Government Crisis Assessment and Reputation Management. A Case Study of the Vietnam Health Minister's Crises in 2013-2014

• Main Author: Tuong-Minh Ly-Le
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hungarian Communication Studies Association 2015-06-01
• Series: KOME: An International Journal of Pure Communication Inquiry
• Subjects: government crisis; assessment; reputation management; image restoration; Vietnam
• Online Access: http://komejournal.com/files/331.pdf

In Vietnam, many government announcements have gathered negative receptions from the public. Among them, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Vietnam Minister of Health, has received more of it. Through the case study of Ms. Kim Tien’s many scandals during the 2013-2014 period, this study is interested to see if the health scandals eventually elevated into a government crisis, how they affected the minister’s reputation, and what she could have done to better respond to the public. This study examined news articles on such health scandals to confirm whether the health scandals indeed escalated to be a government crisis. It also identified the advantages and disadvantages of Ms. Kim Tien’s responses in restoring her reputation to the public to understand what factors contributed to public dissatisfaction toward the minister. This study concluded that poorly-managed health scandals eventually elevated into a government crisis and greatly affected the minister’s reputation. It is suggested that PR is what the government needs to deal with such situations. The research also leaves room for a quantitative approach to the case to increase the result’s validity and representativeness. Until now, as the health issues and the resignation appeals are still needed, the crisis management effort should get more attention from the government, and such study is needed to better understand the situation.