You are a senior public relations officer responsible for developing and implementing a crisis management plan for the furniture retailer which employs you.

All 200 staff members employed within the organisation work in the organisation’s rented premises which comprise of a factory, retail outlet and warehouse on a stand-alone site in an inner suburb.

After conducting research on crisis management best practice, draft a comprehensive crisis management plan which is intended to reduce the risks to the organisation in the event of a crisis occurring.

The plan must take legal and ethical requirements into account and should contain details of the issues tracking and media monitoring systems which are to be utilised.

Where necessary, you should make up the details which are to be used within the plan

1. First Question

a. Why do some executives refuse to function as project sponsors?

To begin or create any plan there are numerous circumstances connected and significant events are resources, expense, plan, system, implementation, coordination, also information. To achieve all these, there has to be the correct direction for them to guarantee efficiency. Failure in either of those may occur in a disaster. The project sponsors remain one of those significant agents who hold duties as specified. They not just have to take the burden of this but further ought to be available for prospective career consequences incise of failure to execute these actions. They are the first contact for every such problem (William, 1981) .According to the case study, Al Zink did not so very much impress in acting as Project Sponsor since he was continuously unlikely to make choices. Apart from that the significant part of the officials of industry will have a terror of performing his role also duties to get on with his project and to make a decent job.

b. Can be executive be forced to function as a sponsor?

The executive is somebody who knows the organization’s formation in a specific or defined way moreover wouldn’t be the best choice all the time. It should be his/her intention to work for the sponsor position. Inevitably, the official can be forced to be a sponsor that relies upon the higher authority, by chance that the officer remains very much enduring in the enterprise and his relationships with more senior management can get him as a sponsor. As he isn’t that knowledge, he will be controlled by his chief in creating documentation and his roles and responsibilities.

c. Is it right for the sponsor to be the ultimate person responsible for the success or failure of the project?

The victory or downfall of a project depends upon the complete team. The team comprises executives, sponsors, also project managers. Therefore, one such team person is a sponsor, also he is not the individual accountable for victory or failure. As per my knowledge yet if the sponsor works excellently moreover other team members continue not competent of doing their work correctly on time then there wouldn’t hold any luck in success also vice versa. Therefore, it is every individual’s application depending against the timelines also act given. The sponsor performs a significant part in that whole plot in meeting specifications also operating as a connection connecting people also interacting among stakeholders, customers, managers, team members (Juli, (2011) ).

2. Second Question

The project sponsor has certain very important responsibilities like bearing the overall accountability of the project, ensure that the project is delivered as per the agreed benefits, provision of business expertise and guidance to the project manager. The project sponsor has important responsibilities like ensuring the project is under control, resolving issues beyond the control of the project manager, approving key project deliverables and resolution of conflicts for resources and priority clashes (Philrichardson, n.d). The Project Management Institute observes that the Project Sponsor has an important role to play like securing the project funds, provide clear direction for the project, securing project resources, ensuring the adherence of the deadlines, budget and scope, championing the project (Babou, 2008). The executives refuse to function as project sponsors since they are needed to take multiple responsibilities which require greater amount of knowledge, people management skills and tactics to bring all the stake holders to the common point of agreement between all them. 

a. Can an executive be “forced” to function as a sponsor? 

The executives cannot be forced to function as sponsor and there has to be certain incentive in taking up certain responsibilities and also certain reasonable limit to the ownership of failures of the project management team members by the project sponsor. The forceful appointment of Sponsor would lead to the delays in the project management since the sponsor out of fear of taking up the responsibility of failure would demand all the necessary documentation, formalities to be conducted on regular basis which might not be possible in real time situations. The enforced sponsor might also attribute the failure due to the position being forced upon him rather than whole hearted acceptance.

b. Is it right for the sponsor to be the ultimate person responsible for the success or failure of the project?

The project sponsor has the responsibility to mentor, monitor and control the project progression with the necessity to take right actions at the right moment of time in coordination with the project manager. Hayday informs that the project sponsor holds the ultimate authority based in the decision making regarding the project and need to be assigned to someone who holds both the company trust and also similar appreciation from the peers and working class (Hayday, 2013). Since the project sponsor works with the project manager in order to conduct the project activities, there has to be collective responsibility for the ownership of success and failure (Brockmeier, 2011). The project sponsor responsibilities are needed to be fixed on a reasonable basis with the right culprits being identified and punished such the same mistakes are not repeated again.