Fink, Steven (B.) 1948-

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FINK, Steven (B.) 1948-

PERSONAL:

Born March 3, 1948, in Philadelphia, PA; son of Samuel and Beatrice (Cooperman) Fink; married Harriet B. Braiker (a psychologist), December 27, 1984; children: Stuart, Amanda. Education: Pennsylvania State University, B.A., 1968; attended Temple University Graduate School of Communications.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Lexicon Communications Corp., Los Angeles, CA. Agent—c/o Alice Martell, Martell Agency, 545 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022. E-mail—information@lexiconcorp.com.

CAREER:

Lexicon Communications Corp., Los Angeles, CA, president; writer.

WRITINGS:

Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable, Amacom (New York, NY), 1986, reprint, iUniverse, 2000.

The Hailing Sign (novel), St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1987.

Sticky Fingers: Managing the Global Risk of Economic Espionage, Dearborn Trade (Chicago, IL), 2002, reprint, iUniverse, 2003.

Crisis Management has been translated into other languages, including Japanese and European languages. Sticky Fingers was also translated into Chinese and Korean. Contributor to periodicals, including Time, Wall Street Journal, Investor's Daily, Christian Science Monitor, Financial Times (London, England), Industry Week, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Nation's Business, Chief Executive, and Leaders. Author of The Crisis Management Handbook: A Survival Guide for American Business, published in 1994.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

A novel about terrorism.

SIDELIGHTS:

President of Lexicon Communications, Steven Fink is a business authority known for his work in strategic public relations and is considered a leading expert in crisis management and crisis communications. In addition to founding crisis management firm Lexicon Communications, he has worked as a consultant for various branches of the American government, both domestic and foreign, as well as corporations, and has testified in court as an expert witness about crisis management. Also a sought-after speaker, Fink has given numerous workshops, seminars, and talks throughout the world. He has also taught at the university level as well as creating the first-ever crisis management course for the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Fink is often asked to appear on television news shows as a commentator on crisis events, among them ABC WorldNews Tonight, Nightline, and those on CNN, CNBC, and Fox news channels. In order to broaden the already significant scope of his influence on businesses and others in need of crisis management skills, Fink published Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable and Sticky Fingers: Managing the Global Risk of Economic Espionage.

In Crisis Management, first published in 1986 and reprinted in 2000, Fink analyzes a range of actual major business-related disasters. These include the Union Carbide chemical disaster in Bhopal, India, the Rely Tampon problem, Tylenol tampering, and the barely avoided nuclear accident at the Three Mile Island power facility in Pennsylvania. "Just knowing you have a plan will give you a sense of security and increase your confidence in everyday management decisions," Fink wrote. He continued, "The key to managing a crisis successfully is to make sound, vigilant decisions. Psychologically, just having confidence in yourself and your managers—the sort of confidence that a crisis management plan instills—will help you make shrewd decisions in the height of stressful, crisis-induced situations."

A number of reviewers recognized the book's merit. Among them was Grace Klinefelter of Library Journal, who dubbed it "practical and informative," and Ian I. Mitroff, who, writing in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, called Crisis Management a "well-written" volume that "reads like a novel" with "fascinating in-depth stories." Although Mitroff also noted the "much-needed practical advice" that Fink offers readers about what to do before, during, and after a crisis, he complained that the book would have benefited from better organization and a discussion of the reasons why crises have happened more often in the late twentieth century that ever before. According to Fink, as reported by Tina Beaudoin of Management Review, "formal crisis planning potentially can save companies millions of dollars," yet in Fink's 1987 survey of [Fortune 500 companies] "50 percent said they do not have crisis management plans."

Among the crises a company may face is the theft of its trade secrets, a topic Fink treats in his 2002 offering, Sticky Fingers which Library Journal 's Stacey Marien called "fascinating." After pointing out the countries suspected of trying to steal U.S. trade secrets, Fink suggests ways that companies can protect trade secrets and deal with the loss of secrets should they be stolen. During his discussion of these matters, Fink profiles a case of industrial espionage that was perpetrated against Avery Dennison Company and how it was investigated and prosecuted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the 1996 Economic Espionage Act. As David O. Best of Security Management concluded, "Engaging yet informative, this book is highly recommended for security professionals."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Fink, Steven, Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable, Amacom (New York, NY), 1986, reprint, iUniverse, 2000.

Fink, Steven, Sticky Fingers: Managing the Global Risk of Economic Espionage, Dearborn (Chicago, IL), 2002, reprint, iUniverse, 2003.

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, April 15, 1986, Grace Klinefelter, review of Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable, pp. 76-77; February 1, 2002, Stacey Marien, review of Sticky Fingers: Managing the Global Risk of Economic Espionage, p. 111.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, March 23, 1986, Ian I. Mitroff, review of Crisis Management, p. 1; January 24, 1988, Michael Harris, "A Thriller Short on Thrills," p. 8.

Management Review, August, 1988, Tina Beaudoin, "Planning for the Worst: Crisis Planning," pp. 7-8.

Security Management, September, 2002, David O. Best, review of Sticky Fingers, p. 214.