Reflection Essay

Reflection Essay
“Learning without reflection is a waste of time. Reflection without learning is

dangerous.”
Confucius
1
The sequential discussion of cases, BP’s Macondo: Spill and Response and Steering Princess
Cruises through the Covid-19 Crisis, highlighted the importance of Crisis Management 1
through the starkly different outcomes between a poorly-managed and well-managed crisis.
Here are my key takeaways that are of exemplary value for me to adopt when I resume to my
job appointment:
1. Foundation Building - Leadership2 & Corporate Culture. In the modern world’s

challenges which has been characterised as Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous
(VUCA), astute leadership is of paramount importance as it will make or break the company.
Jan Swartz demonstrated that (1) Volatility or frequent, rapid and significant change could be
combatted by leveraging on strong corporate culture during the crisis. It provided guidance
and focus, not only to the decision makers to prioritise and make the right decisions, but also
the staff, throughout the company, in their daily routine activities to do the right thing. This
was a result of Jan Swartz’s years of emphasis in constant inculcation of the company’s
purpose and values, and ensuring that all Princess employees understood and lived by it. (2)
Uncertainty was diminished through Jan Swartz’s steward leadership style. Before the crisis,
her willingness to listen and regular engagement of employees at all levels of the organisation
allowed her to tap on the collective wisdom of unique experiences and perspectives; to
understand issues better, derive thoughtful insights, and make timely, useful and relevant
changes to the organisation. This leadership trait was exhibited once again during the crisis,
when she personally led the incident response team in Princess Headquarters, deployed an
additional incident command team in Japan (ground zero), and almost wanted to go to Japan
to lead from the forefront. This would not only enable her to receive information faster and
understand the issues better for a better decision-making process, but also enhanced her
credibility as a leader. (3) Complexity was also decreased by gaining clarity through
collaboration. Jan Swartz ensured that they maintained close and constant communication
between guests and crew, Princess Headquarters, Japanese authorities, CDC and WHO. This
improved lines of communication to gain more clarity on the situation, and achieved common
understanding of the respective parties’ concerns, considerations and intent; and thereby
facilitating collaboration amongst the stakeholders to work towards shared goals. (4)
1
Wan, J.C.Y. (2020).,Crisis Scenarios & Contingencies, Session 12, Crisis Management: Contain, Resolve,
Recover and Going Forward, Slide 6
2
https://www.hult.edu/blog/leading-in-a-vuca-world/
https://centricconsulting.com/blog/surviving-and-thriving-in-a-vuca-world_st_louis/
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/managing-vuca-world.htm
2
Ambiguity was overcame by the leadership and company’s agility, adaptability and
responsiveness. As the Japanese regulators were still trying to understand the characteristics
of the virus, policy changes could be frequent and vague at times. Case in point, upon the
receipt of the quarantine orders, dining service was converted into 100% room service
operation overnight with frequent changes in quarantine protocols. This was made possible
with the crew’s willingness to accept and adapt to re-assignment of job roles and adjust
working procedures in accordance to policy changes. In summary, I have learnt that
exemplary leadership of providing sense of purpose (be it through compelling vision or
values) and maintaining an open mind to allow flexibility, and building authentic and sincere
relationships is required to build resilience 3 within the company to survive and bounce back
from a crisis.
2. Crisis Recovery Framework4. The Covid-19 pandemic was a black swan event that
was not preventable by Princess Cruises. However, their crisis management and recovery
from this incident was exemplary. They maintained consistency in their actions by anchoring
on their corporate values of Connect, Respect and Protect 5. In their (1) Containment phase,
they took charge of the situation by setting up the incident response team in Princess
Headquarters, deploying an additional incident command team in Japan, and executed the
quarantine order from Japanese authorities swiftly, though, it required substantial re-
organisation of the crew. In the (2) Resolution phase, Princess Cruises managed and allayed
the concerns of their stakeholders by working closely with the authorities, such as
maintaining lines of communication and supporting the testing of surfaces and ventilation
system studies; providing constant updates to the guests and public about the situation and
actions of the company through public facing video updates, and Next-Of-Kin (NOK) on the
status of guests conveyed to hospital; and providing transport services for special medicine
requirements of the guests. In response to the worsening of the pandemic situation, they even
cease the operation after the pandemic announcement by WHO, and offered 100% cash
refund or 125% future cruise credit for affected customers. For crew and guests who were
stranded due to rejection by respective ports, Princess Cruises undertook the tasks to
3
https://www.bdo.com/insights/business-financial-advisory/management-advisory/the-resilience-playbook-from-
recession-to-recovery
4
www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/reset-your-business-strategy-in-covid-19-recovery/
Crisis Scenarios & Contingencies, Session 12, Crisis Management: Contain, Resolve, Recover and Going
Forward, Slide 6
5
Connect – Bridge diversity of guests and crew from around the world, Respect – Embrace diversity of
different culture by being service and people oriented to give the customer the best experience possible, Protect
- Keep guests and crew safe
3
repatriate every one of them. In the (3) Recovery phase6, while the provided text on Princess
Cruises did not mention about its recovery efforts, the recent news report revealed that the
company calibrated their business strategy in accordance to the gradual relaxation of
restrictions by authorities in her bid to restart business activities. Case in point, during the
strictest restriction period, Princess Cruises converted some of her ships to local governments
as care facilities for the Covid-19 patients, and during the subsequent phase of lesser
restrictions, Princess Cruises modified their sailing itinerary that does not dock at any foreign
countries. The application of the frameworks allowed me to appreciate the methodological
approach to crisis management. As most leaders would be preoccupied with the response to
the incident or crisis due to surmounting pressure, they run into the risk of omitting crucial
steps or considerations at certain stages. This is especially relevant in the context of Covid-19
pandemic whereby there will be a new norm in how business is conducted in the post-crisis
stage. Organisation will need to reset their strategy based on learnings and emergent patterns
from prior phases.
<2 Pages; excluding footnotes>
6
https://www.princess.com/news/notices_and_advisories/

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Reflection Essay

“Learning without reflection is a waste of time. Reflection without learning is

1. Foundation Building - Leadership2 & Corporate Culture. In the modern world’s

<2 Pages; excluding footnotes>

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