If the Tylenol scare of 1982 had happened today - more than a quarter century later - would the drug maker have been forced to handle the crisis differently?

No doubt it would, was the conclusion of the Public Affairs Council after the organization's researchers chewed on the question. Their other conclusion: Companies need to understand how websites, blogs, Facebook and other technological advancements have made communicating during a crisis entirely different from 25 years ago.

Last July, the Foundation for Public Affairs, the Council's research arm, assigned researchers to study how America's companies have tackled major public-relations and reputation challenges. Researchers interviewed experts from Fortune 500 companies, consultants and academics, among others. The result was "When Disaster Strikes: A New Guide to Crisis Management," which Council Research & Consulting Services Director Adam Korengold says can be a powerful tool to help companies anticipate, manage and mitigate public affairs crises.

"When Disaster Strikes" includes examples of how Entergy successfully managed the events following Hurricane Katrina, and how Tyco International rebuilt its reputation after a corporate scandal. Other contributors include practitioners from Verizon, the Principal Financial Group and several leading academic institutions.

"The way companies have to deal with crises has really changed since the Tylenol episode in 1982, or even since the early 2000s," said Korengold, who shepherded the 20-page report to completion this past December. "Before, when there were only three television networks and most people got their news form television, newspapers or the radio, it was a lot... easier for companies to control the message."

Today, however, there are dozens, even hundreds of cable channels, thousands of websites, countless bloggers and instant access to a Facebook account. Companies actually hire people to troll the Internet looking for any mention of their firms, so they can be prepared with speedy rejoinders or remarks should they sense trouble.

"You never know what could turn into a crisis," Korengold says. "It could be an event in the physical world like a plant explosion or other accident, or it could come from an independent blogger on the other side of the globe."

To order the report, click here: http://webportal.pac.org/Purchase/SearchCatalog.aspx. To read more about the Foundation's research and consulting services, click here: http://pac.org/consulting/benchmarking.