What communication strategy the following company used and whether you feel is w

Question

What communication strategy the following company used and whether you feel is was an effective approach?(the company is handling a bribery scandal)

1-the company released a written statement (Mark MacKinnon 2017). In the statement, company spokesman Simon Letendre writes, “Bombardier denies any allegations that it acted improperly" (Mark MacKinnon 2017).

2- interim report by the World Bank’s anti-fraud division into the awarding of the Azerbaijan contract has been paramount in the piling evidence that backs up the bribery charge However,Bombardier makes no other effort to deny these allegations or make any attempt to overthrow the findings in the report

3-they did not comment on that there are five more employees under investigation

Explanation / Answer

1. The company released a written statement.

This is can be categorized under direct communication strategy. Bombardier released a written statement which expressed their views about the scenario and their stand.

The written statement was as under:

“Bombardier denies any allegations that it acted improperly. We take these allegations very seriously as they assert conduct that does not reflect our values or the high standards we set for ourselves. We are carefully reviewing the legal filings and support a complete accounting of all the facts and circumstances surrounding this project. As the legal proceedings are ongoing, we cannot and will not comment any further at this stage.”

Many a direct communication strategies have proven to be a bane for the company and many have proven to be a boon. For example, in the Volkswagen emission scandal, where the Environmental Protection Agency accused Volkswagen of manipulating its engine controls to be able to pass laboratory emissions tests, the way the company handled the scandal made things even worse. The company’s response was seen as inconsistent and, at times, contradictory to previous statements. Executives claimed they didn’t know about the cheating, only to reveal they did just a few days later. Meanwhile, the company’s PR and social media teams struggled to keep up.

Bombardier maintained their stance and hence it didn’t prove derogatory for them. Also, the subsequent actions were at least not against their initial brief statement, if not in tune with it.

A direct communication is necessary, however needs to be made only after being sure about the circumstances and analysing the situation. For instance, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s comment on the Cambridge Analytica breech of policy came after 5 days of release of the news.

This was crisis management strategy by statement. It was sheer denial communication strategy. They initially employed non-existent strategies like denial.

2. Bombardier makes no other effort to deny these allegations or make any attempt to overthrow the findings in the report.

It was a subtle communication strategy that spoke about the culture of the company. When the news finally started coming out that one of the Bombardier employees was accused, rather than taking a false stance, the company chose to go mum on this.

As more and more information regarding the scandal was released, Bombardier was forced to take greater ownership for the scandal and change the types of approaches used.

This communication strategy can be tagged as the distance strategy. The company distanced itself from commenting and getting into any undesired problems.

3. They did not comment on that there are five more employees under investigation

The entire scandal was being taken care of at the court. Bombardier was active in the court rooms, however, it chose to not comment on the happenings and revelations outside the court. As the case facts started revealing further against the company, Bombardier was seen to be in the suffering stage. They avoided directly addressing the public.

Instead of resorting to not responding, they could have better taken of their brand by accepting the situation publically and letting everyone know that they are in process of incorporating corrective measures in their organization so that such unethical activities do not take place in the future. It is essential for an entity to reaffirm the trust in their organization, both for their customers and their employees.

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