The mission of the Livestrong Foundation is to raise cancer awareness, help cancer patients fight the disease, and empower cancer survivors. The organization has raised $500 million in support of cancer patients and their families since it was created. It helps patients navigate the health system by helping them get insurance coverage for treatments, apply for disability, get social security benefits and get connected with breakthrough clinical trials. They also give emphasis to life after cancer recovery, helping people get back their physical and mental condition.
In June 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) accused Armstrong of doping and trafficking of drugs, based on blood samples from 2009 and 2010, and testimonies from witnesses including former teammates. In October, USADA formally charged him with running a massive doping ring. It also sought to ban him from participating in sports sanctioned by WADA for life. Since all Olympic sports follow the World Anti-Doping Code, USADA's sanctions would have effectively ended Armstrong's competitive career. Armstrong chose not to appeal the ban, saying it would not be worth the toll on his family.
2. Lance Armstrong
American professional road racing cyclist.
Born: September 18, 1971 (age 46 years),
Plano, Texas, United States
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional
and disgraced road racing cyclist. Armstrong is the 1993
professional world champion, and won the Tour de France a
record seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005.
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11. Nike took another step back from Armstrong and announced that it would stop
manufacturing Livestrong-brand shoes and apparel at the end of this year. Nike,
Livestrong’s main corporate backer, Nike helped raise more than $100 million for
the charity, mostly through the sale of more than 87 million yellow rubber
Livestrong bracelets that cost $1 each.
12. Could an organization even plan for this type of
situation? if yes, how? if not, why not?
Yes. We realize that the average company
may be taken by surprise by a scandal of
this magnitude if it was unforeseen, but in
the case of the Livestrong Foundation,
founder Lance Armstrong’s doping scandal
was well known. A major conflict the
foundation faced was, how long and to
what extent, do they continue to support
their founder’s self-proclaimed innocence.
Even though many of the foundation employees wanted to believe the
rumors were not true and that Lance was being falsely accused. There
was enough doubt that Doug Ulman, CEO and president of the
Livestrong Foundation, until 2014, stated that “he anticipated for
months that this day would come.”
13. How would goals be useful in this type of
situation? What types of goals might be
necessary?
• The aftermath of something like this could be detrimental
to any organization let alone a charity relying on donor’s
donations. Donors may not be able to separate the fact that
this is “Livestrong, it’s not Lance Armstrong” (Flandez,
2013).
• Redeveloping a strong Mission Statement and using it to
update or create the foundations stated goals would be a
start in the right direction to reassure the stakeholders that
their foundation is a separate entity from Lance Armstrong.
That what the foundation accomplished in the past, the
present and the future is in itself its very own identity and
it will continue to help many people.
16. Internal communications kept the team
focused and united and employees
willingly participated in videos posted on
the foundation’s blog declaring their love
for the cause and for the Livestrong
Foundation.
The foundation’s CEO took the lead to
communicate proactively and was
constantly available for interviews,
conferences and talks.
17. what lessons about planning can mangers learn
from what livestrong has endured ?
The Livestrong Foundation is surviving and
becoming an example of how to overcome a
crisis. It has been presenting highly
acclaimed talks about its crisis
communication survival plan.
What if the worst happens to the person at the top? How
do you pivot? That’s the issue Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong
Foundation is currently struggling with.
LIMITING BRAND DAMAGE
Armstrong stepped down as the Livestrong Foundation’s chairman in an
effort to limit long-term brand damage.
But the resignation appears to have helped Livestrong save face. A
number of companies, including Nike, announced they were dropping
sponsorships with Armstrong, but most are standing by Livestrong .
He won the Tour de France – a three-week long cycling competition – seven consecutive years and became one of the most well paid sports celebrities.
Armstrong created the Livestrong foundation, which was originally called the Lance Armstrong Foundation, after he was diagnosed with a serious type of testicular cancer in 1996. He went through a difficult treatment and overcame the disease, even though his chances of surviving were less than 50 percent. After beating the cancer, Armstrong became one of the most recognized sports figure.
The mission of the Livestrong Foundation is to raise cancer awareness, help cancer patients fight the disease, and empower cancer survivors. The organization has raised $500 million in support of cancer patients and their families since it was created. It helps patients navigate the health system by helping them get insurance coverage for treatments, apply for disability, get social security benefits and get connected with breakthrough clinical trials. They also give emphasis to life after cancer recovery, helping people get back their physical and mental condition.
In June 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) accused Armstrong of doping and trafficking of drugs, based on blood samples from 2009 and 2010, and testimonies from witnesses including former teammates. In October, USADA formally charged him with running a massive doping ring. It also sought to ban him from participating in sports sanctioned by WADA for life. Since all Olympic sports follow the World Anti-Doping Code, USADA's sanctions would have effectively ended Armstrong's competitive career. Armstrong chose not to appeal the ban, saying it would not be worth the toll on his family.[7]
After USADA's report, all of Armstrong's sponsors dropped him. He reportedly lost $75 million of sponsorship income in a day.[136] On May 28, 2013, Nike announced that it would be cutting all ties to Livestrong. Armstrong resigned from the board of directors for Livestrong on 4 November. He had resigned as chairman from the charity he founded on 17 October, but had kept a seat on the board.
he had "doped"—taken performance-enhancing drugs—to win his record seven consecutive Tour de France victories from 1999 to 2005, few could be surprised.
The first step to distance the Livestrong Foundation from Armstrong was to change its name and logo. The foundation legally changed its name from Lance Armstrong Foundation to Livestrong Foundation and prominently added the word ‘foundation’ to the company logo. he second step of the disassociation strategy was Armstrong’s resignation as chairman and later severance of all ties with the foundation’s board of directors and decision-making process. Armstrong is still one of the biggest single donors and an important part of the history of the foundation but he does not have any part in the administration of the organization.
The foundation also took other steps to distance its image from Armstrong. It moved its ‘call-to-action’ day from the anniversary of Armstrong’s cancer diagnosis to May 17, which is the day its yellow wristbands were introduced. The ‘call-to-action’ day is a day in which the Livestrong Foundation promotes global, collective action in the fight against cancer. It also removed Armstrong’s yellow jerseys, which he wore to conquer its seven Tour the France victories, from the walls at the foundation’s headquarters.
In addition, the Livestrong Foundation website underwent changes. Among them, the ‘Our Founder’ page now features Armstrong’s cancer diagnosis and his many contributions to the cause, but his cycling career is no longer mentioned