Financial Times Will Publish Special Report on Crisis Management

NEW YORK, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The Financial Times will publish a
worldwide special report on May 31, 2006 titled, "Crisis Management,"
which will be distributed as a separate supplement in all four
editions of the newspaper. This essential and timely report will
address the lessons learned from the handling -- or mishandling -- of
some of the world's most recent and fatal natural disasters; of
tragic, global epidemics and those that have the ability to become
such; and of the largest, most corrupt corporate scandals this country
has ever seen.

In 2005, we witnessed tragedy, crisis, and deception up close. With
the Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and too many corporate scandals,
crisis management has become a much-valued skill and a dominant topic
worldwide. Now, as the world fears a potential Avian Flu pandemic,
businesses are already feeling the impact. One multinational
organization is trying to operate with only half its staff while other
organizations are developing contingency plans. This report will
address how the business community can best anticipate and prepare for
such crisis.

In this report, the FT plans to include the following features:

The range of potential disasters: This range is usually either
progressive or sudden -- those that can be anticipated and those that
cannot. This article will highlight the fact that while not all
hazards can be foreseen, many others can -- and should be.

Predicting dangers: With the benefit of hindsight, it is often
possible to piece together the chain of events that led to a crisis.
This article will look at how organizations can reduce their
vulnerability to disaster by knowing how to spot the early warning
signals.

Planning, training and setting up an emergency structure: To prepare
for a crisis, one must be ready to cope with any possible event. This
report will look at those structures that should be in place to cope
with a crisis, such as the development of a management team, training
programs and various other facilities.

The business case: Research suggests that companies demonstrating
confidence and capability in times of crisis can not only recover, but
can also enhance their value in the long term. This report will look
at the business case supporting preparedness.

Lessons from the military: Strong leadership is critical in the time
of crisis. This article looks at the culture and practice of
leadership in the Royal Navy and explains how the business community
can learn from this.

Coping in a crisis: This article will take some recent examples and
look at how companies found their way through the crisis period -- and
how some didn't. It will compare states of preparedness and types of
response to evaluate good and bad practices.

Reputation threat: A crisis can cause disastrous human, financial, and
physical damage. From the corporate view, minimizing the damaged
caused to a company's image is crucial. This article will look at the
way in which information is disseminated to the appropriate people and
how effective the PR function can be in protecting reputation and
managing media response.

The aftermath: This article will examine the ways in which companies
damaged by a crisis can accelerate the recovery process and learn from
the overall ordeal.

In Asia: Avian flu, originating in parts of Asia, is posing crisis
management questions for the world. This article will discuss how
other countries and businesses should respond and the preparations
they can make now.

US-Europe comparison: This article will compare crisis management
practices in the US and Europe.

About the Financial Times

Financial Times is one of the world's leading business information
brands, internationally recognized for its authoritative news, comment
and analysis. Whether in print or online, the Financial Times is
essential reading for the global business community.

Printed at 24 sites worldwide, the Financial Times newspaper has a
daily circulation of over 434,000 and a readership of more than 1.5
million people worldwide. FT.com (http://www.ft.com) is one of the
world's leading business information portals, and the Internet partner
of the Financial Times. FT.com has 5 million unique monthly users that
generate more than 45.7 million monthly page views.

For more information on the Financial Times or this special report,
please contact:

Courtney Dolan, Public Relations

Financial Times

212-641-6360 or courtney.dolan@ft.com

For details on advertising, please contact:

Hope Kaye

212-641-6548

hope.kaye@ft.com SOURCE Financial Times