Crisis Management - The Horse Meat Case

Details

Supervisors

Bascle, Guilhem

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [60] en sciences de gestion

Abstract

In this ultra-mediated world in which we live, where even the slightest information is shared and propagated in a short time, it is important for every manager to have the necessary tools to prevent a crisis. In the unfortunate event that a crisis still occurs, they must be able to face it and minimize its impact on their business and the various stakeholders. The purpose of this work is then to identify the elements that can constitute a good crisis management strategy. To do so, we have drawn on existing scientific literature to provide us with the necessary interpretation tools. Then, for greater clarity, the theory was applied to a practical case, namely the scandal that struck the agri-food industry in 2013 when horse meat was found in Findus beef lasagnas. To achieve this and ensure a rigorous approach, Mr. Gagnon's case analysis method was used. The data analysis was carried out according to the Van Maanen method, using a coding table which can be found in the appendix of this work. We then assessed whether the strategies implemented by Findus had been effective. The brand still exists today, of course, but did it truly emerge unscathed? Finally, this work concludes with a discussion on the relevance of the decisions made, and some recommendations will be formulated so that, in the future, a company facing a similar situation can react as effectively as possible and limit the impact of the crisis on its operations.