From crisis to opportunity: Get up to speed*

When the directors of a global engineering company saw the first warning signs of corruption amongst managers lower down the ladder, they paid little attention. But as soon as real evidence of wrongdoing surfaced, they reacted swiftly.
The chief executive publicly acknowledged the seriousness of the situation and appointed an independent team of lawyers and forensic accountants to investigate the allegations. He also reported the problem to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and spearheaded a drive to re-establish ethical standards throughout the company.

When customers at a well-known restaurant chain were stricken with food poisoning, the company's crisis team immediately went to work. In addition to issuing press releases and securing live media interviews, they launched an information programme on the Internet, where the public could see a video message from the chief executive and get updates on the outbreak. They posted a similar message on television and YouTube. Once the cause had been identified, calm was restored, but the company's proactive communications strategy played a key role in minimising the overall damage.

When a whistleblower alleged that several directors of a publicly listed mining company had received kickbacks after buying a licence to extract minerals in an Eastern European country, the audit committee immediately suspended the directors concerned, halted all trading in the company's shares and called in independent experts to conduct an investigation.
Once the independent experts have reported their findings, the audit committee sacked the offending directors, levied financial sanctions against other executives who were implicated in the scandal and enhanced the internal controls. Indeed, the committee acted with such speed and rectitude that the company's share price bounced back, when trading in the shares resumed. Analysts also praised the way in which it handled the episode, and the company's reputation was preserved.

When a leading technology company uncovered evidence of bribery within its ranks, the directors dealt with the immediate problem. But they also realised that it was a symptom of bigger issues, including weaknesses in the company's risk controls. So they hired some risk-management experts and launched a wide-ranging remediation programme covering every business unit. They also used the crisis as an opportunity to initiate a radical overhaul of the company's internal audit function, to upgrade the quality of its supplier management processes and to reduce its reliance on external suppliers.