Crisis Management Crisis communication is one of the most important and overlooked components of organizational communication in today's business world. It is vital that every business has contingency plans for emergency situations, whether natural or man-made. Studies show that eighty percent of organizations faced with a major disaster go out of business within two years. (Hickman & Crandall 1997). However, we also know that nearly forty percent of all Fortune 1000 companies have an operational crisis management plan. (Hickman & Crandall 1997) This article will review and evaluate three journals that discuss different aspects and needs for an active crisis plan. The first journal evaluated comes from an article in Business Horizons titled “A Multi-faceted Approach to Crisis Management” which discusses the need to develop many parallel plans before disaster strikes. First, the article states that a crisis management team must be created for the mere anticipation of possible crisis events, so that the recovery and reconstruction of the organization can be conducted efficiently. The team should be named and go into action. The first order of business for the new team should be to develop worst-case scenarios. For the next step to occur, the team must determine which business functions are mission critical and necessary for the organization's survival. They must also understand and plan to implement the appropriate technology needed to support these functions. Once this is complete, the team must develop and distribute a crisis management plan to all involved. It is up to management to ensure that all parties remain up to date and trained in...... half of the document ...... in the event of catastrophic failure. References Cheney, G., Christensen, L., Zorn, T ., & Ganesh, S. (2004). Organizational communication in the era of globalization: problems, reflections, practices. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press, .Inc. Goldstein, G. “A Strategic Response to Media Metamorphoses.” Publications Quarterly, Summer 2004, Vol. 49 Issue 2, p19, 4pEpstein, M."Communicating with stakeholders in a crisis" Financial Executive, October 2003, Vol.19 Issue 7, p23, 3pHickman, J., Crandall, W. "Before disaster strikes: a multifaceted approach" Affari Orizzonti, March/April 97, vol. 40 Issue 2, p75, 5pUlmer, R,. Sellnow, T. (1997) 'Strategic and ethical ambiguity of meaningful choice in tobacco industry crisis communications', Communication Studies 48 (1997)