Crisis management plan: the wowowee stampede tragedy

Abstract

Organizations, regardless of size and nature, have vulnerabilities that could cause a crisis if they are not able to appropriately identify and act upon their vulnerabilities. Crisis management proves to be crucial in alleviating possible damage that a crisis can cause to the organization's reputation. It is also important that the organization maintains a positive perception from its key audience so it prepares and plans for a potential crisis to be able to protect its image. The stampede that happened on Wowowee program,s first anniversary celebration is one crisis experienced by ABS- CBN Broadcasting Corporation. This untimely but predictable event had actual consequences for its audience's interests as well as on the image and reputation of the organization. The Wowowee program remains to be a popular noontime television variety and game show even after the stampede that had happened on its first anniversary. In this light, the researcher would like to study crisis management and to focus on the implementation of particular strategies included in the crisis management plan to actual crisis situations. Moreover, the researcher seeks the manifestations of particular strategies in crisis management model in the literature of this study to the strategies used and implemented by the ABS-CBN Management. The Wowowee viewer's perception on the strategies implemented will be used to verify the applicability of crisis management plan as it was applied by ABS-CBN management to the Wowowee stampede crisis. The research seeks to answer the main problem: How are the ABS-CBN Interventions on crisis management to Wowowee tragedy perceived by its viewers? The researcher would also like to answer the following specific problems: 1.) What are ABS- CBN Management crisis management interventions? 2.) What are the viewer's perceptions on the specific interventions of ABS-CBN Management regarding the Wowowee stampede? 3.) Are there gaps between the interventions used by ABS-CBN and the perceptions of the viewers? The researcher limits the study of crisis management on one particular organization that has done a crisis management plan for an actual crisis it has experienced. The collection of data on the strategies used by ABS-CBN, however, was done by analyzing information on the news and statements posted on its official website which was recommended by its Corporate Affairs Department of ABS-CBN. The researcher finds the content of the website relevant to the study and used the information in generating the survey questionnaire, which is designed to determine the perception of the viewers on the interventions of the organization regarding the stampede. In conclusion, the ABS-CBN Management has implemented crisis management strategies for the Wowowee stampede. The management followed a methodological framework for action, which is the main objective of a crisis management plan. Based on the findings of the study, the viewers have a favorable perception on most of the interventions of ABS-CBN Management with the use of their unique strategies and the strategies in the crisis management model. Of the twelve survey questions, which gauge the perception of the respondents in the actual strategies implemented by ABS-CBN, 10 out of 12 item garnered a favorable response and only two items had a neutral response.