Starbucks and Facebook Present a Contrast in
Crisis Leadership, says Bill George. While Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson
Stepped Up to Take Responsibility and Met with Victims, Mark Zuckerberg
Delayed Action and Side-stepped Responsibility.
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Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson (left)
meets with employees and community members in this file photo. (Photo courtesy Starbucks.) Credit hbswk.hbs.edu
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Today,
practically anything can turn public opinion against a corporate company. In
times of such crisis, coming up with a proper response within 24 hours is of
utmost importance. Even more so in todays age of social media. News today
spreads like the plague so companies need to be both swift and careful with
their responses.
An
article released by The Harvard Business School shows us the stark contrast
between companies that properly handle a public relations crisis against those
that do not. The two companies in question are Starbucks and Facebook.
I am
sure by now most are familiar with the controversy that these two well-known
companies have been facing recently. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was called in
front of a congressional hearing to explain Facebook’s involvement in the
Cambridge Analytica scandal earlier this year and made a poor showing of himself
and his company. On the other hand, the more recent Starbucks’ racism
controversy was handled far more elegantly and efficiently by the company and
their CEO, Kevin Johnson.
Johnson’s
reaction to the controversy was quick and to the point. He immediately
recognised a problem as word began to spread and he swiftly gathered his team
to find a solution. Within 24 hours, Johnson addressed the public and
acknowledged that the problem was an internal one and admitted fault. He then
provided an impactful solution, that of closing thousands of Starbucks outlets
for a day of training and swore to the public of Starbucks’ intentions to
improve and do better.
In
stark contrast, Zuckerberg admitted that he was aware of personal information
on Facebook being used without permission since 2015. He did not acknowledge
this problem back then and kept the whole thing quiet until he could not do so
any longer. Furthermore, he did not address the problem when called out. He
provided no solutions nor plans to solve the crisis and often tried to shift
blame towards Cambridge Analytica for violating terms of service rather than
admit fault. Zuckerberg further embarrassed himself by publicly revealing he
knew very little to the internal workings of his own company, with his infamous
remarks of “We’ll get back to you,” becoming a sort of meme.
2018
is looking to be an interesting year especially if these two cases are anything
to go on. Not only do we have an excellent model of how to not conduct a
company’s public relations in Mark Zuckerberg, we also have a fantastic model
on how to properly conduct crisis management with Kevin Johnson. Some have even
stated that Starbucks’ handling of the situation rivals that of Johnson &
Johnson’s Tylenol controversy on 1982 which has been the gold standard for how
to manage a public relations crisis thus far.
The
full article by The Harvard School of Business can be viewed via the link
below.
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