Public reputation crisis
A negative story goes viral — service failures, misconduct or misinformation — met with monitoring, trained spokespeople and honest comms.
4 threats 11 barriers 3 consequences safety-critical barriers marked
Use this template free. Copy “Public reputation crisis” into your own workspace and adapt every barrier — no credit card.
Start free with this template →Threats & preventive barriers
Each threat is a credible pathway to the top event; its barriers interrupt that pathway before control is lost.
Service failure or incident becomes public
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Incident communications playbook
Socio-technical · 75% effective · Owner: Communications Director
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Proactive disclosure of known issues
Behavioural (human) · 65% effective · Owner: Communications Director
Employee or executive misconduct surfaces
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Code of conduct with speak-up channel
Socio-technical · 70% effective · Owner: HR Director
Fear of retaliation suppresses reports
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Social-media guidelines & training
Behavioural (human) · 60% effective · Owner: Communications Director
Misinformation or false claims spread
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Media & social monitoring with alerts
Continuous · 75% effective · Owner: Communications Director
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Rapid-rebuttal capability with facts
Socio-technical · 65% effective · Owner: Communications Director
Activist or competitor campaign
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Stakeholder engagement programme
Socio-technical · 60% effective · Owner: CEO
Consequences & recovery barriers
Once the top event happens, recovery barriers limit each consequence.
Customer churn and lost sales
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Trained spokespeople & holding statements ★ critical
Behavioural (human) · 75% effective · Owner: Communications Director
📅 Crisis simulation · semiannual keep-alive task
📅 Media training · annual keep-alive task
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Customer-care surge capacity
Socio-technical · 65% effective · Owner: Customer Success Lead
Talent attrition and hiring damage
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Internal communication before external
Behavioural (human) · 70% effective · Owner: HR Director
Long-term brand damage
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Post-crisis reputation recovery plan
Socio-technical · 60% effective · Owner: Communications Director
Copying this template gives you a fully editable bowtie: barrier owners arrive as role suggestions, escalation factors sit on their barriers, and keep-alive activities are scheduled from the moment you copy. New to the notation? Read what the bowtie method is or browse the practical guides.
Use this template free. Copy “Public reputation crisis” into your own workspace and adapt every barrier — no credit card.
Start free with this template →