January 18, 2012
Organization Suffers Image Impact
In the past few weeks the news has been filled with countless articles on the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster. This comes at a time when cruise lines were experiencing profits industry-wide. Since the passenger cruise ship tragically ran aground on Friday, January 13, 2012, a number of negative impacts have resulted and can be attributed to the Costa Concordia disaster off the coast of Italy. Timing of the disaster could not come at a worst time as this is the start of the peek booking season. In this case, the action of the ship’s captain single-handedly raised safety concerns for travelers while simultaneously ...view middle of the document...
Rodney King and the 1992 LA Riots. Here is one of Costa Concordia’s early statements regarding the actions of their Captain, [2]"While the investigation is ongoing, preliminary indications are that there may have been significant human error on the part of the ship's master, Captain Francesco Schettino, which resulted in these grave consequences," Costa Cruises, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Carnival Corp., stated. "The route of the vessel appears to have been too close to the shore, and in handling the emergency the captain appears not to have followed standard Costa procedures." Blaming the captain supports all liability insurance claims and the Carnival Cruise Lines organization as the captain’s employer, share culpability in the disaster.
Was it effective?
A better approach may have included Carnival preparing an initial statement accepting blame (if appropriate or confirmed) then following up with the company communicating its intended actions focused on their dedication to conducting a thorough investigation, cooperation with local authorities and their commitment to making transparent improvements.
Time will tell if Carnival’s decision to distance the company from the ship’s captain was successful. Unfortunately, because of the freshness of this incident it is likely to remain International headline news as the death toll continues to rise. The company should also anticipate this phenomenon will result in continued scrutiny of the cruise line industry as recovery, salvage and clean up efforts are likely continue for weeks.
How would you define "effective”?
In this scenario, effective could be defined as getting out in front of this incident and those associated issues with multiple repercussions. This type of disaster in any industry will have many significant associated concerns. To determine the necessary actions of effectiveness, many different rulers or measurements should be considered. The financial liability with law suits, recovery efforts and other potential litigations could top the $1 billion mark. Presumably, if liability cost were to remain under one billion dollars that may be considered an effective measurement.
Public trust and confidence is the other significant hurdle for the maritime passenger industry. ...