GENERAL MOTOR IGNITION SWITCH RECALLA Lesson in Crisis Communication

Danielle Hulen

TIMELINE

• 2001 – First Sign of Defective Switches• 2007 – GM Notified of 10 Deadly Crashes• 2/7/2014 – Recalls Begin at 800,000 Vehicles • 3/12/2014 – Justice Department Launches Criminal

Investigation• 3/28/2014 – Recall Reaches 2.6 Million Vehicles• 5/16/2014 – GM Settles Investigation, $35M Fine

WHAT HAPPENED?

Flawed Communication:• Crisis Blamed on Label: “Customer Convenience”

•Death Toll Reaches 13*• Estimated Cost of Recall: $1.3 Billion• 15 Employees Fired, 5 Disciplined

HOW WAS THE CRISIS HANDLED?

• CEO Mary Barra: Public Leader• Public Apology• Meeting With Families of Victims

• Hiring of Professionals• Kenneth Feinberg, Jeff Eller, Anton Valukas

• Harnessing Multiple Forms of Media

COOMBS CONNECTION

• Best Practices for Crisis Communication Channels• Website – www.gmignitionupdate.com• Internal Communication – Company-wide Email• Mass-Notification System – Social Media

• Reputation Repair• Apology, Compensation, Reminder

CRISIS WEBSITE

IN CONCLUSION:

• Flawed Communication Can Be Costly•Open Communication During Crisis is Key•GM Looks to Learn from Crisis

WORKS CITED

• www.gmignitionupdate.com

• (2014, June 10) Crisis Communication 2.0: Mary Barra Strong In Adversity. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/85broads/2014/06/10/crisis-communication-2-0-mary-barra-strong-in-adversity /

• Feeney, Nolan. (2014, June 3). Time Magazine. Retrieved from: http://time.com/2819690/gm-recall-deaths-ignition-switch/

• Gallo, Carmine. (2014, June 9). Forbes Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2014/06/09/two-misleading-words-triggered-gms-catastrophic-communication-breakdown/

• Maynard, Micheline. (2014, April 11) The Smoking Gun Memo in the GM Recall Crisis. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/michelinemaynard/2014/04/11/the-smoking-gun-memo-in-the-gm-recall-crisis/

• Muller, Joann.(2014, May 29). Exclusive Q&A: GM CEO Mary Barra On Crisis Management, Culture Change And The Future of GM. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2014/05/29/exclusive-qa-gm-ceo-mary-barra-on-crisis-management-culture-change-and-the-future-of-gm/?partner=yahootix

• Pridle, Alisa. (2014, April 3) GM hires Clinton-era crisis communications expert amid ignition switch recall. Detroit Free Press. Retrieved from: http://archive.freep.com/article/20140403/BUSINESS0101/304030098/GM-recall-General-Motors-Mary-Barra-Jeff-Eller-auto-crisis

• Valdes-Dapena, Peter, Tal Yellin.GM: Steps to a recall nightmare. CNN Money. Retrieved from: http://money.cnn.com/infographic/pf/autos/gm-recall-timeline/