Analysing the Dynamics of Crisis Leadership in Higher Education: A Study of Racial Incidents at the University of Missouri

The following article analyses the crisis involving racial tensions at the University of Missouri in 2015 that ultimately contributed to the departure of the university president and chancellor. This case amplifies the importance of organizational vulnerabilities from both an historical context and a national‐issue context. As supported through this analysis, crises that reflect these vulnerabilities of an organization can lead to increased scrutiny and may produce greater negative consequences. Drawing upon both the public messaging surrounding this crisis and the existing literature on crisis management and crisis leadership, university leaders should have been proactive in cultivating a more inclusive racial environment and should have more effectively used communication to improve relationships with an important constituency group, particularly given the institution's core values, the history of racial tensions at the university, and the rising racial tensions following incidents in nearby Ferguson, Missouri.

[1]  I. Mitroff.  Crisis Leadership: Planning for the Unthinkable , 2003 .

[2]  Mickey Zemon,et al.  The art of framing: Managing the language of leadership , 1997 .

[3]  J. Rollo,et al.  Campus Crisis Management: A Comprehensive Guide to Planning, Prevention, Response, and Recovery , 2007 .

[4]  Andrew C. Billings,et al.  “May No Act of Ours Bring Shame” , 2015 .

[5]  J. Fortunato.  Restoring a reputation: The Duke University lacrosse scandal , 2008 .

[6]  Ralph A. Gigliotti,et al.  Communication: Sine Qua Non of Organizational Leadership Theory and Practice , 2017 .

[7]  Gail T. Fairhurst,et al.  Discursive Leadership: In Conversation with Leadership Psychology , 2007 .

[8]  Robert H. Waterman,et al.  Adhocracy: The Power to Change , 1990 .

[9]  B. Ruben.  A Guide for Leaders in Higher Education: Core Concepts, Competencies, and Tools , 2016 .

[10]  J. Grunig.  Furnishing the Edifice: Ongoing Research on Public Relations As a Strategic Management Function , 2006 .

[11]  R. Freeman.  Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach , 2010 .

[12]  What They Say and What They Do: Executives Affect Organizational Reputation through Effective Communication , 2013 .

[13]  K. Weick.  FROM SENSEMAKING IN ORGANIZATIONS , 2021, The New Economic Sociology.

[14]  Kathleen Fearn-Banks.  Crisis Communication: A Review of Some Best Practices , 2001 .

[15]  James A. Benson.  Crisis revisited: An analysis of strategies used by Tylenol in the second tampering episode , 1988 .

[16]  Ralph A. Gigliotti,et al.  The social construction of crisis in higher education:: implications for crisis leadership theory and practice , 2017 .

[17]  Chris Pullig,et al.  Effectiveness of corporate responses to brand crises: The role of crisis type and response strategies , 2011 .

[18]  W. Coombs.  Deep and surface threats: conceptual and practical implications for “crisis” vs. “problem” , 2002 .

[19]  B. Ruben.  Linking Communication Scholarship and Professional Practice in Colleges and Universities , 2005 .

[20]  W. Coombs.  Campus Crisis Management: A Comprehensive Guide to Planning, Prevention, Response, and Recovery , 2008 .

[21]  Shari R. Veil,et al.  A Work-in-Process Literature Review: Incorporating Social Media in Risk and Crisis Communication , 2011 .

[22]  Ryan E. Smerek.  Sensemaking and Sensegiving: Leadership Processes of New College Presidents. , 2009 .

[23]  R. Lariscy,et al.  Understanding Reputational Crisis: Definition, Properties, and Consequences , 2014 .

[24]  K. Weick.  ENACTED SENSEMAKING IN CRISIS SITUATIONS[1] , 1988 .

[25]  William L. Benoit.  Another visit to the theory of image restoration strategies , 2000 .

[26]  Anne Aubert-Santelli,et al.  16 Crisis Management: Changing Times for Colleges , 2014 .

[27]  R. Ulmer,et al.  Effective Crisis Communication: Moving From Crisis to Opportunity , 2006 .

[28]  L. Men,et al.  The Effects of Authentic Leadership on Strategic Internal Communication and Employee-Organization Relationships , 2014 .

[29]  Carl H. Botan,et al.  Crisis Management: A Communicative Approach , 2010 .

[30]  B. Ruben.  Excellence In Higher Education Guide: An Integrated Approach to Assessment, Planning, and Improvement in Colleges and Universities , 2007 .

[31]  Tulika M. Varma.  Crisis communication in higher education: The use of negotiation as a strategy to manage crisis , 2011 .

[32]  W. T. Coombs,et al.  Ongoing Crisis Communication: Planning, Managing, and Responding , 1999 .

[33]  William L. Benoit.  Image repair discourse and crisis communication , 1997 .

[34]  S. Utz,et al.  Is the medium the message? Perceptions of and reactions to crisis communication on twitter, blogs and traditional media , 2011 .

[35]  Sung-Un Yang,et al.  A Strategic Management Approach to Reputation, Relationships, and Publics: The Research Heritage of the Excellence Theory1 , 2013 .

[36]  Ralph A. Gigliotti,et al.  Racial Incidents at the University of Missouri , 2017 .

[37]  Frank H. P. Fitzek,et al.  The Medium is the Message , 2006, 2006 IEEE International Conference on Communications.

[38]  T. Coombs.  Situational Theory of Crisis: Situational Crisis Communication Theory and Corporate Reputation , 2013 .

[39]  William L. Benoit,et al.  Accounts, excuses, and apologies : a theory of image restoration strategies , 1994 .

[40]  Lessons Identified by the Joplin School Leadership after Responding to a Catastrophic Tornado , 2018 .

[41]  Laurie K. Lewis,et al.  An Organizational Stakeholder Model of Change Implementation Communication , 2007 .

[42]  Rui Vinhas da Silva,et al.  Corporate Reputation and Competitiveness , 2002 .

[43]  Kent Hendrickson,et al.  Wise moves in hard times: Creating and managing resilient colleges and universities , 1997 .