What crisis management lessons can be learned from the Alton Towers crash and other organisations that have faced up to tragedy?
Crisis management is, by its nature, hard. The road to redemption for Alton Towers’ public reputation will be long and difficult. Merlin Entertainments, the theme park’s owner, recently admitted that the rollercoaster crash on June 2, which left four people seriously injured, could also wipe up to £47m off the company’s profits.
The company has been praised for its straightforward response to the tragedy. Merlin Entertainments’ chief executive Nick Varney has kept his statements clear and unspun: “This has been a terrible experience for everyone involved and one we sincerely regret. Our thoughts remain with those who were seriously injured and we are doing everything we can to support them through this difficult time. It is an accident that should not have happened, and we are determined that it will never happen again.”
Insights looks at what lessons can be learned from previous corporate crises?
BP
Still the largest ever accidental release of oil into marine waters, British Petroleum received a major blow to its international reputation, as the 2010 explosion at one of its oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 crew members and had a devastating effect on the environment and wildlife. The public uproar was particularly intense as BP had been fined $50m (£32.5m) by the US Department of Justice only three years earlier for safety violations at a Houston refinery that exploded in 2005, killing 15 people and injuring 170. BP’s reputation was, and still is, tarnished.