Bachelor Thesis in Marketing and Management Communication Author: Tina Grønkjær Jensen Student ID: Supervisor: Katrine Vanggaard Madsen

Transcription

1 A n a l y s i s o f S c a n d i n a v i a n A i r l i n e s C r i s i s C o m m u n i c a t i o n Bachelor Thesis in Marketing and Management Communication Author: Tina Grønkjær Jensen Student ID: Supervisor: Katrine Vanggaard Madsen Department Of Language And Business Communication University of Aarhus, Business and Social Sciences May 2012 Total hits Thesis: Abstract: 2.283

2 Abstract Crisis management is one of the most critical aspects of modern communication in an information and communications age, where news are widely spread within minutes. At the same time, organisations are facing a larger number of active stakeholders who want to scrutinise their activities and are expecting more and more transparency and accessibility instead of closed doors. Organisations have to comply with these expectations in order to succeed in today s global society. Thus, communication is crucial in order to protect the organisation s reputation and stakeholder relations in times of crisis. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) found itself in a crisis situation on 8th October 2001 at Linate Airport in Milan, when one of its MD- 87 passenger planes carrying 110 passengers collided on take- off with a business jet carrying four passengers. All 114 people on board the two aircraft were killed together with four people on the ground. In general, 2001 has been a very turbulent year for SAS, where it experienced complex crises, which have had very different results in relation to the SAS post- crisis reputation. Therefore, the Linate crisis is an excellent case study to learn from. Operating within the field of crisis management, which crisis communication strategies did SAS apply in the Linate crisis in 2001 in order to restore its reputation among its external stakeholders? To be able to answer this question, this thesis has provided an introduction to SAS as an organisation along with a description of the Linate crisis in Additionally, a discussion of the theoretical background for crisis communication including stakeholder theory is integrated in order to define the concept of crisis management. An analysis of SAS communicative efforts, in the form of five press releases, has been analysed based on Timothy W. Coombs Situational Crisis Communication Theory and William L. Benoit s theory of Image Repair Discourse. Finally, the Cartel Case has been included as a point of comparison, in order to give the thesis perspective. In this connection three press releases have been analysed again based on Coombs Situational Crisis Communication Theory and Benoit s theory of Image Repair Discourse. 1

3 Through the analyses it has become evident that there are elements of both Coombs Situational Crisis Communication Theory and Benoit s theory of Image Repair Discourse in SAS communication efforts during the Linate crisis. Furthermore, having measured the level of correspondence between the findings and Coombs and Benoit s recommendations, it is clear that SAS seems to have communicated by the book in terms of restoring its reputation after the Linate crisis. 2

4 Table of Contents 1. Introduction Problem Statement Theoretical Framework Method and Structure Theory of Science Delimitation Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) Theoretical Background for Crisis Communication Stakeholders Stakeholder Map for the Linate Crisis Definition of Crisis Communication Crisis communication theories Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) Theory of Image Repair Discourse Analysis of SAS crisis communication strategies Situational Crisis Communication Theory Press Release 1 (Appendix 4) Press Release 2 (Appendix 5) Press Release 3 (Appendix 6) Press Release 4 (Appendix 7) Press Release 5 (Appendix 8) Sub conclusion Theory of Image Repair Discourse Press Release 1-5 (Appendix 4-8) Sub conclusion The Cartel Case Discussion Conclusion Bibliography Appendix Appendix Appendix

5 Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix

6 1. Introduction According to Tench & Yeomans (2009, p. 286), crisis management is one of the most critical aspects of modern communications in an information and communication age, where news are widely spread within minutes. At the same time, organisations are facing a larger number of active stakeholders who want to scrutinise their activities and are expecting more and more transparency and accessibility instead of closed doors. Organisations have to comply with these expectations in order to succeed in today s global society. Thus, communication is crucial in order to protect the organisation s reputation and stakeholder relations in times of crisis. It could be argued, that the way an organisation communicates with its stakeholders in relation to a crisis is just as important as the scope of the crisis itself. Today, the crises are larger, more complex and challenge the organisations more than ever. Crises can take many different forms and each individual crisis is unique and must be handled and communicated differently. The following are examples of different major crises within the past recent years, which emphasise the importance of crisis management; in 2010 British Petroleum suffered a major image crisis in relation to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, in 2011 the Utøya massacre exposed the Norwegian police s poor state of alert and in 2001 Nike s reputation were threatened in relation to child labour in Cambodia. This thesis will focus on crisis communication within Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) in relation to the Linate crisis in The Linate crisis started on the 8th October 2001 at Linate Airport in Milan, when one of SAS MD- 87 passenger planes carrying 110 passengers collided on take- off with a business jet carrying four passengers. All 114 people on board the two aircraft were killed together with four people on the ground. The accident was caused by a combination of human mistake, heavy morning fog and technical error. However, SAS was found free of responsibility. 5

7 1.1 Problem Statement With the above taken into account, this report seeks to answer the following research question: Operating within the field of crisis management, which crisis communication strategies did SAS apply in the Linate crisis in 2001 in order to restore its reputation among its external stakeholders? To be able to answer this question, this thesis will provide an introduction to SAS as an organisation along with a description of the Linate crisis in Furthermore, an analysis of SAS communicative efforts, in the form of five press releases, will be analysed based on Timothy W. Coombs Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and William L. Benoit s theory of Image Repair Discourse. Furthermore, the Cartel Case will be included as a point of comparison, in order to give the thesis perspective. 1.2 Theoretical Framework In order to answer the research question, this thesis draws upon educational books, scientific articles, SAS Group s corporate website, an Annual Report from 2001 and press releases from October In order to cover the definitions of crisis communication and stakeholders, relevant chapters in Exploring Public Relations by Ralph Tench & Liz Yeomans (2009) and theories by Preble (2005), Heath (2001), Coombs (2007a; 2007b), Seeger et al. (2003), Claeys et al. (2010), Benoit (1997), and Dalton & Croft (2003) have been employed. In the analysis of SAS communication strategies, five press releases from SAS Group s corporate website are drawn upon as well as Timothy Coombs Situational Crisis Communication Theory (2007b) and William L. Benoit s theory on Image Repair Discourse (1997), which constitute the main theoretical background for this thesis. Finally, three press releases in relation to SAS Cartel Case will be drawn upon in order to put the communication efforts during the Linate crisis into perspective. 1.3 Method and Structure In order to investigate which crisis communication strategies SAS has applied in the Linate crisis to restore its reputation among its external stakeholders, the introduction provides the academic framework for this thesis, which uses an explorative approach to answer the research question. After a theoretical framework is established, a case study consisting of analyses of five press releases are conducted in order to answer how SAS has communicated in relation to the Linate 6

8 crisis, and the findings are then measured against the communication efforts during the Cartel Case in order to give some perspective. More specifically, the thesis will begin with establishing the perception of social reality by introducing the concept of Methodological Hermeneutics, before setting the delimitations in the thesis. Section 2 serves as a point of departure as it will provide a brief introduction to SAS and its situation up until and during the Linate crisis in Next, section 3 is a general discussion of the concepts of stakeholders and crisis communication with a specific focus on Coombs and Benoit s theories, in order to provide the overall context of the thesis. In section 4 the theories from section 3 will be applied in order to conduct an analysis of crisis communication strategies in five press releases from SAS Group. Section 5 will include the Cartel Case in order to add some perspective to the thesis. Section 6 proceeds to briefly discuss some of the implications of the research with a view to maintaining a critical position toward the findings. Finally, section 7 summarises the main points of the findings and recommendations in a conclusion. 1.4 Theory of Science Because of the fact that the problem statement is characterised by a focus on SAS as the sender in the crisis communication situation, this thesis is based on Friedrich Schleiermacher s Methodological Hermeneutics, the art of understanding (cited in Palmer, 1969). Schleiermacher argues that in order to be able to establish the meaning of a text, people need to understand the intentions and thoughts of the sender i.e. the meaning of the text is injected by the sender. Additionally, he argues that there is one true meaning of a text, and this is only produced by the sender. It is not until the receiver understands the intentions, the emotions and the thoughts of the sender that he or she understands the true meaning of the text (Palmer, 1969, p. 86). This means that the focus of this thesis is on the relation between SAS, the sender, and the communicative efforts, the text i.e. the analysed press releases. Thus, there will be no focus on the receivers and how they interpret SAS communication efforts in this thesis. Ontologically, this means the answering of the problem statement becomes a matter of understanding how SAS communicates during the Linate crisis from the epistemological standpoint of interpretation. This is achieved by means of the methodology, which is the Hermeneutic circle. The Hermeneutic circle consists of two complementary dimensions; a grammatical dimension and a psychological 7

9 dimension, which form the basis for a general interpretative method (Palmer, 1969, p. 88). The Hermeneutic circle describes the process of understanding a text hermeneutically. It refers to the concept of people s understanding of a text as a whole is established by reference to its individual parts. Similarly, people s understanding of each individual parts is established by reference to the whole text. Thus, it functions as a circle, where either the whole text or any individual part can be understood without reference to the other (Palmer, 1969, p. 87). To be able to explain which crisis communication strategies SAS has applied in order to restore its reputation after the crisis, it is necessary to understand and interpret the communication initiatives taken by SAS. In order to achieve this understanding, the Hermeneutic circle is applied, where parts of SAS different communication material will be analysed in order to provide an overview of the whole. The analysis of the parts, in terms of the press releases, helps give an understanding of the whole situation, while the understanding of the whole crisis situation helps interpret the parts. 1.5 Delimitation Due to limited space and the fact that crisis communication theory has an enormous scope, the focus will only be on relevant concepts in relation to this thesis research question. Therefore, the point of departure for this thesis will be Coombs Situational Crisis Communication Theory and William L. Benoit s theory on Image Repair Discourse. Additionally, there are found a significant amount of scientific evidence supporting these two founding theories within reputation restoration. The thesis recognises that the empirical data collected is merely a part of a larger communication plan and, thus, the analysis of the press releases should be viewed from this perspective. It will focus on eight press releases in total distributed from SAS Group s website in connection with the Linate crisis and the Cartel Case, and thereby primarily focus on external stakeholders. It would have been interesting to incorporate the internal aspects of crisis communication, however, to do this would have demanded a less exhaustive analysis of the external aspects, which are of crucial importance when dealing with organisational reputation during a crisis. 8

10 In the section of crisis communication theory, a pre- crisis phase, which is relevant for a complete understanding of crisis communication theory, will be touched upon, however it will not be applied directly in the analysis of SAS crisis due to lack of relevant empirical material for analysis of these phases. Finally, this thesis should not be viewed as an analysis of SAS overall crisis communication, since only two of its major crisis situations have been incorporated. 9

11 2. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) SAS is a part of SAS Group, and is Scandinavia s larges airline operating from the vision of being valued for excellence by all stakeholders. SAS was formed in 1946 from Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S (DDL), Det Norske Luftfartselskap A/S (DNL) and Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik AB (Sila). Since then SAS has had many milestones, which includes achieving the Air Transport World's distinction "Airline of the Year" for 1983 and becoming one of the founders of Star Alliance in Star Alliance is the first global airline alliance, which today comprises 20 renowned airline members and 3 regional members. By creating strategic alliances, SAS works to meet its mission of providing best value for time and money to Nordic travelers whatever purpose of their journey (SAS Group facts, 2012) became a very turbulent year for SAS. Back in October 1998, cooperation agreements were made between SAS and Maersk Air on areas such as marketing and the EuroBonus point system. But in July 2001, an unlawful division of the market between SAS and Maersk Air, violating EU s competition rules, was discovered, which resulted in major fines (SAS: Annual Report, 2001, p. 3). This event is also known as the Cartel Case, which resulted in negative publicity for SAS and for its entire board to resign shortly after. This was not the end of a terrible year for SAS. The organisation also reports that it in 2001 was the subject of intense media scrutiny, especially in Scandinavia. The reports dealt primarily with allegations that safety was being neglected. (Annual Report, 2001, p. 108). Additionally, just one month after 9/11, SAS experienced the worst air disaster in its history when flight SK686 from Milan to Copenhagen crashed on take- off at Linate Airport and 118 people lost their lives (SAS: Annual Report, 2001). Human mistake, heavy morning fog and technical error were later blamed for the Linate crisis, which resulted in the first deaths involving a SAS crash since 1969 (Appendix 9). For SAS Group the year ended with a loss of almost SEK 1,8 billion, the worst result in its history at that point in time. This forced SAS to close destinations, reduce frequencies, remove aircrafts from production, and a lay- off of employees (SAS: Annual Report, 2001, p. 4). 10

12 3. Theoretical Background for Crisis Communication Crisis communication is a vital part of an organisation s public relations (PR) management, and one of the most critical aspects of modern communication (Tench & Yeomans, 2009, p. 386). Fearn- Banks (Heath, 2001, p. 479) further argues that PR is crisis driven, where most programs are developed either to prevent a crisis or to recover from a crisis. Thus, it is essential to give an account of the concept of PR before explaining the various aspects of crisis communication within an organisation. In general, PR can be defined as being the organisation s face in the public. It is a central communicational strategy with the purpose of influencing and persuading the society to take on a positive perception of the organisation and its reputation. Because of the fact that PR is a relatively new phenomenon there is no universal agreed definition of what it is (Tench & Yeomans, 2009, p. 4). The following definition by Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is adopted in this thesis: About reputation the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you. Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics (Tench & Yeomans, 2009, p. 7). This definition indicates that reputation is the primary focus of PR programmes in relation to an organisation s stakeholders. This correlates well with the aim of this thesis of analysing which communication strategies SAS applies in order to restore its reputation among its external stakeholders. 3.1 Stakeholders The definition of PR adopted in this thesis not only focuses on the concept of reputation, but also the importance of an organisation s stakeholders. These two concepts are inevitable close connected, as reputation is defined as the aggregation of stakeholders evaluations (Coombs, 2007b, p. 164). Thus, an outline of SAS stakeholders is a vital element for this thesis research question. 11

13 According to Freeman (cited in Preble, 2005, p. 409), stakeholders refer to anyone who can affect or is affected, either directly or indirectly, by the actions of the organisation. Tench & Yeomans (2009, p. 98) further define individual members and groups in the community in which an organisation operates as important stakeholders to the success of the organisations. Therefore, it is important to know and build good relationships with these community groups. In this relation, PR can be used as a communicational strategy shaping an organisation s corporate identity in order to provide an appropriate perception of it to its stakeholders, and thereby proactively aim at reducing the gap between the stakeholders view of the organisation and how the organisation would like to be viewed (Tench & Yeomans, 2009, p. 239). As noted above, stakeholders are one of the most important concerns for an organisation and should therefore always be considered at the first stage of strategic management. This is also the case when a crisis situation occurs within an organisation like SAS. Fearn- Banks (Heath, 2001, p. 479) emphasises this notion, by arguing that the support of stakeholders is key to the existence of an organisation. Consequently, ignorance or mismanaging of stakeholders can be costly for the organisation and damage its reputation (Preble, 2005, p. 413). Stakeholders impact on an organisation depends on their level of power, urgency and legitimacy (Preble, 2005, p. 410). Power refers to the ability to influence an organisation s behaviour, while urgency involves the degree to which stakeholders claim calls for immediate attention. Finally, legitimacy includes claims based upon legal obligations or moral rights. Organisations should always know who their stakeholders are, who are the most salient and rank them accordingly (Heath, 2001, p. 482). Stakeholders can be divided into being primary, public and secondary (Preble, 2005, p. 410). In relation to SAS the primary stakeholders are; relatives to the victims, board of directors, customers, shareholders, competitors, suppliers and employees. Public stakeholders for SAS are the governments of the different countries SAS is operating in, which can have a great influence on how the organisation is allowed to perform its business. Finally, secondary stakeholders are not necessary for the survival of SAS, but still have an influence on it and its other stakeholders. SAS secondary stakeholder includes the media. These groups are relevant for SAS functioning, however, communication to some groups is more relevant than others, depending on the context and issues faced in a given situation. For example, 12

14 shareholders are most likely to be interested in financial highlights, while customers and employees are likely to be interested in more broad ranges of information (Dowling, 2001, p. 32). Therefore, the communication and maintenance of a mutually beneficial relationship with different stakeholder groups is likely to occur through different strategies and communication media. In relation to the Linate crisis, SAS has made the strategic choice of distributing online press releases in order to reach its stakeholders. This means that SAS can communicate more information, more quickly, to more stakeholders. It can be argued that SAS communication during the Linate crisis in general targets everyone, as this kind of disaster has a wide impact in society; thus, the public at large is viewed as one big stakeholder group affected by the crisis. However, based on the information provided, relatives to the victims and the media can be viewed as key stakeholders of the press releases analysed in this thesis. This is evident through the information provided which also includes special hot- line numbers for relatives and a separate number for the media information centre (Appendix 6). Furthermore, there is a general concern for the next- of- kin throughout all SAS press releases. 13

15 3.1.2 Stakeholder Map for the Linate Crisis Even though the relatives to the victims and the media are obvious key stakeholders in the press releases, the stakeholder map below highlights other very important stakeholders and their impact on SAS based on power, urgency and legitimacy. These stakeholders are also targeted through the press releases, however, without being mentioned explicit. Stakeholder Primary, public Personal stake Power Urgency Legitimacy or secondary Relatives Primary Loss of family members High High High Board of directors Primary Held responsible for the organisation s activities High High High Employees Primary Loss of High High High colleagues and future well- being in a job as a steward(ess) Shareholders Primary Corporate High High High reputation and profits Customers Primary Loss of High High Moderate confidence in SAS Competitors Primary Gain business Moderate Low Low Suppliers Primary Loss of Low Low Low business Governments Public Adds pressure and demands to SAS High High High Media Secondary Sells newspapers during crises profit High High Moderate 14

16 3.2 Definition of Crisis Communication Coombs (2007a, pp. 2-3) defines a crisis as: the perception of an unpredictable event that threatens important expectations of stakeholders and can seriously impact an organization s performance and generate negative outcomes. Seeger et al. (2003, p. 4) further argues that crises usually include three defining characteristics: (1) high levels of uncertainty, surprising or unanticipated events, (2) very restricted time for a response and (3) severe threat to high- priority goals and values. In other words crises are seen as a difficulty and danger to the existence of an organisation. Additionally, Claeys et al. (2010, p. 256) state that crisis communication is essential to all organisations because of the fact that no organisation is saved for having to go through crises during its lifetime. Moreover, a crisis is a sudden event that can have consequences not only for the organisation, but also for its stakeholders and the industry as a whole. Thus, it is important to include the stakeholders in the communication plan, when a crisis situation occurs. According to Fearn- Banks (cited in Heath, 2001, p. 480), crisis management is defined as: strategic planning to prevent and respond during a crisis or negative occurrence, a process that removes some of the risk and uncertainty and allows the organization to be in greater control of its destiny. From an organisational perspective, one of the main purposes of crisis communication is to protect an organisation s reputation (Benoit, 1997, p. 177). Dalton & Croft (2003, p. 12) define corporate reputation as a result of the positive and negative, past and current images, which individuals have assigned to an organisation. According to Coombs (2007b, p. 164), stakeholders compare an organisation to some standard in order to determine whether or not it meets their expectations in terms of how it treats its stakeholders. An expectation gap can be devastating for organisations. An organisation s good reputation is seen as a valuable intangible asset, which can attract customers, create a competitive advantage, improve financial performance etc. On the contrary, a poor reputation can result in the spread of negative word- of- mouth and a loss of the abovementioned benefits (Coombs, 2007b, p. 164.) 15

17 Researchers (Coombs 2007b; Benoit 1997) argue that crises can damage an organisation s reputation and thereby affect how stakeholders interact with it. However, Tench & Yeomans (2009, p. 386) note that effective crisis communication can protect an organisation s reputation and even save its very existence. The dramatic events for SAS in the autumn of 2001 show the importance of a strong brand. A survey conducted at the end of 2001 showed that SAS s customers regarded the airline s image as twice as important as they did one year ago. According to customers, image is the most important factor when choosing an airline (SAS: Annual Report, 2001, p. 10). 3.3 Crisis communication theories Investigation into the communication element of crisis has taken a variety of forms, applied many methods, and been guided by diverse theoretical frameworks from several fields. The following subsections will outline two theories within crisis communication: Timothy Coombs Situational Crisis Communication Theory and William L. Benoit s Theory of Image Repair Discourse. Coombs theory is from the context- oriented tradition, where researchers have an interest in studying when and where the organisation must communicate in a crisis situation, and to whom. Benoit s theory is from the rhetorical- oriented tradition, where researchers are interested in studying what and how an organisation communicates when a crisis attacks its reputation (Coombs & Holladay, 2010, 427). The theories presented by Coombs and Benoit might seem similar. However, while Benoit exclusively focuses on the image restoration strategy, which can be applied directly on communication material, Coombs offers an analytical tool for an overall crisis situation analysis, where he is concerned with establishing the crisis type as well as crisis response strategies. Due to these slightly different angles, Coombs and Benoit can work in synergy, and complement each other within the field of crisis response and image repair theory. The two theories will form the basis of an analysis of how SAS has chosen to handle its crisis communication in relation to the Linate crisis in Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) Coombs SCCT provides guidance for organisations to predict how stakeholders will perceive and react to a crisis in terms of the reputational threat which the crisis has posed. These stakeholder 16

18 perceptions indicates which crisis response strategies will be most suitable in order to protect the organisation s reputation. However, Coombs (2007b, p. 165) notes that the first priority in any crisis is to protect stakeholders from harm, not to protect the reputation. In order to act ethically, an organisation must begin its efforts by using communication to address physical and psychological concerns of the stakeholders. Instructing information is used to tell stakeholders what can be done in order to stay protected from the physical threat of a crisis. While information about the event and the corrective action being taken is used in order to cope with the psychological threat of the crisis. Additionally, adjusting information is an expression of concern for the stakeholders, which is also a component for dealing with the psychological threat. Only after this, the organisation can turn its attention to its own reputation. SCCT is rooted in attribution theory, which states that people need to make sense of events they encounter, especially those that are sudden and unexpected. Causes for events are attributed to either the organisation involved or the circumstances surrounding the event (Weiner, 1985). Attribution theory is used to understand the connection between a crisis and organisational reputation (Coombs, 2007b, p. 166). According to the SCCT there are three elements of a crisis situation that shape the reputational threat: perceived crisis responsibility, crisis history and pre- crisis reputation. Where the two latter can be seen as intensifying factors, the perceived crisis responsibility illustrates to which extent the stakeholders hold the organisation responsible for the crisis. Coombs (2007b, p. 168) argues, that an organisation should match its reputation repair strategies to the reputational threat of the crisis situation by following a two- step process. First step is to frame the crisis situation as a specific crisis type, which will determine how the stakeholders define the crisis and thereby also how they evaluate the perceived responsibility in relation to this crisis. SCCT s crisis types are divided into three clusters: victim cluster, accidental cluster and preventable cluster (Appendix 1). The victim cluster is defined as crises with weak attributions of responsibility. The accidental cluster includes crises in which a low level of responsibility is attributed to the organisation. The preventable cluster involves crises for which the organisation is perceived as being responsible. 17

19 At this step it is important to consider the fact that: how a message is framed shapes how stakeholders define the crisis, the causes of the crisis, the responsibility, and the solutions to the crisis. Coombs (2007b, p. 171) further highlights that the frames used in the news media are the frames that most stakeholders will accept. Thus, it is crucial for organisations to present their side of the story to the news media. An increased perception of crisis responsibility, among the stakeholders, produces feelings of anger and reduces feelings of sympathy for the organisation. Second step is to evaluate the intensifying factors of crisis history and pre- crisis reputation. If an organisation has a history of similar crises or has a negative pre- crisis reputation, the reputational threat is intensified (Coombs, 2007b, p. 169). SCCT consists of primary and secondary crisis response strategies, which are used to repair the reputation, to reduce negative affects and to prevent negative behavioural intentions among the stakeholders (Coombs, 2007b, p. 170). The primary strategies are divided into three groups: denial, diminish and rebuild, and the secondary strategies are placed under one single group entitled bolstering (Appendix 2). According to Coombs (2007b, p. 171), these strategies have three objectives, which support the overall goal of reputation protection: frame the perceived crisis responsibility, change perceptions of the organisation and reduce the negative affect generated by the crisis. Frandsen & Johansen (Coombs & Holladay, 2010, p. 437) highlight a limitation to the SCCT, which involves the lack of a more detailed textual and semiotic analysis of the communicative functions. They argue that selecting the right verbal response strategy and analysing the perceived crisis responsibility made by the stakeholders is of course important, however, crisis communication is more dynamic and complex than that. Furthermore, Claeys et al. (2010) have tested the usefulness of the SCCT in a quantitative questionnaire in which they only found empirical evidence for some of the aspects in Coombs theory. Thus, it is important to keep in mind that this theory is merely a guideline and should not be applied blindfolded and with no further considerations Theory of Image Repair Discourse Professor William L. Benoit is said to have developed the most comprehensive and widely applied typology of image repair strategies for post- crisis communication (Seeger & Padgett, 2010, p. 130). 18

20 His framework is based on the assumption that image and reputation are valuable assets and that communication can help repair them. Benoit s theory of image repair discourse can be applied as an approach for handling crisis communication situations within an organisation by suggesting various strategies, which are available for working with image and reputation repair. Rather than determining the type of crisis that an organisation faces and the matching communicative responses, the theory of image repair discourse focuses on message options (Benoit, 1997, p. 178). As a crisis unfolds, an organisation has the opportunity to consider Benoit s image restoration strategies, which are categorised as: Denial, Evasion of Responsibility, Reducing the Offensiveness of Event, Corrective Action, and Mortification. Within these five categories are fourteen distinct rhetorical strategies (Appendix 3). Denial may simply involve directly denying responsibility for an event or shifting the blame from the organisation itself to other outside organisations or persons. An organisation can evade responsibility by claiming that the crisis event was a response to another s offensive act (provocation), it was a result of lack of sufficient information (defeasibility), that the organisation experienced an accident or that it acted with good intensions. The category of reducing offensiveness of the crisis event includes the possibility of bolstering, where stressing good traits strengthen the stakeholders positive feelings toward the organisation. A second possibility is to minimise the seriousness of the event. Third, differentiation can be used as an attempt to distinguish the act performed, from other similar but less desirable actions. A fourth way of reducing offensiveness is to attempt to place the event in a more favourable context. Fifth, the organisation can choose to attack its accuser by reducing the accuser s credibility. Finally, compensation to the victims of the event can reduce offensiveness of the event. In taking corrective action, the accused organisation can follow two alternatives: restoring the state of affairs existing before the offensive action, and/or promising to prevent the recurrence of the offensive act (Benoit, 1997, p. 181) 19

21 Finally, mortification occurs when the organisation accepts responsibility for the crisis event and asks for forgiveness. Benoit (1997, p. 178) claims that the following must be taken into consideration when evaluating an organisation s image after a crisis: (1) salient stakeholders must be thought to disapprove of the act, (2) perceptions are more important than reality, (3) the event only has to be believed to be offensive, when in fact it may not be, and (4) organisations must determine which of the multiple stakeholders should receive which messages. Coombs (2007b, p. 171) notes that Benoit s theory of image repair discourse draws some speculative conclusions because of the fact that it is based on case studies, not empirical tests of hypotheses. Thus, it illustrates rather than prove the theory. Furthermore, Coombs (2007b, p. 171) argues that the theory does not offer any conceptual links between the crisis response strategies and elements of the crisis situation. Similar to the critique of Coombs SCCT, Frandsen & Johansen (Coombs & Holladay, 2010, p. 437) also highlight that this theory defines crisis communication as a set of broad functional categories without a more detailed textual or semiotic analysis. Additionally, they emphasise that Benoit s theory only focuses on the sender of the message, where focus must also be on the receiver, the interpretation of messages and the creation of meaning. The theory of image repair discourse will be applied to this thesis in order to critically evaluate SAS communication efforts during the Linate crisis in

22 4. Analysis of SAS crisis communication strategies Based on the above analytical framework, the following sections provide analyses of what crisis communication strategies SAS has applied in the Linate crisis in 2001 in order to restore its reputation among its external stakeholders. On October 8th 2001 SAS MD- 87 passenger plane carrying 110 passengers collided on take- off with a business jet carrying four passengers. A quick response from SAS was needed, as the entire world watched the crisis unfold before its eyes. In order to keep the public and stakeholders informed, and limit the damage to SAS reputation, several press releases were published in the time period following the accident. The following analyses are based on five of SAS official press releases from the days after the accident (Appendix 4-8) Situational Crisis Communication Theory This section will look into SAS crisis communication immediately after the crisis in order to investigate how SAS has framed the crisis, and whether or not it has been able to apply the corrective response strategies in accordance with SCCT. The analysis will help determine which types of strategies SAS crisis communication has included, after which it will be possible to evaluate, if they correspond to Coombs recommendations. Both a history of crises and an unfavourable pre- crisis reputation intensify attributions of crisis responsibility and thereby indirectly affect the reputational threat. As mentioned in section 2, the Cartel Case created negative publicity for SAS in the months up to the Linate crisis creating an unfavourable pre- crisis reputation. Additionally, SAS has been the target of the media s allegations that safety was being neglected. Furthermore, CNN has published an article with an overview of SAS past incidents creating a picture of a history of crises (Appendix 9). According to Coombs (2007b, pp ), this will result in a victim crisis generating the same reputational threat as an accident crisis. Similarly, an accident crisis will create same reputational threat as a preventable crisis. This will be the point of departure for analysing the following press releases and their response strategies Press Release 1 (Appendix 4) This was the first press release of many released on SAS Group s corporate website on October 8th. In accordance with Coombs ethical responsibilities (2007b, p. 165), this press release primarily 21

23 deals with adjusting information by showing concern for its stakeholders, and thereby giving them highest priority. Even though information is sparse at this point in time, SAS provides what exists, which helps cope with the psychological stress and uncertainty of the stakeholders. Furthermore, SAS states that it is doing everything possible to help passengers and assist Italian authorities (l. 8). This is also an opportunity to minimise the stakeholders psychological stress by showing corrective actions (Coombs, 2007b, p. 165). However, the press release does also have some elements to protect SAS reputation. As mentioned in section 3, crisis types are a form of frame, which is meant to shape how the stakeholders perceive the crisis, and how much they attribute responsibility for the crisis to the organisation. The following quote from the press release includes an obvious cue to frame the event as an accident: Scandinavian Airlines regrets to confirm that one of its aircrafts; an MD- 87 with flight number SK 686 from Milano/Linate, Italy to Copenhagen, Denmark was involved in an accident at around hrs local time today. (ll. 2-4). Thus, the Linate crisis is placed in the accidental cluster, which has a minimal attribution of crisis responsibility, and the event is considered unintentional or uncontrollable by SAS (Coombs, 2007b, p. 167). However, the intensifying attributions of a history of crises and an unfavourable pre- crisis reputation create the same reputational threat as a preventable crisis i.e. strong attributions of crisis responsibility and thereby a severe reputational threat Press Release 2 (Appendix 5) Similar to the first press release, the second press release primarily deals with reducing the psychological threat and uncertainty among the stakeholders. This is evident in the type of information provided, which can be characterised as adjusting information. The information includes how many passengers and crewmembers have been on- board, and special hotline numbers for the families and relatives has been provided. Additionally, SAS announces a press conference on which stakeholders have the opportunity to receive information face- to- face and get answers to questions. As in the first press release, the event is still framed as belonging to the accidental cluster. The second press release clearly shows a progress in the response to SAS 22

24 stakeholders as more information becomes available for SAS, which will continue to be evident throughout the following press releases Press Release 3 (Appendix 6) The third press release extends SAS crisis communication to also including Coombs SCCT crisis response strategies as an attempt to protect SAS reputation. This is evident in the following sentence: has flown 25,573 hrs in 16,562 flights. The aircraft is equipped with 2 engines. The latest major check B6:1 was performed on September 3, (ll ). This is an example of a diminish/excuse crisis response strategy, where it is indicated that SAS has taken the correct precautions. Thus, SAS was not able to control the events that triggered the crisis. This further emphasises the fact that SAS frames the event as an accident. Besides focussing on its reputation, SAS still provides as much information as possible, still adjusting information and showing corrective action: Casualties have occurred but the number has not yet been confirmed. We will provide further information as it becomes available. SAS is doing everything possible to help passengers and next- of- kin and to assist Italian authorities at this difficult time (ll. 7-11) Press Release 4 (Appendix 7) The rebuild crisis response strategies in the form of compensation becomes evident in the fourth press release: SAS is doing everything possible to help or passengers and crews relatives economically by offering such payments as may be necessary to meet their immediate needs. As an interim relief SAS will, regardless of cause of the accident, pay a sum of USD 25,000 per passenger to next- of- kin (ll. 9-12). Even though, there is a greater focus on strategies for protecting SAS reputation, the organisation succeeds in keeping a focus on the psychological threat among the stakeholders as well. After confirming that there is no surviving passengers or crewmembers from the accident, SAS states that it arranges next- of- kin flights to Milan, which indicates a feeling of concern as well as 23

25 corrective action. Finally, SAS has held a second press conference to keep the level of information high, which is very important to stakeholders during times of crisis (Coombs, 2007b, p. 165) Press Release 5 (Appendix 8) The final press release analysed in relation to Coombs SCCT again includes adjusting information, which is apparent in the concern SAS expresses through words like: deep- felt sorrow, thoughts and prayers, deeply touched etc. The primary crisis response strategy used in this press release is again excuse, where SAS minimises its responsibility by claiming inability to control the events. Here SAS emphasises the fact that its flight has received clearance for take- off (l. 24). For the first time a secondary crisis response strategy is also included: victimage, which means that SAS reminds its stakeholders that itself is a victim of the crisis too (Appendix 2). This is clear in the following sentence: SAS, experienced a tragic accident that took the lives of 110 passengers and crew onboard flight SK686 in Milan. (ll. 3-4). This places SAS in a situation, which gives the opportunity to draw sympathy from its stakeholders Sub conclusion The analysis above clearly shows that SAS positions itself in the accidental cluster, which includes minimal attributions of crisis responsibility i.e. moderate reputational threat (Appendix 1). Furthermore, it is evident throughout all five press releases that SAS primarily is concerned with informing and adjusting information in relation to its stakeholders. This effort alone can be enough when a crisis has weak attributions of crisis responsibility, no crisis history and a favourable pre- crisis reputation (Coombs, 2007b, p. 173). However, because of SAS previous history with numerous crises, either similar or dissimilar, and because SAS, prior to the crisis, did not have a strong reputation because of the Cartel Case and scrutiny over its safety, the Linate crisis has a more severe reputational threat than the first assumption would imply. This means that SAS cannot omit crisis communication strategies that are more accommodative than if it had had a more favourable prior reputation and crisis history (Coombs 2007b, p. 143). According to Coombs (2007b, p. 172), the rebuild strategies including compensation and apology are successfully used for crises that present a reputational threat such as accidental crises coupled 24

26 with a crisis history and/or unfavourable pre- crisis reputation. Thus, the rebuild strategies are the recommended response strategies for SAS in relation to the Linate crisis. SAS applies a rebuild strategy in terms of compensation even though the cause of the accident is still unknown. This is a sign of positive action and goodwill. SAS has also chosen to incorporate a diminish crisis response strategy in the form of an excuse strategy, where SAS claims to be unable to control the event that triggered the crisis. This strategy can be used to reaffirm the crisis situation as being in the accidental cluster. The value in reinforcing such a frame, is that an accidental crisis is much easier and less expensive to manage than a preventable crisis (Coombs, 2007b, p. 172). Finally, SAS includes the secondary crisis response strategy of vigtimage in which SAS reminds its stakeholders that itself is a victim of the crisis too. Coombs (2007b, p. 172) argues, that these strategies offer minimal opportunity to develop reputational assets. However, all three bolstering strategies, including victimage, can be successfully applied as supplements to the primary strategies and adjusting information. This is also the case in SAS communication efforts in the Linate crisis, where it is used to evoke sympathy for SAS and further stress that the event is out of SAS control. In all its press releases SAS includes the media requesting that journalists do not use the hotlines intended for the next- of- kin, but call the separate media centre instead. Thus, SAS has an open attitude towards the media and acknowledges the importance of the journalists. According to Coombs (2007b, p. 173), it is important to consider how the media frame the crisis, because of the fact that stakeholders will adopt the media frame of the crisis. SAS succeeds in following Coombs recommendations and to maintain consistency in crisis response strategies. 25

27 4.2 Theory of Image Repair Discourse The following analysis is based on Benoit s theory of Image Repair Discourse, which focuses on message options. As mentioned in section 3.3.2, perceptions are more important than reality in relation to the responsibility of a crisis event. Based on the fact that SAS has been the target of the media s allegations that safety was being neglected during 2001, and that CNN has published an article with an overview of SAS past incidents creating a picture of a history of crises (Appendix 9), one might assume that SAS is thought to be responsible for the crisis event by its stakeholders. Thus, its image is at risk (Benoit, 1997, p. 178). The following section will look into which image repair strategies SAS has included in its press releases immediate after the accident in Linate, in order to give an evaluation of SAS communicative efforts Press Release 1-5 (Appendix 4-8) The main image repair strategies used by SAS throughout its crisis communication is evasion of responsibility and reducing offensiveness of event. First, SAS claims that the event occurred by accident: an MD- 87 with flight number SK 686 was involved in an accident (Appendix 4, ll. 2-4). This statement is not revised or changed at any point of the crisis communication. By choosing a theory of evasion of responsibility, SAS plays down its own involvement in the crisis event. This results in SAS being held less responsible, and the damage to the image should be reduced (Benoit, 1997, p. 180). Second, SAS applies the reducing offensiveness of event strategy through bolstering in which it stresses good traits, and thereby tries to strengthen the stakeholders feelings towards SAS (Benoit, 1997, p. 180). Examples of this can be seen in: The latest major check B6:1 was performed on September 3, (Appendix 6) and During the last 24 hours we have been totally focused on helping and assisting, and many SAS employees have done and continue to do a fantastic job. (Appendix 8). Furthermore, SAS turns to compensation by offering a sum of USD 25,000 to the passengers and crew members relatives regardless of the cause of the accident (Appendix 7). Additionally, SAS has applied the strategy of corrective action to its communication efforts in which SAS tries to correct the problem. This corresponds to Coombs corrective actions and is evident in the following: SAS is doing everything possible to help passengers and to assist Italian 26