Brewers Case

Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to present the crisis plan demonstrated by the Milwaukee Brewers Crisis Management Team (CMT) during recent crises involving members of the organization. The incidents required the implementation of the team’s Crisis Communication Plan (CCP) in order to handle the crises most efficiently. The crises facing the organization included Brewers Manager Ned Yost hiring prostitutes to entice opposing team players at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee and accusations of Carlos Lee, Brewers left fielder, performing sexual favors for umpires. Also, Geoff Jenkins, Brewers’ right fielder, had a recent outburst toward reporters when questioned about his sexual preference.

After activating the CCP, the CMT analyzed the crisis by examining the case facts. This included filling out incident report forms and determining case assumptions. A risk assessment was also conducted, along with pinpointing the appropriate response strategy for each crisis.

Next, an audience analysis was performed. By identifying the audiences affected by each crisis and breaking down the audiences into four categories including producers, enablers, limiters and customers, an underlying message was created. The message was that the Brewers organization will not jeopardize the integrity of the game of baseball under any circumstances.

From our analysis, a strategic plan was constructed. This involved the Brewers organization taking a proactive approach to address the issues. Based upon the strategy, specific tactics and methods of evaluating effectiveness were developed.

Introduction

We are Phil’s Six Pack, representatives of the Milwaukee Brewers crisis management team who needed to address several recent crises that happened to players and personnel. The two main crises that occurred included Ned Yost hiring prostitutes to entice visiting players from opposing teams while staying at the local Pfister Hotel and rumors of Carlos...