You are the marketing and communications director for a large chain of retail stores. One of your stores was recently hit by a tornado and the concrete walls fell in, crushing dozens of people to death. Your CEO immediately ordered a $1 million dollar donation to tornado relief for the city, which was recently released to the media.

Amid the donation coverage, however, you received notice that allegations are surfacing that the building's construction was faulty and the walls should have been able to withstand the tornado. An online blog is saying that your company made the donation to "pay off" victims and avoid any further inquiries into the situation. How will you advise your CEO?

Think about this situation and apply the 6 step process from the leadership and management page.

• Write the concise answers that you would share with your CEO and post it to share with your classmates.
• Be sure to read your response out loud and time yourself to see if you can stay under 3 minutes.
• Discuss ethical considerations and branding options with your fellow students.
• Share what you learned from having only 3 minutes to get this complex problem across to your CEO.

Process Summary:

• Step 1. Situation description
• Step 2. Analysis
• Step 3. The Goal
• Step 4. Options
• Step 5. Recommendation
• Step 6. Justification