Analysing the dynamics of crisis leadership in higher education: A study of racial incidents at the University of Missouri

Abstract

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.

Crisis Informatics in the Context of Social Media Crisis Communication: Theoretical Models, Taxonomy, and Open Issues

“…Specifically, the study in [142] expanded the understanding of the role of social media in crisis communication, both the humanitarian and organisational crisis response. The finding of [57], [60] are based on traditional response strategy, in particular, the study extends the SCCT response strategy and Benoit (1997) image restoration theory [144]. Moreover, [57] study prioritised senders than receivers, and this supports the theoretical concept of SCCT.…”

“…It is reported that social media are used as much as traditional media [35]. [60] added that social media provides a way for dialogue on crisis for individuals, in addition to the needs of responding to crisis rapidly. Fig.…”

“…The summary of various implementations and improvement of SCCT is presented in Appendix B (1). The study in [57], [60], [142], [143] are studies that did not mention any response strategy associated with the most dominant theory but literature evidence suggest that they are linked with traditional theory. Specifically, the study in [142] expanded the understanding of the role of social media in crisis communication, both the humanitarian and organisational crisis response.…”

“…Traditional media is compared with social media [101] Analysed users dialogue after terrorist attack based on SCCT; The results express emotions and coping in para-crisis Shows the effectiveness of social media in information dissimination Social network structures of users tweets is not considered. [60] The paper analyses the crisis involving racial tensions among student and how the management communicate the crisis and restore the image.…”

A case study of disaster decision‐making in the presence of anomalies and absence of recognition

“…This ability to not only run mental models, but articulate them to others, is a critical attribute of decision‐making expertise. The commander's ability to communicate carefully designed messages that resonated with diverse stakeholders also highlighted his competence in leadership communications (Fortunato, Gigliotti, & Ruben, 2018). The commander then presented his decision that the Australian USAR team would stay and complete their mission.…”