Essay: Human Relations Flexibility In SeaWorld Management Performance.

Evaluation of Management Performance

Discuss about the Roles of Human Relations Flexibility.

SeaWorld is a well-known theme park of America. In 2010, SeaWorld theme park has experienced a tragic death incident, one trainer named Dawn Brancheau was killed by a killer whale, but this incident did not get much limelight and also not affect the revenue of Park. However in 2013, a documentary was released which is based on the deadly incident took place at SeaWorld in 2010. The documentary draws media attention to the issue, and later animal activists and government also got involved in the issue. This report includes the overview and history of the company and management performance and eight roles with CVF Model.

SeaWorld Park and entertainment is a subsidiary of SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. since 50 years it is a leading theme park and Entertainment Company which is supplying an interactive, personal and educational experience to their visitors. In 1959 the roots of SeaWorld was developed as a Busch garden, opened as a garden and small bird sanctuary. The park soon gets expended by including habitation for herds of animals, and roller coasters various shows and zoological attractions. There are two Busch gardens the original Tampa, Fla. Location and Busch Garden Williamsburg, Va. which is opened in 1975. SeaWorld get established for the first time in 1964, founded by David Demotte, Milt Shedd, George Millary and Ken Norris. They originally planned to open an underwater restaurant but the concept grew into a Zoological Park. The initial investment includes $ 1.5 million, 45 employees, and various varieties of sea loins, dolphins and saltwater aquariums. In the first year SeaWorld drew more than 400,000 visitors. In 1980 Sesame Place developed as the theme park which is dedicated to Sesame Street’s spirit of imagination. In 2011 the SeaWorld Park and entertainment expand their popular brand into entertainment and media industry to connect people with animals and nature, through digital media, television and movies (SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., 2018).

Evaluation of management performance and organisational structure will be done with the help of CVF model. CVF model is an effective tool for managing and developing a business. When the blackfish incident took place the SeaWorld loss its revenue by 6% in 2014 in comparison to 2013 and in addition the share prices of SeaWorld decline in 2014. The CEO of SeaWorld Jim Atchison has resigned from its post and in 2015 Joel Manby becomes the new CEO of the company (Alden, 2013). To evaluate the performance of management during the crises the CVF will Act as the best tool. The model is developed by Robert Quinn and Kim Cameron. CVF model categorizes four corporate cultures, which will indicate how the company operates, how its employees collaborate and what are its corporate values.

Human Relation Model 8 Roles

It is internally focused and has a high degree of flexibility. This culture believes in treating company employees as their family members. The owner of employees acts as a father figure. The whole organisation held together by loyalty and tradition. During the time of crises took place in the SeaWorld the whole organisation came together as family to face the problem and to console the family of team member who died in the incident. The company places a great value on flexibility, participation, consensus and teamwork.

It is internally focused and a high degree of controlling behaviour. This culture is extremely formal and has a structured working environment. The process determines employee’s actions and the focus on managing control.  During the course of crisis the management of company has adopted a controlling behaviour by considering the fact that may employees can spread rumours about the incident and due to that the brand image and profit share of company may got reduced.

It is externally focused and high degree of controlling behaviour. This is all about results and completion of work. After the blackfish incident to enhance the image and making aware the customer, that the environment of the park is safe has become a main goal. Joel Manby CEO of company has conducted a press conference to address the people of America about the whole incident to re-build the confidence among people again.

It is externally focused and a high degree of flexibility. The main aim of this culture is constant innovation with the aim to remain visible in the market. The SeaWorld itself has an innovative concept. When the incident took place the management of company has conducted a survey in 2013 and 2015 to enhance their performance to evaluate the market conditions which will help the management generating innovative idea that will help the park in generating more revenue (McVicker, 2015).

The human relation model consists of 8 roles which include roles of coordinator, innovator, facilitators, mentor, monitor, directors, producers and broker. These are those persons who will help the park in controlling external and internal factors which have damaged the reputation of SeaWorld. The mentor of company will understand the importance of effective communication and he will develop the effective communication with the employees of the company to retain them and guide them not to spread humour about the accident. The facilitator will help in building a team and by using participated decision making he will resolve the managing conflicts. The innovator will start his work just after the incident to generate new and effective ideas to re-build the image of park. The broker will focus on all Negotiating agreements which are required by park to stop the humours and to give answer to human right and animal right agencies. The producer will try to create productive and stress free environment in the park so the visitors can enjoy their activities. The director will develop and communicate the vision, goals and objectives for employees and for park. The coordinator will manage the project which is been designed to increase the revenue. The monitors will be responsible for monitoring performance of every individual in the park or related to the park (New SeaWorld, 2015)

To conclude, the SeaWorld is a very well established name in America and to retain the name on top, the management of SeaWorld need to take active part in the operations of business, they need to introduce new and innovative ideas, the executives must design new goals for the park. Combine efforts of the management will help the SeaWorld in getting out of their worst time.     

Profitability and reputation of SeaWorld have been scratched after the release of the documentary ‘Blackfish’ in 2013 (Blackfish Awards, 2013).  The revenue and number of visitors at the Park have declined radically. The animal rights protesters have been hostile in disapproving the company’s “animal rights exploitations”; especially, the usage of imprisoned of killer whales at the parks. The main reason behind this essay is to identify the internal and external pressure affecting the park and its current structure and to provide recommendations to improve management operations (Niles, 2013).       

The animal activists groups like PETA have become enormously vocal against SeaWorld. In 2011, PETA has filed a court case against the park for violating the legal privileges of killer whales. The court case was promptly dismissed by the District judge in 2012 (PETA, 2011).  But after the release of documentary the issue again get attention and this time on huge level. The release of documentary leads to negative media and social media attention and extensive protests. The film blamed park for abandoning the wellbeing and safety of both the trainer and killer whale.  The huge stress and pressure was developed on the park, as well as on music artists and business partners that are associated with the company. Due to this many music artists and business partners have terminated their connection with SeaWorld. The involvement of media on high level and other coincidences took place at SeaWorld has led the government involvements with the operations of SeaWorld (Humane society of the United States, 2017).

These factors contributed in massive decline in number of visitors during 2014. Before the release of blackfish the Initial Public Offering and SeaWorld stock was a most profitable commodity of Stock Exchange of New York. As a result the share price and profits of SeaWorld got reduced. The three indicators which show the financial status of number of visitors, share price and profits have not reached the pre-Blackfish level. In 2016 SeaWorld suffered a net loss of $ 12.5 million and due to the loss park has to eliminate 320 jobs (Victor, 2015).

At the beginning the company tried to disgrace the film and its influence on the business. In July 2013 the company have issued 69 reasons “Why You should not Believe Blackfish”, 32 pages critique provide proof that evidently disgraced much of the films. In 2013 the company circulated a letter that clarified uses of killer whales in major newspapers. This letter with title “The Truth about Blackfish” was also circulated on the cares website of SeaWorld (SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc, 2013). 

When the numbers of visitors start to reduce the company denied to admit that blackfish was a reason of the downfall. Officials accused the success of their competitor Universal Studios and late summer vacation. But when in 2014 the profits of company drop by 6% then they admitted that the blackfish is the reason of the problem (Michaelson, & Stacks, 2014). 

In 2014, the CEO of SeaWorld Jim Atchison has resigned. And in 2015, the company appointed Joel Manby as the new CEO. Under the guidance of Joel Manby, the company began to address concerns raised by the animal activists. In 2016, SeaWorld proclaimed that it would start phasing out killer whale theatrical shows and would end the orca-breeding program. Under Manby’s leadership many new collaborations were established (Masunaga, 2016).

To convince visitors to visit SeaWorld, the Executives can become partner with Discovery Channel and other Channels who are related to animals and can host a live Share Week broadcast or a special film episode on shark. The company can create a hashtag invitation message to post on social media to attract visitors. They can make Youtube series featuring highlights of best aspects of SeaWorld. They can bring offer like family discounts. The SeaWorld can develop an app like Pokemone Go that will add a virtual layer to the park, and app can also use to explore the different part of the park.     

The CEO can organise a press conference to tell about the new start phasing out killer whale theatrical shows and end of orca-breeding program. Orca Encounter killer whales changed to killer whale show. CEO can provide VNR details to press with details of SeaWorld programming have educated the community about wildlife conservation. The CEO need to provide special interview to CNN. The company needs to obtain exclusive coverage on the event which SeaWorld going to organised with title “World Oceans Day Marine Life Conservation Event”. The Company can publish about their collaboration with their new business partner in the newspaper (Kuo & Savidge, 2014).

References

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Blackfish Awards., (2013). Blackfish documentary. Retrieved from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2545118/awards?ref_=tt_awd

Humane society of the united states.. (2017). About Us. Retrieved from: https://www.humanesociety.org/about/?credit=web_id93480558.

Kuo, V., & Savidge, M. (2014). Months after ‘Blackfish’ airs, debate over orcas continues. CNN. Retrieved from: https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/07/us/blackfish-wrap/

Masunaga, S., (2016). Here's why SeaWorld probably won't release its whales into the wild. Retrieved from: https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fiseaworld-sea-pens-20160317-htmlstory.html

McVicker, L., (2015). SeaWorld Attendance and Revenue Continues to Decline. Retrieved from: https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/SeaWorldAttendance-and-Revenue-Continues-to-Decline-294273921.html

Michaelson, D., & Stacks, D. W., (2014). A professional and practitioners’ guide to public relations research, measurement and evaluation, New York, NY: Business Expert Press.

New SeaWorld., (2015). advertising campaign highlights leadership in killer whale care, counters misinformation [Press release]. Retrieved from: https://www.seaworldinvestors.com/files/doc_news/New-SeaWorld-Advertising-Campaign-Highlights-Leadership-In-Killer-Whale-Care-Counters-Misinformation.pdf

Niles, R., (2013). Theme Park History: A short history of SeaWorld San Diego. Retrieved from: https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201307/3552/

PETA., (2011). PETA Sues SeaWorld for Violating Orcas' Constitutional Rights. Retrieved from: https://www.peta.org/blog/peta-sues-seaworldviolating-orcas-constitutional-rights/

SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (2015) Joel Manby as president and CEO [Press release]. Retrieved from: https://www.seaworldinvestors.com/news-releases/news-release-details/2015/SeaWorld-Entertainment-Inc-Names-Joel-Manby-As-President-And-CEO/default.aspx

SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., (2013). ‘Blackfish’ analysis: Misleading and/or inaccurate content. Retrieved from: https://da15bdaf715461308003-0c725c907c2d637068751776aeee5fbf.r7.cf1.rackcdn.com/adf36e5c35b842f5ae4e2322841e8933_4-4-14-updated-final-of-blacklist-list-of-inaccuracies-and-misleading-points.pdf

SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., (2018). Who we are. Retrieved from: https://secfilings.nasdaq.com/edgar_conv_html%2f2017%2f03%2f01%2f0001564590- 17-003001.html#FIS_BUSINESS

Shea. D. (2013). 8 roles of Human Relations Flexibility. Retrieved from: https://slideplayer.com/slide/4260016/https://sajip.co.za/index.php/sajip/article/view/835/888.

Talentmanger. (2014). The Quinn Model: A model of personality in the Competing Values Framework. Retrieved from: https://www.onlinetalentmanager.com/products/quinnmodel.

Victor, D., (2015). Killer whales to take final bows at SeaWorld San Diego. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/10/business/seaworld-san-diego-killer-whales-shamu-show.html