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    Checklist of 30 Warning Signs of Potential Trouble

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    Checklist of 30 Warning Signs of Potential Trouble

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    25 views2 pages

    Checklist of 30 Warning Signs of Potential Trouble

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    M

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    Harvard ManageMentor — CRISIS MANAGEMENT TOOLS

    Checklist of 30 Warning Signs of Potential Trouble


    The questions below will help you determine if your division or company may be at risk for a potential crisis.
    Question Yes No
    1. Is your company a start-up business?
    2. Is your group releasing a new product or launching a new service?
    3. Are you instituting a new
    process?
    4. Is your business in an area
    of rapid technological
    advancement?
    5. Has your company
    recently experienced a
    change in management?
    6. Has your department or
    the company just been
    through (or is about to go
    through) a significant
    reorganization?
    7. Are your department’s or
    company’s profits
    declining?
    8. Is your company’s
    business highly regulated?
    9. Does your business
    depend on a single product
    or service?
    10. Does your company
    depend on a few major
    suppliers?
    11. Does your company
    depend on a few (or one)
    major customers?
    12. Are your information
    technology systems weak?
    13. Has your company
    recently diversified into a
    new market or new
    location?
    14. Is the general attitude of
    your division or group
    arrogant, aggressive, and
    risk-taking?
    15. Do your business activities
    have the potential to harm
    the environment?
    16. Does your company lack
    successors for key
    employees or a transition
    plan?
    17. Has your department or
    company recently
    experienced rapid growth?
    18. Has your product or the
    company been
    experiencing declining
    market share?
    19. Is your company in
    litigation or does it have
    disputes with outside
    auditors?
    20. Does your company
    depend on obscure
    financial statements and/or
    on pro-forma accounting?
    21. Does your business
    depend on family relations
    or ownership?
    22. Is your company
    susceptible to natural
    disasters?
    23. Is your company’s credit
    rating poor?
    24. Is your division or
    company experiencing
    high employee turnover,
    or having difficulty
    retaining talent?
    25. Is your company
    vulnerable to fraud?
    26. Do you or does your
    company have high public
    visibility?
    27. Does your company’s
    labor force have a
    negative relationship with
    management?
    28. Is your company operating
    in a politically or
    economically unstable
    country?
    29. Does your company have
    inadequate cash reserves?
    30. Does your department or company use hazardous materials or manufacture hazardous products?
    TOTALS

    If you checked “yes” for more than 10 of the above questions, your company is likely headed for trouble.
    Think about what you might do, if anything, to minimize your company’s risks and avoid a crisis situation.

    Adapted from “50 Warning Signs that Your Company May be in Trouble” by Norman Augustine.
    Copyright, Norman Augustine, 2002. Used with permission of the author.

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