While 60 percent of corporate executives say their companies have a crisis plan in place, only 29 percent are very confident their organization would respond effectively during a crisis, and 56 percent say they are somewhat confident, according to a new survey by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman's crisis management team and Levick Strategic Communications.

"Part of that uncertainty may stem from the fact that even among those companies which have developed a crisis plan, 63 percent report that their company does not conduct annual training drills or exercises to test the effectiveness of their plan and ensure that all company employees know what to do if a crisis does occur," says Tom Campbell, head of Pillsbury's Crisis Management team. "Even more strikingly, fully one-third of those companies which do have a crisis plan could not recall the last time they actually reviewed or revised it, which clearly indicates an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach to crisis management that may prove a company's undoing."

Over the last three years, 42 percent of respondents report that their company was the subject of a government inquiry or investigation, which is cause for concern among shareholders, investors, customers and employees. Of the respondents, 24 percent say their company experienced a natural disaster and the same number of respondents reveals that their company faced a data loss or security breach. At least one worker accident or death was experienced by 21 percent of respondents, and 9 percent say they were targeted by protesters or a consumer boycott.