ABSTRACT
Issues management is a corporate process that helps organizations identify challenges in the business environment—both internal and external—before they become crises and mobilizes corporate resources to help protect the company from the harm to reputation, operations, and financial condition that the issue may provoke. Sometimes the corporate communication department runs the function, but often the function is run from the legal, quality assurance, government relations or risk management departments. Wherever issues management may reside in an organization, typically it is an interdisciplinary function. Every company’s issues management structure should align with its business operations, marketplace realities and leadership styles. But as a general principle, the most effective issues management structures have several elements in common. For each issue identified, the issues management team would next develop a plan to analyze it, allocate resources to influence events to lessen its impact and engage stakeholders in support.
