Singapore. (26 July 2010 2300 hrs). It is now slightly more than 24 hours since the incident was published on STOMP. There has been 15,534 views of the report and 80 comments. 76% of readers have expressed "outraged" over the incident with many saying they should bring their business elsewhere.
As of 2300 hrs, Yoshinoya has not responded to the incident and the longer they wait, the greater the negative impact as negative word of mouth will spread.
Let's continue to monitor the situation to see if Yoshinoya will respond, and if they do, how they respond.
Singapore. (26 July 2010. 0700 hrs). STOMP yesterday published a story in which the Yoshinoya outlet at Compass Point gave a customer half a cup of Coke as she had ordered it "without" ice.
The incident occurred on 24 July and so far there has been no response from Yoshinoya. This is understandable as it happened over the weekend and the company's main office is likely to be closed. It thus remains to be seen if Yoshinoya will respond to this potentially reputation damaging incident.
As highlighted in my research, the traditional media is not the only source of news and information. Companies therefore need to monitor the New Media to be aware of any issues that may affect the company.
Singapore. (23 July 2010. 1950 hrs). It is now Day 6 and media and stakeholder interest in the incident has faded for now. It is therefore timely for us to pause and reflect on the key lessons that we can learn from this incident:
a. The Importance of Open, Timely, Broadly Communicated and Internet Presence. In my opinion, this incident could have been contained and isolated if the MHA PR Dept had adopted a Crisis Communication plan that had the above 4 characteristics. Their failure to be open and provide timely updates, led to speculations of police cover-up, while their failure (or decision) not to communicate the facts using their MHA website (internet presence) further stoked stakeholder anger over the incident.
b. Need to do a Stakeholder Analysis. The inability of the press statement and comment by the Minister for the Environment to stem the anger, showed that the MHA PR Dept had misunderstood stakeholders' concerns. A thorough Stakeholder Analysis would have revealed that the main issue was one of "abuse of authority". A simple statement of fact that there are "measures in place to prevent an abuse of authority" would have, in my opinion, stopped the crisis from building up. While I do not have empirical evidence, I feel that the incident would have affected the morale of the police force. A proper internal communication plan to internal stakeholders would therefore have been essential to ensure that the police continue to carry out their duties professionally.
c. Framing the Incident. The manner in which the incident spiralled out of control shows the importance of using the initial press statement to frame the crisis. Without a proper "frame" the incident went in many tangents including political ones.
Singapore. (22 July 2010 2359 hrs). Well, it is Day 5 and the MHA has continued to remain silent on the incident. If we do not hear from them by now, it is safe to assume that they do not intend to bow to public pressure.
As I reflect on the Crisis Management plan executed by the MHA, I cannot help but wonder if any conscious efforts were made to "communicate" with their internal stakeholders. In the midst of this incidence, the police officers still have to perform their duties. Being humans, I am certain that they will be affected by the public's comments one way or another.
Hence, as part of stakeholder analysis, an effective Crisis Communication plan must consider this stakeholder group, identify the issue facing them and communicate the right message.
Singapore. (21 July 2010 2150 hrs). It's Day 4 and so far slightly over 3,000 comments have been posted on Yahoo News. The MHA has continued to remain silent on the incident.
It appears that the public outrage has generally run its course and, pending any further developments, the incident will remain in the "background." It now remains to be seen how the incident has affected the reputation and credibility of the Singapore Police Force.
Singapore (20 July 2010 2200 hrs). No new developments since this morning's blog. Comments on Yahoo News have climbed to over 2,900 posts. As anticipated, the comments have started to spin in multiple tangents with some taking on a political dimension.
As advocated in my research paper, a Crisis Communication plan must be proactive. This is to allow the Crisis Communicator to frame the crisis and keep it focused on the issue at hand.
Singapore (19 July 2010 2200 hrs). Comments on Yahoo News have reached 2,400+. The majority of netizens continue to be enraged over the incident.
Aside from the press statement released yesterday in response to The Straits Times and Lianhe Wanbao queries, the MHA's PR Dept doesn't appear to be interested in responding.
While the MHA may be refraining from commenting on the incident as they are allowing internal investigations to take place, this may prove dangerous as the comments are beginning to spin in multiple directions. This is always dangerous as it may lead down a path of no return.
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