Allison briskly approaches your workspace at 4pm on a Thursday afternoon. She does not look happy.
“Did you hear?” she asks.
“Hear what?” you reply.
She tells you that AXR Services, one of your Indian clients, is at the center of an accounting scandal. A major Indian newspaper has alleged that, for more than five years, AXR has used fraudulent accounting practices to cover up weak performance. Investors are now abandoning their shares in company stock and AXR’s CEO has just been picked up at Mumbai’s airport trying to leave the country.
You feel a knot forming in the pit of your stomach. Not only is AXR one of your clients; you also spotlighted their IT help desk management practices in the best practices report you recently released to the public. You are not, by any means, implicated in AXR’s wrongdoing. MCC will, however, look incredibly bad if you do not take immediate steps to address this situation.
Still standing near your workspace, Allison says: “I need you to write two messages. First, draft a quick message to the C-suite letting them know that one of the companies we spotlighted in is legal trouble. Tell them that we’re revising the report immediately to eliminate references to AXR and that we’ll have a message out to both the public and our clients promising a revised report ASAP. I’ll call the CEO personally, but I want to make sure the rest of leadership hears about this issue at the same time.
“Then, get to work on a statement to clients and the public. Make clear that we did not know about any of these issues. But also make sure that we don’t sound totally naïve. Nobody wants to work with a consulting firm that’s too stupid to spot fraud. Also, give everyone a clear sense that we’ve got a plan to fix this situation. I trust you to come up with a solid plan. And make doubly sure that this message comes across as culturally sensitive. The last thing we want to do is frame this issue in a way that offends our Indian clients or makes MCC sound like the real victim here. Got all that?” Allison concludes.
“Yes,” you say.
“Good. Write both of these messages from my POV and send me both as soon as you’re done. I’ll take a look at them before sending your first message to the C-suite and your second to our comms team.” Taking a deep breath, Allison turns from your desk and walks back to her office. Over her shoulder she calls: “I am so excited to call the CEO about this mess!”
Instructions
Write two bad news messages. These messages should correspond to the messages Allison asks you to write in the preceding Scenario Update. Your first message should be an email; your second message may consist of whatever document type you think is most appropriate.
Your first message should:
- Address your readers from Allison’s point of view
- Have a subject line that establishes context for the message
- Follow direct bad news message structure (since you’re writing up)
- Clearly convey your bad news to your C-suite readers
- Indicate what steps you will take to remedy this situation
- Adhere to all four of the 4-C style guidelines
- Use block formatting to make the document visually appealing
- Conclude with specific, personalized goodwill
Your second message should:
-
- Address your readers from Allison’s point of view
- Use appropriate formatting for the document type you’ve chosen
- Follow indirect bad news message structure (since you’re writing out)
- Fully explain your rationale for the bad news before stating the bad news itself
- Use one of the three techniques for softening the bad news (preferred, though optional)
- Indicate what steps you will take to remedy this situation
- Adhere, where appropriate, to all of the 4-C style principles (with particular emphasis on continuity)
- Use block formatting to make the document visually appealing
- Devote extra attention to developing goodwill with the reader
- Avoid coming across as naïve or culturally insensitive
- Frame your message in a way that will appeal to US, British, German, and Indian audiences
