

Pedagogical Features
Throughout the book are “What would you do?” cases. Each case fits the key
points found in a particular chapter. Information from a real crisis event is
presented along with a series of questions designed to allow readers to apply
text concepts to the case.

This edition retains the “Crisis Leadership Competencies” boxes. These

boxes highlight the essential leadership skills needed to manage crisis
communication effectively in a wide range of situations.

Each chapter ends with a Conclusion that sums up the main points of the
chapter as well as Discussion Questions that help readers extend their
understanding of the material.

New to the Fifth Edition

Writing a fifth edition of this book was necessary because crisis
communication and management is so dynamic that the field has changed
significantly in the few years since the fourth edition. Researchers continue to
yield additional insights into the crisis management process. Social media
continues to be a challenge for crisis communication and needs to be
integrated throughout the crisis communication process. The fourth edition
had a separate chapter on social media but that has been dropped and
replaced by an integrated approach to its presentation. Researchers have
expanded our understanding of crisis communication by developing ideas
particularly with internal crisis communication. I have tried to include
elements of internal crisis communication throughout the book. The fifth
edition tries to capture the more complex view of crisis communication that
has emerged from research and translate that material into accessible and
usable information for practitioners.

The main changes to the fourth edition are outlined here:

Chapter 1 draws distinctions between operational crises and paracrises

and offers an alternative view of the crisis process through the
regenerative model of crisis.
Chapter 2 introduces the concept of enterprise risk management to
provide a holistic approach to risk assessment. The chapter also uses
Boyd’s OODA Loop to help explain how people identify, analyze, and
respond to stimuli in the environment.
Chapter 3 focuses on the mitigation process in organizations and
applies Boyd’s OODA Loop to the process. There is an extended
discussion of paracrisis and communication response strategies.
Chapters 4 explains how organizations can increase risk acceptance
through the normalization of deviance. There are added sections about
soft skills for crisis team members and resilience training for employees
along with added material about intuitive decision-making,
improvisation, and spokesperson delivery.
Chapter 5 explores the crisis communication plan (CCP) with added
material about the role of digital channels and platforms for external and
internal crisis communication.
Chapter 6 provides some additional information to help people
understand why organizations resist recognizing risks and crisis along
with advice on how to overcome this resistance.
Chapter 7 has an expanded discussion of crisis communication,
including a much more developed discussion of the strategic focus of
crisis communication. There is also added information about message
mapping.
Chapter 8 gives a revised and expanded discussion of knowledge
management after a crisis along with new information about shrines as
part of the discussion of memorials.
Finally, the epilogue provides some key pieces of advice as well as
explores the idea of time in crisis communication.
Acknowledgements
Books are driven by many sources, so no book is really sole authored. I
would like to acknowledge those who have influenced how I approached this
revision: Sherry Holladay, An-Sofie Claeys, Finn Frandsen, Winni Johansen,
and Nadine Yehya. I am very lucky to have good friends and family who
have great insights into crisis communication and crisis management.
1 A Need for More Crisis Management Knowledge
Alisteria outbreak in cantaloupe kills 30 people, Volkswagen is caught in a
global emission cheating scandal, Equifax has a data breech affecting
millions of people, General Motors has a faulty ignition switch that results in
customer deaths, Wells Fargo is caught creating illegal accounts, and United
Airlines faces outrage over the bloody removal of a passenger from a flight.
These are all reminders that no organization is immune to crises. If no
organization is immune, then all organizations should be prepared. Pick any
day of the week, and you will find stories about train derailments, plane
crashes, funds used inappropriately at nonprofit organizations, explosions in
manufacturing facilities, workers shot or injured on the job, or E. coli–tainted
beef, turkey, chicken, or even bean sprouts. The bottom line is that all
organizations should learn as much as they can about crisis management.

Developing a comprehensive crisis management program (CCMP) that

captures the ongoing nature of crisis management is not an easy task. The
crisis management process is varied and requires the integration of
knowledge from such diverse areas as small-group decision-making, media
relations, environmental scanning, risk assessment, crisis communication,
crisis plan development, evaluation methods, disaster sociology, and
reputation management. A diverse set of crisis management writings must be
navigated in order to develop a complete CCMP that covers every stage and
substage of the crisis management process. It is a daunting but necessary task
to sort through the plethora of crisis management information to identify the
evidence necessary to create evidence-based crisis communication. The most
effective way to develop a CCMP is to base your choices on practices and
policies that have proven to be effective rather than depending on
speculation.

The primary goal of this book is to offer an integrative framework that

simplifies the task of organizing crisis management knowledge. An ongoing
approach based upon a three-stage model of crisis management provides the
foundation. The three stages are precrisis, crisis event, and postcrisis, each of
which is composed of three substages. The stages are used to summarize and
organize various insights into the crisis management process. Myriad ideas
from different areas are synthesized into one continuous process. The end
product is a guide for developing each stage in the ongoing crisis
management process. This book is a living guide because future
developments in crisis management can be easily assimilated into the
comprehensive framework of the three-stage approach.

The three-stage model articulated here provides a variety of suggestions

about how to “do” crisis management. This book is designed to aid those
interested in practicing, researching, or teaching crisis management. To those
interested in practice, the book offers a comprehensive approach for
structuring a crisis management program. For those interested in research, the
book provides an analytic framework for the study of crisis management
efforts. Those involved in teaching are offered an additional resource for
educating future crisis managers. The book ends with a summary of key ideas
and highlights some of the insights offered to practitioners, researchers, and
educators. In addition, an appendix suggests a number of crises that can be
used for study and research.

Crisis Management Defined

There are a lot of books written about crisis management, but there is no one
accepted definition of a crisis. Having a specific definition is important
because how a subject is defined indicates how it is approached. I choose to
start with a definition so that readers will understand how this book
approaches the subject.

Crisis is a very broad term that is used frequently by practitioners and

academics. A general definition of crisis is some breakdown in a system that
creates shared stress (Perry, 2007). Such a general definition can be applied
to a wide variety of events. It is important that early on in the book I specify
what I mean by the term crisis and differentiate it from similar concepts.
Figure 1.1 is a visual representation of how I conceptualize crisis. We can
take the general notion of crisis as the starting point, beneath which we have
disaster and organizational crisis. There are volumes written about both
disasters and organizational crises, but there is no one accepted definition of
either term. It is important to draw a distinction between the two concepts in
order to clarify how this book approaches the topic of crisis.
Disaster Defined
Disasters are events that are sudden, seriously disrupt routines of systems,
require new courses of action to cope with the disruption, and pose a danger
to values and social goals (Quarantelli, 2005). This is more a set of
characteristics than a definition, but it does capture the nature of disasters. I
would add that disasters are large in scale and require response from multiple
governmental units. Disasters can spawn organizational crises. For instance,
an organization may need to cope with the effects of the disaster on its
operation. An example would be utilities needing to restore power to
customers following a tornado. In rarer circumstances a crisis can trigger a
disaster. Examples include the Union Carbide toxic gas release in Bhopal,
India, and the crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico when the Deepwater
Horizon sank. Research has generated a significant amount of advice on how
to cope with disasters, and there is some overlap between disasters and
organizational crisis efforts. However, this book focuses on organizational
crises. I choose to present a very specific definition of organizational crisis to
clarify for the readers how this book will approach crises.

Figure 1.1 ■ Types of Crises

Organizational Crisis Defined

A crisis is the perceived violation of salience stakeholder expectations that
can create negative outcomes for stakeholders and/or the organization. This
definition is a synthesis of various perspectives on crisis that tries to capture
the common traits other writers have used when describing crises.
A crisis is perceptual. What we typically think of as crises are events that are
easy to perceive as such. That is why few people would dispute industrial
accidents or hurricanes being crises. However, it is the perceptions of
stakeholders that help to define an event as a crisis. A stakeholder is a person
or group that is affected by or can affect an organization (Bryson, 2004). If
stakeholders believe an organization is in crisis, a crisis does exist, and
stakeholders will react to the organization as if it is in crisis. For nearly a
decade, the automobile manufacturer Audi told its customers there was
nothing wrong with its transmissions. However, customers did perceive a
crisis because a few cars were jumping into gear from neutral—with sudden
acceleration—resulting in injuries and deaths. We fast-forward to 2009, and
Toyota was wrestling with gas pedals that stick, causing cars to accelerate
uncontrollably and at times fatally. Toyota was criticized for a slow response
to the crisis. Toyota management had a difficult time seeing the problem and
realizing the organization was in a crisis. Management must be able to see the
event from the stakeholders’ perspective to properly assess whether a crisis
has occurred.

Crises can violate salient expectations that stakeholders hold about how
organizations should act. These expectations are important to the
stakeholders and can be related to health, safety, environmental, or economic
concerns. Planes should land safely, products should not harm us,
management should not steal money, and organizations should reflect
societal values. Crises disturb some stakeholder expectations, resulting in
people becoming upset and angry, which threatens the relationship between
the organization and its stakeholders. That is why crises are considered
dangerous to organizations’ reputations (Barton, 2001; Dilenschneider,
2000). A reputation is how stakeholders perceive the organization. When
expectations are breached, stakeholders perceive the organization less
positively: The reputation is harmed.

Crises have the potential to create negative or undesirable outcomes for

stakeholders and organizations. Product harms crises place customers at risk
for injury or death. If business is disrupted, an organization will usually
suffer financial losses (e.g., lost productivity, a drop in earnings). Crisis
damage extends beyond financial loss, however, to include injuries or deaths
to stakeholders, structural or property damage (on and off site), tarnishing of
a reputation, damage to a brand, and environmental harm (Loewendick,
1993). The damage can affect a variety of stakeholders. A plane crash can kill
crew members, passengers, and people on the ground. In addition, an entire
industry can be affected by a crisis in one of its member organizations. An
industry can suffer financial loss (e.g., new, costly regulations) or
reputational damage as people project a localized crisis onto an entire
industry. In 2006, the cruise ship industry became involved in the Carnival
Cruise Lines fire because the crisis was an industry-wide threat, not just a
company-specific one. Fires were a risk on every cruise ship, and people
needed to feel safe. Employees, customers, or community members can be
injured or killed by industrial or transportation accidents.

Environmental damage is another outcome of accidents. Community

members can suffer structural or property damage from accidents as well.
Explosions can shatter windows, and evacuations can cost community
members in terms of money, time, and disruption. Careless handling of an
accident can add to the damage. Investors can lose money from the costs of
the crisis. For example, an organization can incur repair expenses from an
accident while a faulty product can result in product liability lawsuits and
recall costs. A crisis presents real or potential negative outcomes for
stakeholders, the organization, and even the industry. Crisis management is
designed to ward off or reduce the threats by providing guidance for properly
handling crises.

One final point to mention is the unpredictable nature of crises. A crisis is

unpredictable but not unexpected. Wise organizations know that crises will
befall them; they just do not know when. Crises can be anticipated, but their
often sudden nature can give them an element of surprise or unpredictability
(Barton, 2001; National Research Council, 1996). However, some crises offer
a great deal of warning (Irvine & Millar, 1996). For instance, if a major
television news magazine is planning to run a negative story about an
organization, management will know the event months in advance.
Metabolife, a diet supplement company, faced just such a crisis in 1999. It
used the lead time to create an aggressive multimedia campaign to defend
itself from charges linking its product to harmful side effects. Radio and
newspaper advertisements were used to drive people to a specially created
website where people could watch an unedited video of the interview and
learn how news shows can distort the truth.

At this point, it is instructive to further separate organizational crises into

operational and paracrises. Operational crises reflect the roots of crisis
management itself. One potential effect from a crisis is to disrupt operations
either completely or partially. Many early definitions of crisis include
disruption of operations (e.g., Barton, 2001). Crisis management was
developed in part to limit disruptions to operations because an organization
loses money when it is not operating at full capacity. Business continuity, a
sister discipline to crisis management, is dedicated to preventing or limiting
operational disruptions. Operational crises capture those situations where
there is actual or potential disruption to organizational operations. Facility
fires, natural disasters, and product harm situations are all examples of
operational crises. I will elaborate on the various types of operational crises
in Chapter 3. Operational crises create some specific communicative
demands for crisis managers because they must consider the information
needs of various stakeholders when there are disruptions. For instance,
employees need to know when, if, and where they are working while
suppliers and customers need to know if there will be deliveries and
shipments and the size of those deliveries and shipments.

Paracrises are situations where crisis managers must manage a crisis risk in
full view of its stakeholders (Coombs & Holladay, 2012c). Paracrises reflect
the reputational focus of many crises. All crises will inflict some reputational
damage on an organization. However, certain situations are primarily
reputational and have limited effects on operations. The terms reputational
crises and social media crises have been used in attempts to capture the
emphasis on reputational concerns. The term reputational crisis is confusing
because reputation also is an antecedent and consequence for a crisis and
because all crises have a reputational dimension. The term social media crisis
is extremely vague, referring to events that transpire in or are intensified by
social media. Again, any crisis can have a social media aspect to it, and
labeling a crisis by the dominant media involved is imprecise. Instead, I
prefer to divide organizational crises into operational crises and paracrises as
illustrated in Figure 1.2

Figure 1.2 ■ Operational Crises and Paracrises

The term para means resembling or protection from something. A paracrisis
resembles a crisis because it threatens the organization’s reputation and
related assets. However, a paracrisis would not require the activation of the
crisis team and does not disrupt the organization. Still, a paracrisis warrants
attention because neglect or mismanagement could escalate into an
operational crisis. A paracrisis is a specific type of crisis warning sign. It
mimics a crisis itself. Motrin’s offensive ad to mothers is an example of a
paracrisis. In 2008, Motrin created an edgy ad that noted how mothers have
back pain from using sling-type baby carriers. The ad was in print and online
in video form. Many mothers were offended by it and took to social media to
express their outrage. Twitter was a popular location for mothers to attack
Motrin. There was even a nine-minute YouTube video featuring the Twitter
complaints. The ad appeared online on a Saturday morning. The social media
criticism stormed Twitter by Saturday evening. On the following Monday,
McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the maker of Motrin, removed the ad from the
Internet and replaced it with an apology (Tsouderos, 2008). McNeil
Consumer Healthcare did not see any disruption in the production or sale of
Motrin. There was minor damage to the corporate and product reputation that
had the potential to escalate if the paracrisis was not handled swiftly and
effectively. By removing the ad and apologizing, McNeil Consumer
Healthcare managed the paracrisis, thereby defusing a potential crisis.

Paracrises that emerge in digital communication channels and platforms such

as social media are unique crisis warning signs because they appear in full
view of stakeholders. Typically, crisis prevention efforts are invisible to
stakeholders. For instance, organizations revise safety procedures or replace a
dangerous chemical to reduce the threat of hazardous chemical releases.
Visibility is what gives a paracrisis its impact. The public appearance of the
paracrisis demands public management. Managers must explain to all
stakeholders what is being done to address the concern or why they are
choosing to ignore it. The paracrisis blurs the line between precrisis and crisis
response because addressing the paracrisis can appear to be a crisis response
rather than preventative action. The key point here is that the digital
communication channels and platforms increase the visibility and number of
paracrises because the Internet can highlight the stakeholder concerns that
drive paracrises. As one white paper on social media and crisis
recommended, “Never ignore conflict/crisis on social media” (“Crisis
Management for Social Media,” n.d., p. 4; IR Insight, 2012). I discuss the
various types of paracrises and response options in Chapter 3.

What Would You Do?

BP and Texas City: Act 1

It’s 1:20 p.m. on March 23, 2005, in Texas City, Texas. You work at the BP
refinery in the town. Suddenly, an explosion rocks the ground. You go
outside and see large flames and smoke coming from the direction of the
isomerization unit. You know that workers were performing a start-up at the
isomerization unit today, and start-ups are one of the most dangerous
procedures at refineries. Alarms are going off, people are running and
shouting, and some personnel are heading over to help. You are the public
relations person on the BP Texas City crisis team. What do you do now?
What does the organization need to do to respond to this event?

Crisis Management
Crisis management represents a set of factors designed to combat crises and
to lessen the actual damage inflicted. Put another way, it seeks to prevent or
lessen the negative outcomes of a crisis and thereby protect the organization,
stakeholders, and industry from harm. Crisis management has evolved from
emergency preparedness and, drawing from that base, comprises a set of four
interrelated factors: prevention, preparation, response, and revision.

Prevention, also known as mitigation, represents the steps taken to avoid

crises. Crisis managers often detect warning signs and then take actions
designed to prevent the crisis. For instance, a faulty toaster is recalled before
its overheating problem causes any fires or injuries to customers. Prevention
is largely unseen by the public. News stories about crises that did not happen
are rare.

Preparation is the best-known factor in crisis management because it

includes the crisis communication plan (CCP). If people know nothing else
about crisis management, they know an organization should have a CCP. The
CCP is the tip of the crisis management iceberg. Although people think the
CCP is the crisis management process, in actuality, most of the process is
unseen. Preparation also involves diagnosing crisis vulnerabilities, selecting
and training a crisis management team and spokespersons, creating a crisis
portfolio, and refining a crisis communication system.

Response is the application of the preparation components to a crisis. A crisis

can be simulated (as in an exercise) or real. The preparation components must
be tested regularly. The testing involves running simulated crises and drills
that determine the fitness of the CCP, crisis team members, spokespersons,
and the communication system. A real crisis involves the execution of the
same crisis management resources, only the outcomes are real rather than
hypothetical. Response is very public during an actual crisis. An
organization’s crisis management response is frequently reported and
critiqued in the news media (Pearson & Clair, 1998). Many publications
critiqued Bausch & Lomb’s failure to recall ReNu with MoistureLoc when it
was linked to a 2006 outbreak of Fusarium keratitis, a form of fungal eye
infection that can produce blindness (Dobbin, 2006; Mintz & Di Meglio,
2006). Bausch & Lomb did stop shipping the product and eventually asked
retailers to remove the product from shelves. However, it was not until May
15, a month after the crisis began, that an official recall was issued (Mintz &
Di Meglio, 2006). Remember, crises make for good news stories, and news
of ReNu with MoistureLoc was everywhere.

In an actual crisis, responses seek to achieve outcomes related to reducing the

negative impact of a crisis on stakeholders and the organization. Put another
way, the response helps to achieve the objectives of crisis management.
Organizations try to limit the threat to public safety, reputational erosion,
brand damage, and loss of sales, to name but a few of the common crisis
communication objectives. There is even a chance that the response leads to
an improved organization. Improvements can include a stronger reputation, a
more powerful brand, and changes to the organization that make it a safer
place to work.

Part of the response is recovery, which denotes the organization’s attempts to

return to normal operations as soon as possible following a crisis. Business
continuity is the name used to cover the efforts to restore operations to
normal. As noted earlier, downtime from a crisis is a financial drain. The
quicker an organization can return to normal operations, the fewer financial
losses it will incur.

Revision is the fourth crisis factor. It involves evaluation of the organization’s

response in simulated and real crises, determining what it did right and what
it did wrong during its crisis management performance. The organization
uses this insight to revise its prevention, preparation, and response efforts.
Ideally, in the future, the right moves are replayed while the mistakes are
avoided and replaced by more appropriate actions. Revision is the
development of an institutional or organizational memory, which can
improve the effectiveness of crisis management by expanding the
organization’s perception of crises and its response capacity (Li, YeZhuang,
& Ying, 2004; Weick, 1988). The more and varied the crises an organization
experiences through practice sessions, the better it can handle similar
situations in reality. The factors are linked in a spiral. If prevention fails,
preparation is required for optimal performance. Revision is derived from
performance and informs both the prevention of and preparation for future
crises. In turn, improving preparation should improve response.

Understanding the crisis management process is a necessity for effective

crisis communication. We can extend the notion of process by creating a
framework for crisis management that involves distinct stages that influence
one another.

The Initial Crisis Management Framework

The idea that crises have an identifiable life cycle is a consistent theme that
permeates the crisis management literature. The crisis manager needs to
understand this life cycle because its different phases require different actions
(Gonzalez-Herrero & Pratt, 1995; Sturges, 1994). The crisis life cycle has
been translated into what I term staged approaches to crisis management. A
staged approach means that the crisis management function is divided into
discrete segments that are executed in a specific order. Moreover, the life
cycle perspective reveals that effective crisis management must be integrated
into the normal operations of an organization. Crisis management is not
merely developing a plan and executing it during a crisis. Instead, it is
appropriately viewed as an ongoing process. Every day, organization
members can be scanning for potential crises, taking actions to prevent them,
or considering any number of the aspects of the crisis management process
detailed in this book. Crisis management should be a part of many people’s
full-time jobs in an organization, not a part-time fancy. Each working day,
crisis managers can be doing something to improve crisis prevention and
response (Coombs, 2006a).

The life cycle perspective has yielded a variety of staged approaches to crisis
management. These provide a mechanism for constructing a framework for
organizing the vast and varied crisis management writings and for creating a
unified set of crisis management guidelines. Regardless of discipline, the
various topics addressed can be placed within a comprehensive, incremental
approach to crisis management. An overarching framework organizes the
scattered crisis management insights and permits crisis managers to easily
envision their best options during any stage of the process. Crisis managers
can find it easier to access and apply available resources, thereby improving
the crisis management process. The framework I use in this book is
influenced by existing models of the process. Reviewing these models will
reinforce the importance of process in crisis management.

Fink’s (1986) four-stage model is the earliest staged approach to crisis and
can be found in his seminal book, Crisis Management: Planning for the
Inevitable. His cycle is well represented in writings that have appeared since
the 1990s. He uses a medical illness metaphor to identify four stages in the
crisis life cycle: (1) prodromal: clues or hints of a potential crisis begin to
emerge; (2) crisis breakout or acute: a triggering event occurs along with the
attendant damage; (3) chronic: the effects of the crisis linger as efforts to
clean up the crisis progress; and (4) resolution: there is some clear signal that
the crisis is no longer a concern to stakeholders—it is over.
Past Staged Approaches to Crisis Management
Three influential approaches emerge from a study of the various crisis
management models. Influence was gauged by the number of people citing
the approach in the development of their crisis models. Fink’s (1986)
approach is one of the first to treat a crisis as an extended event. Of particular
note is his belief that warning signs precede the trigger event. The job of
crisis managers expands and becomes more proactive when they know and
read the warning signs. Well-prepared crisis managers do not just enact the
CCP when a crisis hits (being reactive); they are also involved in identifying
and resolving situations that could become or lead to a crisis (being
proactive). In addition, Fink divides the crisis event into three stages. A crisis
does not just happen, it evolves. It begins with a trigger event (acute phase),
moves to extended efforts to deal with the crisis (chronic phase), and
concludes with a clear ending (resolution). The different stages of the life
cycle require different actions from the crisis manager. As a result, crisis
management is enacted in stages and is not one simple action. The demands
of the crisis stage dictate what crisis managers can and should be doing at any
particular time.

The second influential approach is from prolific crisis writer and expert Ian
Mitroff (1994). He divides crisis management into five phases: (1) signal
detection: new crisis warning signs should be identified and acted upon to
prevent a crisis; (2) probing and prevention: organization members search
known crisis risk factors and work to reduce their potential for harm; (3)
damage containment: a crisis hits and organization members try to prevent
the damage from spreading into uncontaminated parts of the organization or
its environment; (4) recovery: organization members work to return to
normal business operations as soon as possible; and (5) learning: organization
members review and critique their crisis management efforts, thereby adding
to the organization’s memory.

The three-stage model has no clearly identifiable creator but has been
recommended by a variety of crisis management experts (e.g., Birch, 1994;
Guth, 1995; Mitchell, 1986; Seeger, Sellnow, & Ulmer, 2003). However,
Richardson (1994) provides the first detailed discussion of its components:
(1) precrisis or predisaster phase: warning signs appear and people try to
eliminate the risk; (2) crisis impact or rescue phase: the crisis hits and support
is provided for those involved in it; and (3) recovery or demise phase:
stakeholder confidence is restored.

Following from this three-stage approach, I divide the crisis management

process into three macrostages: precrisis, crisis, and postcrisis. The term
macro indicates that the stages are general and that each contains a number of
more specific substages: the microlevel. This is similar to economics, where
macroeconomics deals with all the forces at work on the economy while
microeconomics deals with specific factors. Both the Fink (1986) and Mitroff
(1994) models fit naturally within this general three-stage approach. The
precrisis stage encompasses all of the aspects of crisis preparation. Prodromal
signs, signal detection, and probing would be included in the precrisis stage.
The crisis stage includes the actions taken to cope with the trigger event—the
time span when the crisis is being actively dealt with. Damage containment,
crisis breakout, and recovery or the chronic phase all fall within the crisis
stage. The postcrisis stage reflects the period after the crisis is considered to
be over or resolved. Learning and resolution are each a part of this stage.
Table 1.1 summarizes the comparisons of the three different staged
approaches to crisis management.

Table 1.1 ■ Comparison of Staged Approaches to Crisis Management

Table 1.1 ■ Comparison of Staged Approaches to Crisis
Management

Fink Mitroff Three-Stage

Signal detection
Prodromal Precrisis
Probing and prevention

Crisis breakout Damage containment

Crisis
Chronic Recovery

Resolution Learning Postcrisis

Outline Of The Three-Stage Approach
The three-stage approach was selected as the organizing framework for this
book because of its ability to subsume the other staged approaches used in
crisis management. The ideal crisis management model would accommodate
all of the various models plus additional insights provided by other crisis
management experts. Not all crisis managers have placed their ideas within a
phased model. Therefore, a comprehensive model must be able to place
random insights into the crisis management process.

The three-stage approach has the appropriate macro-level generality for

constructing the comprehensive framework necessary for analyzing the crisis
management literature. The three stages are general enough to accommodate
the other two dominant crisis management models and to allow for the
integration of ideas from other crisis management experts.

Within each stage there are separate substages or sets of actions that should
be covered during that stage. Each substage integrates a cluster of writings
about that particular crisis management topic. Each cluster of writings has
been carefully examined to distill the essential recommendations they could
offer to crisis managers. For each substage, the crisis wisdom and any tests of
that wisdom are reported along with a discussion of its utility to crisis
managers. Moreover, this three-stage approach provides a unified system for
organizing and utilizing the varied insights crisis managers offer.

Precrisis
The precrisis stage involves three substages: (1) signal detection, (2)
prevention, and (3) crisis preparation. Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 are devoted to
the development of this stage. Organization members should be proactive and
take all possible actions to prevent crises. The precrisis stage entails actions
to be performed before a crisis is encountered. However, not all crises can be
prevented, so organization members must prepare for crises as well.

Chapter 3 deals with signal detection. Most crises do emit early warning
signs. If early action is taken, these crises can be avoided (Gonzalez-Herrero
& Pratt, 1995). Crisis managers must identify sources for warning signs,
collect information related to them, and analyze the information. For
example, a pattern in customer complaints could identify a product defect.
Reporting the complaints to the appropriate manufacturing sector of the
organization could result in corrective action being taken. In turn, the
corrective action could prevent further complaints and the potential of a
highly visible recall, battle with customers, or both. Crisis managers must
develop a system for detecting potential crises and responding to them.

Chapter 3 is devoted to crisis prevention. Once the potential is detected,

actions must be taken to prevent the crisis. Preventative measures fall into
three categories: issues management, risk management, and reputation
management. Issues management means taking steps to prevent a problem
from maturing into a crisis. Risk management eliminates or lowers risk
levels. Reputation management seeks to resolve problems in the stakeholder-
organization relationship that could escalate and damage the company’s
reputation. Chapters 4 and 5 develop the idea of crisis preparation. Crisis
managers must be prepared for a crisis happening. Preparation typically
involves identifying crisis vulnerabilities, creating crisis teams, selecting
spokespersons, drafting CCPs, developing crisis portfolios (a list of the most
likely crises to befall an organization), and structuring the crisis
communication system.

Crisis Event
This stage begins with a trigger event that marks the beginning of the crisis.
The crisis stage ends when the crisis is considered to be resolved. During the
crisis event, crisis managers must realize that the organization is in crisis and
take appropriate actions. This phase has two substages: (1) crisis recognition
and (2) crisis containment. Communication with stakeholders is a critical
facet of this phase. An organization communicates to stakeholders through its
words and actions.

Chapter 6 is devoted to crisis recognition. People in an organization must

realize that a crisis exists and respond to the event as a crisis. Crisis
recognition includes an understanding of how events get labeled and accepted
as crises—how to sell a crisis to management—and the means for collecting
crisis-related information. Chapter 7 covers the crisis response and includes
topics related to crisis containment and recovery. Crisis containment focuses
on the organization’s crisis response, including the importance and content of
the initial response, communication’s relationship to reputational
management, contingency plans, and follow-up concerns.

Postcrisis
When a crisis is resolved and deemed to be over, an organization must
consider what to do next. Postcrisis actions help to (a) make the organization
better prepared for the next crisis, (b) make sure stakeholders are left with a
positive impression of the organization’s crisis management efforts, and (c)
check to make sure that the crisis is truly over. Chapter 8 addresses
evaluating crisis management, learning from the crisis, and other postcrisis
actions, such as follow-up communication with stakeholders and continued
monitoring of issues related to the crisis.

A More Advanced View: The Regenerative Model

Of Crisis
The regenerative model of crisis offers a more complex and dynamic view of
a crisis situation. While composed on only two phases, the regenerative
model is dynamic because it explains how crises can become reframed and
produce significant communicative shifts for crisis managers. The
regenerative model is composed of the precrisis and postcrisis phases. The
precrisis phase is all factors that occur prior to a crisis. The crisis is simply a
point in time. The initial crisis is either an event or a realization. An event is
some action that demonstrates the existence of a crisis, such as an explosion
of people becoming ill from a food product. A realization is when managers
recognize that stakeholders view the organization as violating key
expectations, such as the quality of the product or service. The turning point
is the dynamic aspect of the regenerative model that introduces complexity. A
turning point occurs when events or actions reframe and redefine the crisis.
Essentially a new crisis emerges because various factors have led people
involved with the crisis to view it as a new crisis type. An example is the
analysis of Dow Chemical and the breast implant crisis by Brinson and
Benoit (1996). Their analysis reveals turning points were evidence and
Another random document with
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Hester work so hard to feed me, maybe I ought not to
stay."

Billy was silent for a moment and stopped throwing sticks to

Stray. When he spoke, he said very thoughtfully, "I'm the
one to go away, not you. I'm a boy and can make my own
living."

"Oh, no, for you see you haven't any relations like my Uncle
Sidney," returned Ruth. "And, besides, who would chop the
wood and do the errands, Billy? Then if you went away, who
would keep store and buy back the big house for Aunt
Hester? It would be foolish for you to go when I have an
uncle to take care of me."

With his duties as man of the house thus brought to his

mind, Billy demurred. Perhaps after all, his place was here.

"If I only wasn't another mouth," Ruth went on, "or if I were
a dog like Stray and could live on scraps, or if I were a cat
and could catch mice."

"Then nobody would want you," said Billy.

"Indeed they would then. There are ever so many people

who like cats if you don't. Aunt Hester does and so do I and
so does Lucia. Oh dear, I should hate to give up Lucia. I
wish I ought not to go instead of oughting to go."

"Maybe you'll like it awful much," said Billy, encouragingly.

"Maybe your uncle has lots of boys and girls and you'll have
fun with them."

"No, he hasn't. He has only one little boy about five years
old. Billy, promise me on your sacred word and honor that
you will come and get me just as soon as you begin to keep
store, or, if Aunt Hester gets the claim, before that."
Billy nodded gravely. He wished it were not right to tell Ruth
that it would be best for her to leave them. He felt that he
would miss her sadly and that one small boy in the house
with a grave elderly woman would not have as agreeable a
time as when a youthful comrade like Ruth was on hand to
take an interest in small matters beneath the notice of their
elders.

Ruth had always a lively imagination and was vastly

amusing at times. To be sure, she was very often absorbed
in her doll or in Lucia Field, but, at other times, she and
Billy had most exciting plays in which she was almost as
good fun as a boy, he told her. He thought of all this now,
but his loyalty to Miss Hester and his practical bent made
him repeat:

"I guess you'll have to go, Ruth."

But Ruth had been thinking, too. "I'll go, but I'm not going
to promise to stay. I'm coming back the first chance I get. If
I find a thousand dollars that nobody wants, or if I do
something like saving a train from running off the track, and
they give me a whole lot of money for it, or if—or if—the
claim comes out all right, I'll come straight back, so I just
won't think that I'm going for good, and I am going in now
to tell Aunt Hester so."

"Don't tell her it's because you know she can't afford to
keep you," charged Billy, bluntly.

"Of course not," returned Ruth. She jumped down from her
seat and went slowly back to the house. Miss Hester was
sitting at the window of her room which looked out upon the
street. She had her lap full of little garments upon which
she was sewing a missing button here, a tape there.

"This isn't Saturday," said Ruth. "What are all these?"

She came nearer and put an arm around Miss Hester's
neck.

"They are some of Henrietta's things. I didn't know but that

you would need them," answered Miss Hester, soberly.

"Won't my uncle buy me any clothes?"

"He will probably buy all you need, but I don't want to have
you go away unprovided for. I suppose you must go, Ruth. I
should be doing you a wrong to encourage you to do
otherwise."

"I'm not going for good," returned Ruth confidently. "I am

going only for a little while till something happens. If you
get the claim, you know, or if I find a whole lot of money, I
will come back. Even if those things don't happen, Billy will
come for me as soon as he is big enough to keep store."

Miss Hester smiled faintly. "I am afraid it will be many a day

before that."

Ruth shook her head. "I'm not going to think I'll be gone
long. I will tell my uncle that I am going to stay only a little
while, that I am coming back to you and that I love you
better than him or anybody."

The feeling that this departure was in the nature of a visit

made her more cheerful. Like all children, she loved
excitement and change, and, since she had decided that
she was to return, there was only left a rather pleasant
anticipation instead of a grief.

It was well for Miss Hester that the time for preparation was
short for Mr. Mayfield could wait only another day, and so
Ruth's belongings were hastily packed. That she might
make a good appearance, the store of clothing in the chest
up-stairs was drawn forth and all of Henrietta's things that
were in good order were packed in a small trunk. Hetty, too,
was given room, and Ruth begged that her box of pieces
might go in.

"It will make me feel like home to see all my doll rugs," she
said.

And Miss Hester stowed away the box just as it was.

At the last moment, Billy, who had been struggling between

his love for Ruth and his love for Stray, came forward,
insisting that Ruth must take the little dog with her, since he
belonged half to her and could not be divided.

But, though Ruth would have liked dearly to have him, Miss
Hester decided otherwise.

"You don't know that your uncle's wife would be willing to

have a dog in the house. Indeed, I think it is quite unlikely
that she would consent to your having him, for there is the
little boy to be considered."

"I think you are awfully good, Billy, to want me to have

him," Ruth declared, "and I'd just love to take him, but, you
see, I have Hetty for company and you won't have anybody
to play with but Stray."

But Billy was determined that she should receive some

token, and, from his little hoard which he was saving up for
Christmas, he took out sufficient to buy a gayly flowered
mug upon which was written in gold letters: "From a
Friend."

Ruth thought it was beautiful and begged Miss Hester to

pack it very carefully.
"I will use it every day at table," she said.

Then, after whispering to Miss Hester, she left the room and
returned with a red silk handkerchief which Dr. Peaslee had
once brought her after a visit to the city.

"I want you to have this to remember me by," she said to

Billy, and he accepted the gift solemnly.

At last the little trunk was packed and stood waiting.

Then Ruth went to make some hurried farewell calls. To all

inquiries, she replied that she was going to her uncle's to
make a visit, but that she expected to be back soon. So
often did she repeat this that she persuaded herself it must
be true until the last moment when the possibility of its not
being merely a visit faced her, and she flung herself into
Miss Hester's arms in a passion of weeping.

"I—don't want to go. I—I don't want to go," she sobbed.

"You needn't, dear, you needn't," whispered Miss Hester

herself feeling very heavy hearted.

But just then Billy came rushing in shouting: "He's come in

a carriage, Ruth, to take you to the station."

And the dignity of such a departure for the moment caused

Ruth to check her tears. It would be a triumphant exit, she
considered. And after one last frantic hug and the
passionate reiteration, "I am coming back soon, I am, I
am," she obeyed her uncle's call and was helped into the
carriage, her trunk being already established by the side of
the driver. She waved her handkerchief from the carriage
window. Her last glimpse of the brown house showed Billy
at the gate holding up Stray for her to see. Miss Hester was
not in sight. She had gone indoors where no one would
observe her tearful eyes.

Soon the carriage turned into the main street. The children
were on their way to school, and to Ruth's satisfaction, they
passed Nora Petty, to whom Ruth gave a condescending
nod. She was riding away into new splendors where Nora
could no longer twit and tease her.

As the train moved out of the station, there came over the
child an overpowering desire to jump out and run back to
Aunt Hester who loved her, to Billy and Stray, to the little
brown house which she might never see again. The big tear
drops rolled down her cheeks. She wiped them furtively
away as she kept her head turned as if looking out the
window. Her handkerchief became a damp little ball in her
hand and the telegraph poles, as they flashed by, were seen
through a watery mist. Her uncle wisely said nothing to her
for a time, but absorbed himself in his newspaper, but,
when the train boy came along, he bought some fine fruit
and a box of chocolates saying cheerfully, "Here, little girl,
don't you want to see what is in the box?"

Her thoughts diverted in such an agreeable way, the worst

was over for Ruth and she turned to the sweets for solace.
After a while her uncle began to talk to her, to tell her of his
home, of his little boy, Bertie, and from this he went back to
his own childhood when he and Ruth's father were
playmates together. So the morning was not very long,
though Ruth was glad when she climbed down from the cars
to take luncheon at a station where they tarried for half an
hour.

It was late in the afternoon when they arrived in front of

her uncle's door. Ruth observed what to her was a very fine
house, and, when she entered the hall, she was quite
overcome, for, to her inexperienced eye, it appeared a
mansion magnificent beyond her highest expectations.

They had hardly entered before a piping voice called out:

"There's papa," and swiftly sliding down the baluster came
the figure of a little boy. He came with such speed that he
nearly fell off when he reached the big newel post, but his
father caught him.

"You rascal," he cried, "what did I tell you about doing

that?"

"It's so much the quickest way to get here, papa," said

Bertie. "What did you bring me?"

"I brought a little new cousin."

Bertie turned and regarded Ruth with anything but an

amiable expression. "I don't want her," he said. "I want
something nice. Didn't you bring me any candy?"

Mr. Mayfield looked rather abashed. "To tell you the truth,
son, I didn't," he began.

But Bertie interrupted him with a loud wail. "Mamma,

mamma," he cried, "he didn't bring me any candy and you
said he would." Then throwing himself down on the floor, he
kicked and screamed violently.

Ruth heard the swish of silken skirts and down the stairs a
lady came swiftly. She was very fair and looked quite
young. Ruth had never seen any one dressed so
wonderfully, and she stared with all her eyes at the vision.

"What is the matter with my darling?" cried the lady. "Oh,

have you come, Sidney?" She gave Ruth's uncle a cheek to
kiss. "What is my precious boy crying about?" she asked
bending over the raging child.

"Papa didn't bring me any candy and you said he would,"

howled Bertie. "You are an old—"

"There, there," began his mother gathering him into her

arms. "How could you be so forgetful of the precious child,
Sidney?" she said reproachfully.

"Well, you see, Lillie, I had so much to think of. Oh, by the
way, Ruth, this is your Aunt Lillie. Did you get my telegram,
dear?"

"Oh, yes, it came all right, of course," replied Mrs. Mayfield

petulantly. "You ought to have given me more notice."

"How could I? My letter explained why."

Ruth stood awkwardly by. She had not received a very

warm welcome, for Mrs. Mayfield only nodded and said
coolly, "How do you do, little girl?"

Bertie's howls continued.

"I wish I had something to give the child to pacify him,"

muttered Mr. Mayfield who saw that no one would receive
much attention until Bertie's fit of rage was over.

He turned apologetically to Ruth. "You don't happen to have

any candy, do you?" he whispered.

Ruth promptly produced the box of chocolates which was

but half empty. She had been so much more abundantly fed
than usual that she had not been able to eat all the candy.
"Just give them to Bertie," whispered Mr. Mayfield, "and I
will get you some more."

Ruth obediently slipped the box into his hand and he gave
her a smile.

"Here, Bertie," he said, "see what Cousin Ruth has for you.
Papa didn't bring you any candy, but Cousin Ruth did."

At this Bertie rushed from his mother's embrace and

grabbed the box from his father's hand.

"'Tain't but, half full," he whined. Then turning, he gave

Ruth a push. "You mean old fing," he cried, "why didn't you
bring me a whole box?"

"Now, Bertie," said his mother, "that's not a pretty way to

talk. I am sure you ought to say, 'Thank you,' to your
cousin. Won't you say, 'Thank you'?"

"No, I won't," returned Bertie, beginning to gobble down

some of the chocolates as fast as he could.

Ruth was shocked. Such an ill-mannered child she had

never seen. She felt mightily ashamed for him.

"I suspect Ruth is rather tired," said Mr. Mayfield. "You'd

better show her to her room, Lillie."

For answer, Mrs. Mayfield touched an electric button and a

neat maid appeared. "Take Miss Ruth to her room," said the
lady, "and help her dress for dinner, Katie."

Ruth followed the girl up three flights of stairs, catching

glimpses on the way of rooms whose elegant furnishings
seemed to her fit for a palace. At the top of the house, she
was ushered into a hall bedroom, comfortably, even prettily,
furnished. It looked out upon the street, but it seemed to
Ruth, accustomed to her little room adjoining Aunt Hester's,
a long way off from any one, and she wondered if she would
not feel afraid up there. She timidly asked Katie who had
the next room.

"Nobody, miss," was the reply. "It's one of the spare rooms,
but it ain't often used except when there's more company
than common. But I sleep just down the hall in one of the
back rooms."

This was comforting and Ruth felt relieved. The trunk

having now arrived, Katie fell to unpacking it. She smiled at
the old-fashioned clothes, but made no remark, being too
well-trained a servant for that. She selected Ruth's very
best frock, a cream-white delaine with small Persian figures
upon it. The frock was trimmed with an old-fashioned gimp,
heading a narrow fringe, but its quaintness suited Ruth and
she looked very presentable, Katie thought, as she led her
down-stairs when a soft-toned Japanese gong announced
that dinner was ready.

CHAPTER X
Homesick

IN spite of such luxuries as Ruth had never before enjoyed,

and the fact that there was little restraint put upon her, she
did not feel in her new home a real content.
After a week it was decided that she should not go to
school, Mrs. Mayfield insisting upon a governess who could
give some attention to Bertie. One was found who suited
the lady but to whom Ruth took a dislike at first sight, and
never thereafter did she feel comfortable when Mlle.
Delarme's sharp eyes were fixed upon her. Lessons in
French and music were those upon which Mademoiselle laid
the most stress, the rest amounted to little.

Mademoiselle was sly and put forth her best efforts to

please Mrs. Mayfield, and, consequently, made much of
Bertie. Ruth, though well clothed and fed, starved for those
things which she craved. She longed for her Aunt Hester's
loving notice and appreciation. She sighed for Billy's bluff
companionship, and she was very, very lonely. Her uncle
was absorbed in business and she saw him seldom. He
always gave her a kind smile when they met, asked if she
were well, and if she needed anything and there the interest
ended.

On several different occasions, he had given her money,

telling her to spend it on whatever she liked, but she, with a
wise frugality, had saved nearly every penny till her hoard
amounted to nearly five dollars. At Christmas she would
perhaps spend it to send home gifts to those she truly
loved.

Mrs. Mayfield was fond of society and was rarely at home

unless to entertain some guest. The children had their
meals in the nursery with Mademoiselle, took their drives
and walks with her, and although Bertie would not be kept
within bounds and frequented any part of the house at will,
Ruth rarely went beyond the confines of the nursery. She
still had her little hall bedroom, and Mademoiselle was now
given a room upon the same floor, though Ruth would have
preferred her to be elsewhere.
"J'ai, tu as, il a," crooned Ruth one afternoon as she sat in
the nursery, studying a lesson.

"Oh dear, I don't want to study French," she sighed. "It

won't be a bit of use to me, for when I grow up I shall go
back to Springdale. I may go sooner than that. None of the
girls there will learn French. Well, perhaps Lucia will if she
goes away to boarding-school, and perhaps Nora might. I
reckon after all I'd better study it, for Nora might get ahead
of me and say things to Lucia that I couldn't understand."

So she bent herself again to her task. "J'ai, tu as, il a. Nous

avons, vous avez, ils ont." Her eyes wandered from her
book.

She looked out of the window to where a pair of sparrows

were fussing and quarreling on a twig near-by. There was
little else to be seen but roofs and chimneys, a church spire
in the distance and a line of fence enclosing back yards. Her
eyes returned to her book.

"J'ai, tu as, il a. I think I know that. Now those horrid

exercises. Why should I care anything about the brother of
his aunt? It doesn't make any difference to me whether she
has a gold shoe or not. French is so silly. We never talk
about such things."

At this moment, she heard Bertie's hurrying step upon the

stair and presently he came dancing into the room crying:
"Ya! Ya! Ya! I've got it."

Ruth looked up quickly to catch sight of Bertie jumping

around the room holding aloft her precious Hetty. She
sprang to her feet in an instant and snatched the doll away.
Bertie flew at her in a transport of rage, but she held the
doll tightly though he kicked and yelled.
The commotion brought Mrs. Mayfield who chanced to be at
home. "What is it, precious?" she cried as she entered the
room.

"Ruth won't let me have that old doll and I'm going to get
it, I am. I'll smash it all to pieces," cried Bertie, dancing up
and down in a fury.

"Why don't you let him have it, Ruth?" said Mrs. Mayfield.
"I'll get you a better one."

"I don't want a better one," replied Ruth, fiercely. "I don't
want any but this. There isn't another like her and you
couldn't get me one that would be half so dear."

"Well, I am sure you are very disobliging," said Mrs.

Mayfield. "Never mind, Bertie, if you want a doll to play with
mother will get you one much prettier than this."

"Don't want it. Want one to smash," cried Bertie.

"Oh, but you don't want to smash Ruth's doll, do you?"

asked his mother in a coaxing tone.

"Yes, I do, I do. It's ugly and I'm going to. Make her give it
to me, mamma."

"Do give it to him, Ruth," continued Mrs. Mayfield. "I will

give you a much handsomer one. You shall go down-town
with Mademoiselle and choose any you want."

But Ruth held steadfastly to her own. "I don't want any
other and I couldn't give this away to be broken up," she
said. "She's the only one of the family I have here to
remind me of my home, and I can't give her up."
Whereupon, Bertie burst into screams of anger and
disappointment, flinging himself upon the floor in one of his
fits of temper.

"After all your uncle has done for you, I think it is a very
little thing to ask," said Mrs. Mayfield in an offended way,
addressing Ruth. Then meeting no response, she took a
different tone. "You must give it to him, Ruth. I wish you to
obey me."

"Oh, Aunt Lillie, I can't." The tears came into Ruth's eyes as
she held Hetty more tightly.

"I command you," returned Mrs. Mayfield, haughtily, and

then all Ruth's defiance was aroused.

"I won't," she said. Then she started for the door. "I reckon
you wouldn't give your child either, to be torn to pieces by a
—by a—wicked Thing," she cried as she reached the door.

She hurried up-stairs feeling that here was an occasion

which did not demand obedience, yet frightened at her
speech. There was not a day when she was not called upon
to give up something to Bertie, to sacrifice her pleasures,
her time, her possessions to his whims.

"He is younger than you," was always the plea, and Ruth,
though not always with a good grace, yielded the point. But
here was an issue which she felt was a different one from
any that she had been called upon to meet.

"It isn't right; it isn't," she said over and over to herself as
she climbed the stairs. "Aunt Hester wouldn't make me do
it. I know she wouldn't. Why Aunt Hester loves Hetty and
Dr. Peaslee does and Billy, and—why they would think it as
bad as throwing a baby to the crocodiles like a heathen
mother. I'll have to hide you, Hetty darling, like Moses in
the bulrushes or like they had to hide the babies from
wicked old Herod. Bertie is just like Herod, so he is. I don't
love him one bit, and I am going to write to Aunt Hester,
and tell her all about it. Oh, where can I hide you, my
darling Hetty, so the wicked evil foe will not seek you?"

Bertie's screams still ascended from the floor below and

Ruth could hear his mother trying to comfort him.

"Did that naughty Ruth tease my baby? Wouldn't she let

him have the ugly old doll? Never mind, mamma will let
Katie take him down-town and get him something nice.
What does baby want?"

"Want Ruth's doll," persisted Bertie.

"Oh, but wouldn't you like some nice candy and a pretty
toy? Let Katie dress you and take you out to get you
something nice? We won't get Ruth anything, will we? She
shall not go with you and Katie."

Ruth's lip curled as she heard this. "Silly talk," she

murmured. She had no great respect for her Aunt Lillie.

At last Bertie was pacified and was led away by the long-
suffering nurse while Ruth remained in her room.

Mademoiselle was out for the afternoon, and when she had
completed the task the governess had set her to do, she
would be free to do as she chose.

Bertie seldom descended upon Ruth, and indeed, she was

careful to have nothing within reach of his mischievous
fingers, but to-day she had left Hetty sitting upon the bed
and Bertie had discovered her. It would never do to leave
her anywhere in sight again, nor could she keep her where
an older person than Bertie might find her. Ruth did not
trust Mademoiselle, and believed if Bertie persisted in
wanting the doll, as he was very likely to do, that
Mademoiselle would not hesitate to find Hetty and give her
into the little boy's ruthless hands.

She closed her door softly and looked around the room for a
hiding-place. None seemed possible at first, but at last Ruth
discovered a safe one. A small window seat had been placed
before the one window. It opened and shut like a box.
Between the back of this box and the wall under the window
there was a space over which a small board had been
placed to cover the space which was caused by a slight
jutting out of the window, making an irregular opening.
Ruth found that she could lift the board, shove it back in
place and cover it again with the cushion of the seat. She
gave Hetty a loving kiss and stowed her away in this
retreat.

"You mustn't be afraid, dearest," she said. "Nothing shall

hurt you. I shall not let anything smite you by day nor by
night. I'll pray that the angels will watch over you just as
much as if they could see you in bed with me. I shall take
you out every day and lock my door so we won't be
disturbed."

And she went back to her French exercises with a cheerful

face. When she had completed them, she heard the clamor
of Bertie's return and ran back to her room.

Her aunt treated her with cold disdain when they next met
and Ruth gave her head a little defiant toss.

"If she 'spises me, I reckon I can 'spise her," she told
herself, and more than ever she kept out of the way.

She had been in her aunt's rooms but seldom, though the
magnificence of them charmed her. On the dressing-table
were such beautiful shining things; the soft couch was piled
high with wonderfully embroidered cushions, and the whole
place was always redolent with some faint sweet odor. The
costumes which Mrs. Mayfield wore, too, were such as Ruth
thought fit for a queen. Once or twice she had seen her
sweeping down the stairway in exquisite evening dress and
she wondered what Nora Petty would say if she knew Ruth
were living in the same house as such a fairylike being.

Although she gave a wondering admiration to all the

beautiful things with which her Aunt Lillie surrounded
herself, Ruth gave her aunt no affection, for she did not
demand it. She treated the child with tolerance but that was
all. Bertie occupied the only place which she had in her
heart for children, and him she spoiled and petted till all
natural good in his nature was smothered by indulgence.

Bertie did not forgot the doll in spite of the candy and the
new toy with which his mother had provided him, and the
very next day he climbed the stairs to the top floor bent on
finding Hetty. It was sufficient for Bertie to be denied a
thing for him to want it beyond anything else. He looked
around the room. No doll was in sight, but on Ruth's
washstand stood the little flowery mug, Billy's parting gift.
Possessing himself of this, he went down to the nursery
where Ruth was reciting her "J'ai, tu as, il a."

"I want Ruth's doll," he said to Mademoiselle.

"He can't have it," returned Ruth quickly.

Mademoiselle looked sharply at her. "Vy not, mees?"

"Because he only wants it to break up and I can't have her

smashed all to pieces."
"I want to play wif her. Mayn't I play wif her?" whined
Bertie.

"You may play wis har, of course. Go get zis doll, zis poupée
but say first what is doll. It is poupée, poupée. Repeat."

"Poupée, poupée," repeated Ruth obediently.

"Say, zen to your cousin, 'I give you my doll—Je vous donne
ma poupée.' Repeat."

But Ruth did not repeat. Instead she stood silent.

Mademoiselle's little eyes snapped. "Repeat, I say. At once;

toute de suite. Je vous donne ma poupée."

"I can't," replied Ruth in a low tone. "I would be telling a

story, because I am not going to give him my doll."

"You are not when I say?" Mademoiselle sprang to her feet.

"You sall, you mees, I make you."

Ruth faced her, very pale. "What will you do?" she asked
slowly.

"I punish you."

"Then I will tell my uncle and I will ask him, too, if I must
give my precious doll to Bertie to break up. I will tell him all
about my Hetty and I know he will not make me give her
up."

"You meeserable leetle mouse, you souris which pretend so

shy and meek and have the viciousness of a rat, you sall
not defy me, Antoinette Delarme."

Just at this moment, Bertie entered, having taken his cause

into his own hands. "You'd better give me your old doll," he
threatened, holding behind him the mug which he had
brought from Ruth's room. "You'd just better or you'll be
sorry."

"I shall not do it," said Ruth steadily.

For answer Bertie dashed out in the hall, held aloft the mug
for a moment and then flung it down over the baluster. It
went crashing into a hundred bits upon the marble tiling in
the hall below. Having thus spent his fury, Bertie dashed
away with an impish look over his shoulder.

Ruth flew down-stairs without a word from Mademoiselle.

The butler was sweeping up the broken pieces.

"Oh, Martin," said Ruth, "it is my dear little mug. Bertie got
it from my room and threw it down here. Can it be mended,
do you think?"

With a grim smile Martin showed the pieces.

The tears came to Ruth's eyes. "And Billy bought it for me

with his own money," she said, her lips quivering at the
remembrance. "Oh, Martin, please let me have one little
flowery piece to keep," she said.

The man held out the dust-pan and Ruth selected a piece
upon which a rose still showed entire. "I'll keep this
forever," she said. "Thank you, Martin."

The man shook his head as he looked after her making her
way to the upper floor. "That spoiled young un," he
muttered. "I'd just like to see him get one good spanking."

Mademoiselle sat up stiff and uncompromising when Ruth

returned to the nursery. "Babee," she said contemptuously,
as she perceived Ruth's tears. "What is it to weep for, a
leetle cheap sumpsin as zat?"

"It wasn't because I thought it was very fine," said Ruth,

"but it was because Billy gave it to me. I was going to drink
my milk from it at the table, but I saw it looked funny with
the other things and so I kept it in my room. Bertie knew I
loved it."

"He is but an infant," returned Mademoiselle, "but because

he have bestowed upon you a punishment, I will not more
punish you for the disobeying me except that I make you a
longer lesson to-morrow. You are repeat all the verb To
Have, all, all."

"Oh, Mademoiselle, it will take me every minute to learn it."

"All, all," repeated Mademoiselle with a wave of her hand as

dismissing the subject.

And Ruth, with a rebellious feeling in her heart, went to her

task.

She listened that evening for her uncle's latchkey, hiding

herself behind the heavy curtains of the library.

As his step rang upon the tiled floor, she went to meet him.

"Well, Ruthie," he said kindly, "are you the only one at

home?"

"Aunt Lillie has gone to a tea," she replied, "and I don't

know where Bertie is. Uncle Sidney, do I have to give him
my doll?"

"Your doll? Bertie doesn't play with dolls, does he?"