Asyraf and Nasrul, two young trainees of SMRT Corporation Limited (SMRT), a multi-modal public transport operator in Singapore, were killed on the tracks near the Pasir Ris MRT station on 22 March 2016. They were part of a 15-member team led by an assistant engineer. The team had walked in single file on the maintenance walkway beside the track towards the device that had registered a warning for a signalling fault. At 11:08 am, a train entering the Pasir Ris station from the opposite direction of the work party hit the two trainees who were second and third in the line behind the assistant engineer. Despite applying the breaks, the train captain could not stop the train in time. Meanwhile, the assistant engineer and the rest of the team had jumped to safety upon noticing the oncoming train. No other injuries were reported.
The accident impacted organisational morale and reputation, which was already affected by the falling rail reliability and increasing public criticism. Preliminary investigations revealed non-compliance with safety protocol as the cause of the accident, and this exacerbated the situation. The crisis management team sprang into action to mitigate the impact and support the Next of Kin (NoK) of the deceased. In the days following the accident, Desmond Kuek (DK), the President and Group CEO of SMRT, worked to restore confidence and clarity among the employees, besides comforting and supporting the NoK. While DK’s energy was focused on promoting a culture of compliance with safety protocol and driving organisational change, his decision to terminate the assistant engineer and the train captain for breach of safety protocols was met with criticism from some factions of the public and employees.
In the face of mounting pressure and criticism over the sacking of the two employees, how should he have responded – should he have relented or should he have upheld the decision? What further actions could he have undertaken to fortify the resilience and solidarity of his staff?
From a discussion of this case, students will learn to: identify a crisis event; identify and prioritise stakeholders during crisis; apply elements of successful crisis communication; implement appropriate reputational repair strategies; demonstrate the right crisis leadership traits; practice collaboration in managing crisis; evaluate the outcomes of crisis management; apply post-crisis accountability and blame management strategies.
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