Reading Response #3
I thought all of the readings for this week were very interesting and brought up good points for consideration. I believe the JetBlue crisis was handled very well and it was good to see the different things that the company did to make sure that this kind of event would not happen again. It was nice to see that someone was actually doing the right thing in handling an event such as the one that they had. It seems that we are hearing more and more everyday about companies trying to cover themselves and not being ethical to their consumers. JetBlue handled the crisis in an effective way by admitting to their problem and apologizing for all the inconviences that their customers had to face and they even did this on national television and on their website a number of times. They also came up with a plan to help alleviate these problems so that if such an event ever occurred again they would be better prepared to handle the situation.
The Luntz reading was very insightful and I believe that a lot of good points were made in this reading. You must be extremely careful of what you say and write when dealing with customers and other people. I thought the point on advertisements that have been repeated over the years was interesting because it is true that you remember the ones that have been said over and over again. I do not believe that Luntz is trying to mislead people; he is just trying to show ways to be effective in your speaking and writing so that the public can understand what points you are trying to get across. The ethics readings showed us how many companies that have not used good business ethics have suffered greatly and those that have have usually been able to recover from any losses. The readings of Luntz and the other ethic readings tie in with the JetBlue crisis and help us see what ways are effective when dealing with people in business and even in everyday life.
I plan on using some of these tips and examples from JetBlue to help me respond in my press release and business letter. By reading Luntz's ten rules, ethics readings, and about the handling of the JetBlue crisis I feel better prepared to handle the issue that needs to be addressed. It is important to be careful on wording and also be honest with the consumers. You do not want them to be misled and find out later on that you were not honest with them. I also want to make sure that I show sympathy for what happened and let them now that there will be action taken to help assure that this will not occur again.
Comments
Reliability
I agree with you about the Luntz reading and how the ten points in the reading relate to the JetBlue crisis. I thought that all of the ten points related well to the story and how a company should go about advertising to their customers. All advertisements need presented in a way to show the customers the points that the company is trying to get across. Mostly importantly, Luntz stresses how companies need to follow through with their advertisements. If JetBlue were to have a specific advertisement in the time of a crisis, and would have stuck to it, they would have relieved a lot of problems.
Comment
I feel that one of the most important things stressed in the Luntz reading was the creation of a motto that would not only grab the attention of consumers but reflect the goals and attitude of the company as well. Once this has been achieved, the company should stick to this and deliver. It is important to do so because this is how customers will judge the company. If they like what they see, they are likely to bring their business back in the future. In regards to JetBlue, everything was in complete chaos to the point where they did not have time to do anything. I agree that if they could have had a set motto, the situation may have gone more smoothly.
Reply
Like you, I think that JetBlue was ethical in the aftermath of the airline crisis. It was very refreshing to see a CEO stand up and take the blame. JetBlue definitely did not do all the right things at the time. They could have helped keep passengers informed during the crisis. They could have gotten passengers off the stranded planes on the runways and back into the terminals. These are things they could have done but didn’t. It’s hard to make the right decisions all the time, especially when you haven’t been in the situation before. At least they did the right thing by admitting their faults.
Reply
I liked how the CEO admitted the situation hade major issues and it could have been handled better. I also liked how he not only apologized but also did something to plan for the future. With the Passengers Bill of Rights, he made the actions or inactions of his employees affect how passengers are treated. Its good to see that big delays will be rectified with refunds of money. Its also will be interesting to see in the future if JetBlue can recover from this with the strenght that other companies have, such as Tylenol and The United Way. Both of these companies admitted fault and fixed their reputations.
reply
I agree that the way company handled the situation was very ethical. They did not try and make up and stories or excuses, they admitted that they had a made a mistake and were going to do whatever they could to compensate their customers and to make sure that it never happens again. I think the reason a lot of people did not lose their goodwill for the company was because the situation was handled the way it was.
Very often companies forget how important it is to apologize to their customers. The CEO's apology made a huge difference to the way the people was the crisis. They were really good at handling the aftermath of the situation.