Influences Of Perceived Crisis Response Strategies On Organizational Reputation: A Case Of Solai Dam Tragedy In Kenya

The role of crisis response strategies in protecting organization reputation is not in doubt. Crisis response strategies, or what an organization says and does after a crisis hits, are very crucial in safeguarding the legitimacy of an organization as well as protect the stakeholders from further harm. The application of these strategies is anchored on the level of attribution of crisis responsibility or simply the level of blame stakeholders attribute to an organization. Solai dam tragedy was a crisis that was preventable but there was an alleged ignorance of the calls of leaking dam walls before they broke in what the Kenya Human

Rights Commission (KHRC) called those responsible ignored calls about the leaking walls. The government was held responsible because of the unaddressed reports concerning the warnings about the leaking dam walls. This placed the government in a precarious position and thus it had to defend itself as a responsive government with the interests of the citizens at heart. The findings indicate that the government applied apology, compensation, and corrective action. However, these strategies did not help protect its reputation since the level of attribution of crisis responsibility was so high which required full apology in order to vitiate any negative stakeholder perception. The components of apology which include expression of sympathy, compensation and corrective action are very important in cushioning an organization against negative stakeholder behavior. However, accepting responsibility is very important for an organization to be seen to be caring for its stakeholders. In the present study, the findings indicated that the failure by the government to accept responsibility negatively affected its reputational standing. Research has shown that accepting responsibility is a very important step in reducing negative stakeholder perception.