Hurricane Katrina and Louisiana State University - Case Study Example

of Submitted: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS: HURRICANE KATRINA AND LOUISINIA UNIVERSITY Section (A) Hurricane Katrina could be classified as a cobra type crisis, in that it took the State completely by surprise with thousands of residents unprepared in many respects, as its caused diverse weaknesses were exposed, after being plunged straight into a desperate predicament. A Cobra type of crisis according to Ahmed (2006), constitute a sudden crisis, such as when the disaster hits unexpectedly like the Exxon Valdez, while Python is a slow burning type of crisis developed through issues attributable to negligence, corporate fraud, and bankruptcy by companies. The Intel Pentium chip crisis was a type of python crisis according to Ahmed (2006), because the company failed to recognize the issue when it was burning slowly, until it eventually caused damage to its reputation and losses in millions of dollars. Mitroff (2005) argues that there are 7 types of crises, which he named as economic, informational, physical, human resources, reputational, psychopathic and natural disasters, and according to Cooley and Cooley (2011), properly categorizing a crisis into definable and exclusive terms was critical in determining the response strategies necessary for reputation management. LSU was able to properly categorize the crisis as a natural disaster, and then utilized its resources to set up a crisis response communication program, to establish internal and external communication to its audience as well as efficiently manage national and international media informational needs, community relations, and services assistance. Section B Organizations actions and response strategies, according to Coombs (2006, 1999), have significant impact on their reputations, because they can be used to effect repairs, diminish adverse effects, and prevent negative behavioral intentions. Coombs (1998), identify the defensive-accommodative continuum response strategies that organizations can implement, to protect their reputations in times of crisis. Defensively, he argues, companies can develop strategies to protect their images, while from the accommodative perspective they can address the concerns of the victims and stakeholders In these categories according to Coombs (1998), companies may use excuses, denials, justifications and ingratiation, take corrective actions, mortifications, or issue apologies to achieve their intended objectives. A look at LSU three communications exhibits, namely exhibit 11-1a, 11-1b and 11-1c which were a media advisories about the launch of the communication center, a community outreach release about distance learning, and information on the availability of satellite images of the storm respectively, showed that the institution had embraced the accommodative end of the continuum Coombs (1998), had described. The victims of the hurricane as well as stakeholders to a lesser extent were the principal targets of the LSU organization, as it converted its athletic facilities to field hospitals and used its campus building facilities to provide shelter for relief personnel. The victims were not only the thousands that were in the field hospitals, but also colleges and high schools students from within the state, as well as from Mississippi and Alabama, who were displaced through the cancellation of classes for the semester. LSU move to offer enrolment in independent studies, at no cost to these students in 80 high school and 150 college credits that could be completed over nine months via the internet or through the postal services. In terms of stakeholders, LSU provided information in the form of publications, brochures, and visiting speakers to other universities seeking to learn from the experience and to build up their future crisis handling capabilities. It also hosted CBC News Team on the campus, provided 50 of its experts to liaise with the external media, and distributed information to The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, MTV News, ABC Morning News, and NBC Today’s Show. The concerns of the community was also at the core of LSU rebuilding strategy, as it received 6500 telephone calls on the 24 hour manned crisis hotline over 13 days, had 250 million website visits, contributed to the recruitment of 2000 of the 5000 volunteers, and received donations of cash and kinds worth millions of dollars. . LSU was utilizing some of Coombs (2007) comprehensive list of response strategies grouped by postures, which organizations can take in their responses to crises. While ignoring the denial and to a lesser extent the application of diminishing postures, the institution embraced two aspects of the rebuilding and bolstering segments of the theory, namely, compensation and ingratiation to good effects. The institution provision of resources that could not be immediately provided by the state and federal government compensated the victims and stakeholders and prevented the possible tarnishing of reputations that could have occurred. This included the victims who were badly injured and needed medical attention, food, and shelter, as well as students who were displaced and would have had extended break in their educational process. In terms of the bolstering posture through ingratiation, LSU at the end of the crisis cycle use the platform at seminars across the country to highlight the excellence of its performance, as well as express thanks to those who contributed in the process. This may serve to enhance its corporate and global image and improve its chances of continued increase in enrolment and funding from government and other private sources. Finally, LSU attitude in overlooking the fact that it was also a victim, and concentrating on meeting all human needs necessary for survival, may also have invested significantly in an excellent future corporate and global image. Section C Situational Crises Communication Theory, which according to Coombs (2007), organizes response strategies by determining if the intent of the strategy is to change the perceptions of stakeholders on the causes of crises, seems an appropriate theory, in light of the frame work of this LSU Case Study. The theory according to Coombs (2008), embraces management, psychology, public relations, and rhetorical concepts to guide crises planning and responses beyond the traditions of relying on best practices. LSU, by recognizing that its unique location in Boca Raton makes it the ideal institution to offer its facilities, management and intellectual expertise to serve the human, informational, and other needs relevant to the natural disaster, developed and implemented strategies around those objectives, to ensure that the perceptions that will emanate during and after the hurricane, will not negatively impact its future aspirations, especially in terms of growth in enrolment and other variables necessary for sustainability. The fact that the institution utilized the Situation Crisis Communication Theory was also evident when it not only consulted The LSU Crisis Communication Plan, The LSU Special Needs Plan, and The Wendy Ann Larson edited “When A Crisis Strikes On Campus”, to identify strategies appropriate for the hurricane, but utilized the public relations component of Coombs theory, by collaborating with PR officials from the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, and the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services to draw upon their extensive experience in organizing media credentialing and disaster response. Rhetorically, LSU identified the key audiences with whom it was important to share information, and this list included displaced students, parents of students, The LSU Community, hurricane victims and members of the public, and then developed and the relevant message to communicate via the exhibits, its websites, the telephones and other mediums to ensure its crisis planning strategy could be directed beyond the traditional best practices it had created, to deal with the worst hurricane the country had ever experienced. Situational Crisis Communications Theory, according to Jeong (2009, p.35), has roots in attribution theory, which states that people place negative or positive internal and or external attributions to organizations, based on how they perform. Poor performance, according to Jeong (2009), brings out unfavorable internal and external attribution, while excellent or distinctive performance generates favorable internal and external attributions. LSU response in managing the messages by effectively providing a clear voice throughout the different stages of the crisis life cycle, making the needs of the victims its first priority while adapting to new missions, not abandoning its educational purpose, and realizing the roles it can play were key considerations that would positively impact on the perceptions members of the local, regional, national and international environment will have on its reputation at the end of the cycle. Attribution Theory will then provide the base for LSU to implement its SCCT strategy towards stakeholders successfully. According to Coombs (2007), this was important to organizations communications, because it makes stakeholders make decisions about their relationships with companies or institutions, in part, by what internal or external conditions that existed and led to the crises. The primary aspects of SCCT according to Jeong (2009), involve three clusters, namely the victim, accident, and preventable clusters, and each cluster can respond to a crisis using the denial, diminish and or rebuild strategy. Coombs (2007), also believe that each cluster must have a specific response, with victim situation best served by the deny strategy, accident by the diminish alternative, and the preventable encompassing a rebuilding strategy. According to Jeong (2009), there are three independent variables of situation theory that ties in with SCCT, and they are the level of involvement, constraint recognition, and problem recognition. The level of involvement Jeong (2009) noted, is the degree of personal connectedness an entity feels towards issues or events, while constraint recognition has to do with the real barriers the can prevent problems from being solved, and problem recognition zeroes in on how much people will perceive the issues or events as dilemmas. The 30 member LSU team seems to have recognized the impacting effect of these independent variables on the efforts of the institution to diminish and rebuild after the hurricane, by constantly providing valuable and timely information for 24 hours during the first 13 days following the hurricane. This no doubt showed the high level of interconnectedness of LSU to the disaster, reduced constraints by its informing of all players how to access and or deliver their supplies, directed volunteers where they were needed, and reduced the perceptivity of those who would have been be prone to envision dilemmas ,with clear and specific details about what was happening. LSU therefore seems to have embraced the SCCT successfully, to cope with the after effects of Hurricane Katrina, and may have saved thousands of lives in the process. It’s proactiveness in consulting external and experience sources in other states may have also contributed immensely to the amount of lives, livestock, buildings, and other state and federal assets that were salvaged. . Reference 1. AHMED, M. 2006. The Principles and Practices of Crisis Management New York Palgrave Mac Millian 2. COOLEY, S.C., COOLEY, A.B. 2011 An examination of the situational crisis communication theory through General Motors bankruptcy Journal of Media Communications Studies Vol.3 (6) pp.203-211 3. COOMBS, W.T. 1998 An analytical framework for crisis situations: better responses from a better understanding of the situations Journal of Public Relations Review 10 (3) pp 177-191 4. COOMBS, W.T. 2006. The prospective powers of crisis response: managing reputation assets during a crisis J. Promotions Management 12(3/4) 241-260 5. COOMBS, W.T. 2007 Ongoing crisis communication: planning, managing and responding California Thousand Oaks 6. COOMBS, W.T. 2008 Protecting organization reputations during a crisis: the development and applications of situational crisis management theory Academic Research 10 (3) .163-176 7. JEONG, S. 2009 Public responses to an oil spill accident: a test of situational communication theory Public Relations Review 35 (2009) pp.139-143 8. MITRO, I.I. 2005 Why some companies emerge stronger from a crisis? New York AMACOM 9. RENFRO, W. 1993 Issues management in strategic planning Westport Connecticut Quorum Books Read More