Abstract

All corporations must live with catastrophe, but few do anything to prepare for it. An executive will spend six months laying plans for a stock split but will do nothing to prepare for his own death or the demise or incapacitation of his associates, either of which can trigger stockholder panic beyond belief. Although most corporations do not prepare for the death of one of their key personnel, everybody else does. Stockholders deserve to know how operation of their company will continue, what changes in policy to expect and, most important, how profits will be affected. Personnel should be informed immediately of any changes in internal policy or in the table of organization. So that talent and energy will not be wasted jockeying for key jobs, new appointments should be made quickly, with an eye toward quelling dissension, either from malcontents who don't advance up the scale or from opportunists who want to move too fast. Conscientious public relations consultants have prepared complete procedures for their clients in this field.