Situational Crisis Communication Theory and the Use of Apologies in Five High-Profile Food-Poisoning Incidents

This article examines the role that apologies play in situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) and focuses on a number of recent food-poisoning incidents. The article first establishes the importance of trust to firms with a marketing orientation, and the harm that comes when that trust is lost. This is followed by an overview of apologies versus pseudo-apologies and how both factor into the principles of SCCT. Finally, examples of five high-profile apologies related to food-poisoning incidents are provided and the way that the principles of SCCT were applied in each instance, along with the outcome, is explored

The proposed Apologies Act for Scotland : good intentions with unforeseeable consequences

This article considers Scotland's proposed Apologies Act in the light of experience in other Common Law jurisdictions. A number of Common Law jurisdictions have passed Apologies Acts in the past 25 years, largely motivated by concerns about a 'litigation explosion'. The idea seems to be that providing evidentiary protection to apologies will encourage their use, or at least prevent insurers and lawyers from advising against them. Charlie Irvine considers the plausibility of this hypothesis and suggests that the drafters of the Bill face an unresolvable dilemma: blanket protection for apologies may prevent credible evidence from reaching the courts, while narrowing that protection to exclude admissions of fault may stilt apologies and rob them of credibility

A World of Apologies

A World of Apologies is a music video that was created in order to promote multiculturalism and foreign culture education. Within this video, twelve different languages are showcased to the tune of the world-wide pop music hit “Sorry” by Justin Bieber. The video includes multiple important aspects of culture such as music, language, art, and dance. The video was made in hopes to bring about culture appreciation and to bring people around the world together, especially since the current political and social climate in many countries nowadays are in turmoil. Not only does the video itself speak to this message, but so does the process behind the making of this video, which will be revealed within this paper. Also throughout this paper, I will discuss the music video that I have made that stresses the critical role of language and art in culture, the importance of understanding these different cultures, and examples of artists who have created pieces with a similar message to my own such as Dora de Larios, Akram Khan, and Rihanna

Apologies in the Healthcare System: From Clinical Medicine to Public Health

Alberstein and Davidovitch explore the role of apologies in healthcare systems from a broader perspective. The significance of apology in terms of social solidarity is addressed and the ways in which each apology situation entails a clash between cultural identities are demonstrated. The debate on apology is explored by presenting a public health perspective of apologies following collective traumatic events such as the application of sterilization laws or flawed human experimentations in various settings

Government Apologies to Indigenous Peoples

In this paper, I explore how theorists might navigate a course between the twin dangers of piety and excess cynicism when thinking critically about state apologies, by focusing on two government apologies to indigenous peoples: namely, those made by the Australian and Canadian Prime Ministers in 2008. Both apologies are notable for several reasons: they were both issued by heads of government, and spoken on record within the space of government: the national parliaments of both countries. Furthermore, in each case, the object of the apology – that which was apologized for – comes closer to disrupting the idea both countries have of themselves, and their image in the global political community, than any previous apologies made by either government. Perhaps as a result, both apologies were surrounded by celebration and controversy alike, and tracing their consequences – even in the short term – is a difficult business. We avoid excessive piety or cynicism, I argue, when we take several things into account. First, apologies have multiple functions: they narrate particular histories of wrongdoing, they express disavowal of that wrongdoing, and they commit to appropriate forms of repair or renewal. Second, the significance and the success of each function must be assessed contextually. Third, when turning to official political apologies, in particular, appropriate assessment of their capacity to disavow or to commit requires that consider apologies both as performance and as political action. While there remain significant questions regarding the practice of political apology – in particular, its relationship to practices of reparation, forgiveness and reconciliation – this approach can provide a framework with which to best consider them

Matrix models of 2d gravity

These are introductory lectures for a general audience that give an overview of the subject of matrix models and their application to random surfaces, 2d gravity, and string theory. They are intentionally 1.5 years out of date. 0. Canned Diatribe, Introduction, and Apologies 1. Discretized surfaces, matrix models, and the continuum limit 2. All genus partition functions 3. KdV equations and other models 4. Quick tour of Liouville theoryComment: Trieste Lectures (July, 1991), 40p

Ethical Leadership in the Age of Apology

The growing importance of public apology makes forgiveness seeking a critical responsibility for ethical leaders. Leaders must offer apologies on behalf of themselves (in their roles as moral people) and on behalf of the organizations they lead (in their roles as moral managers). Morally satisfying apologies adequately acknowledge offenses, express remorse, offer explanations, and make reparations for damages. The apologies of disgraced professional cyclist Lance Armstrong and General Motors CEO Mary Barra demonstrate how incomplete apologies can undermine ethical leadership. Armstrong’s apology did little to atone for his failings as a moral person. In her role as a moral manager, Barra did not fully account for GM’s cover-up of a defective, fatal switch problem or demonstrate enough concern for victims and the public. The shortcomings of these forgiveness-seeking acts demonstrate the importance of providing a complete accounting, matching the depth of the apology to the depth of the wrongdoing, following through on commitments, and carefully choosing the venue for delivering an apology

Illuminating hadron structure by scattering light on light

The results of an Amplitude Analysis of the world data on integrated and differential cross-sections on $\gamma\gamma\to\pi\pi$ are presented, following the publication of the Belle charged pion results.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of the International Workshop on $e^+e^-$ collisions from $\phi$ to $\psi$, Frascati, April 2008. This version rewords the reference to the work of Achasov and Shestakov, with apologies to them for any misunderstandin

An empirical note on perceptions of partial apologies

This study examined perceptions of partial apologies. Eighty young people rated the extent to which five components of apology (i.e., accepting responsibility, acknowledging harm, expressing remorse, offering reparation, and promising forbearance) implied each other. Statistical analyses across different types of partial apologies showed no significant differences in the extent to which a particular uncommunicated component of apology was implied by one type of partial apology than another. Analyses within each type of partial apology revealed significant differences in the extent to a partial apology implied one type of uncommunicated component than another: Acknowledging harm or offering reparation implied promising forbearance to a lesser extent than accepting responsibility and expressing remorse. Expressing remorse or promising forbearance implied accepting responsibility to a greater extent than acknowledging harm and offering reparation. It is important to understand perceptions of partial apologies because they more prevalent than full apologies, and may be considered less effective

The Power of Apology: Mercy, Forgiveness or Corrective Justice in the Civil Liability Arena (2007) Vol 1 Art 5

The recent rash of apology-protecting legislation in tort law in the common law world raises interesting questions about why apologies are so important. The function of apologies within society generally is not absolutely clear. It is even less clear what their function in relation to civil liability is and how the relationship between the law and apologies works. It is fairly clear that legislators desire apologies to reduce litigation on the basis of some naïve view that that is what people really want and that the common legal advice to never apologise is actually very bad for society in general. In this paper I argue first that defining apologies is crucial to determining their function, that apologies have multiple functions and that one of them is corrective justice. Another is to mediate relationships and to achieve reconciliation or healing through a process of apology, forgiveness and redemption. When should an apology be protected and why can only be answered if we have a real understanding of both the psychological and sociological effects of apologies. In particular we need to understand the interactions of different types of norms, including norms of civility, legal norms, professional ethics and so on. The article attempts to go some way towards this understanding