The Professional Advice to Rio Tinto Japan Assignment

The Professional Advice to Rio Tinto Japan - Assignment Example Rio Tinto launched a damage control and public relations initiative that was meant to arrest the situation and prevent the company from incurring other major losses as a result of the earthquake (http://mcmaweb01.curtin.edu.au/ 2013). Although it was a success to a certain degree, the company accepted that it had been caught grossly unawares and unprepared (just like Japan) and therefore needed to build a level of preparedness that is sufficient to deal with such situations. This paper is aimed at achieving three things: providing professional advice to Rio Tinto Japan on how to handle the issues that arose from the earthquake. This will be basically done in four ways: a) Developing and using decision criteria to justify the choices among the ‘alternative’ courses of action. b) Based on the decision criteria, developing a range of realistic alternatives to address the ‘issues’ identified c) Deciding on a solution to the ‘issues’ derived from the ‘alternatives’. For each ‘alternative’, providing a justification for the solutions chosen or rejected. d) Providing realistic suggestions on how those ‘solutions’ could be implemented at Rio Tinto. ... It is my intention to avoid making a similar mistake when writing this paper, by being clear and objective with my points and presentations. At the end of this paper, I hope to have come up with a feasible and practical framework to guide Rio Tinto not only on how to handle the effects of the earthquake, but also to build a level of preparedness that makes it capable to deal with a broad range of disasters if and when they happen. I also hope to provide the company with invaluable advice on how to approach the issue of disaster management as a whole, and not just earthquakes. The company will, therefore, be able to avoid a similar scenario in the future. Decision Criteria a) Before formulating the decision criteria, it is important to outline the choices among the ‘alternative’ courses of action and accompany them with the appropriate decision criteria. Choices among the ‘alternative’ sources of action Decision Criteria Training employees on disaster prepare dness Awareness on how to react in case of a disaster. Conducting regular ‘drilling’ exercises Alertness and readiness in case of disasters Reconstruction of the office building to make it capable of withstanding certain disasters The office building should act as a buffer itself by protecting inhabitants from the initial effects of disasters. Acquiring and installing equipment to facilitate safety in case of disasters Warning mechanisms, protective equipment Improving and building communication Facilitate the sharing of information despite the occurrence of a disaster, hence making it easier to pursue courses of action.