Crisis Communication

The Study of Internal Crisis Communication: Towards an Integrative Framework

by Finn Frandsen

Co-authored with W. Johansen. Published in Corporate Communication: An International Journal, vol. 16, no. 4, 2011.

Entering New Territory: The Study of Internal Crisis Management and Crisis Communication in Organizations

by Finn Frandsen

Co-authored with W. Johansen. Published in Public Relations Review, vol. 36. no. 2, 2012.

Strategic organizational communication - A case study on the Danish cartoon controversies

by Fabian Bethge

The author of this article suggests a model to analyze strategic organizational communication and applies it for the... more The author of this article suggests a model to analyze strategic organizational communication and applies it for the case of the Danish cartoon controversies, 2005 – 2008. The model consists
of the four dimensions timeline, meaning (connotative vs. denotative), actors (radical other vs. self) and policy (communicated policy vs. executed policy). According to that strategic organizational communication was defined as an intentional set up plan that integrates activities along these dimensions and between them to control the outcomes in a way that enables future success.

Keywords: Strategic communication, Denmark, cartoon controversies

Being Responsible or just not Irresponsible: A Study of Consumer Attributions of Blame during product-harm crisis

by Ioannis Assiouras

Paper presented at 38th EMAC Annual Conference, Nantes, France, 26 -29 May 2009.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the new buzzword and seems to benefit a firm in many ways. While CSR has a... more Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the new buzzword and seems to benefit a firm in many ways. While CSR has a proven value, the advantage it adds on firms appears to vary. The present paper is an empirical study of CSR’s impact on consumer attributions of blame, on brands’ evaluation and on repurchase intentions in a product–harm crisis setting. The results indicate that companies should at least avoid being characterized as irresponsible, since the socially responsible companies do not statistically gain a significant advantage in non-routine situations like a product-harm crisis.

Culture, Crisis and Everyday Logic

by Daniel Morten Simonsen

Paper for PhD course

Culture debated in a conceptual essay with emperical examples. The paper discus the concept of culture in relation to... more Culture debated in a conceptual essay with emperical examples. The paper discus the concept of culture in relation to organizational structure and the applicability of the concept in relation to understanding crises.

Consumers Emotional Reactions after Brand Crises: The Role of Corporate Associations

by Ioannis Assiouras

Paper presented in Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference (ANZMAC), Perth, Australia, 28 – 30 November 2011

The objective of the present research is to uncover the potentially broader scope of Corporate Ability (CA), Corporate... more The objective of the present research is to uncover the potentially broader scope of Corporate Ability (CA), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), product positioning (performance vs. ethical) and crisis response strategies in consumer behaviour, after brand crises and to map their impact on consumer emotional reactions. For the purposes of this paper, an experimental research was conducted with a sample of 1440 consumers. The results demonstrate that CA and particularly CSR play an important role in decreasing the negative emotional reactions after brand crises; while at the same time they hold the sympathy level and forgiveness willingness towards the company at not so low levels. Finally, the results indicate that the crisis response strategy of apology is not a panacea and managers should take into consideration less accommodative response strategies as well.

Hospital under Crisis and Different Response Strategies: Comparative Study between Greek and Turkish Consumers

by Ioannis Assiouras

presented in 2nd EMAC Regional Conference, Iasi, Romania, 21-23 September, 2011

This study investigates the effectiveness of different response strategies after a crisis situation in the healthcare... more This study investigates the effectiveness of different response strategies after a crisis situation in the healthcare sector. For the purposes of this paper, an experiment was conducted that relied on seven response strategies based on a defensive - accommodative continuum. Results indicate that full apology and corrective action are perceived as more responsible answers and lead to higher consumer buying intentions. On the other side of the continuum, the results revealed that attacking the accuser is more effective than denial strategy in terms of perceived responsibility of company’s answer and buying intention. Finally, differences regarding attribution of blame were observed between Greeks and Turkish respondents, with the ingratiation response strategy resulting in the highest attribution of blame for the former and the lower for the latter.

The impact of Corporate Ability and Corporate Social Responsibility on Brand Evaluation and Buying Intentions in Brand Crisis

by Ioannis Assiouras

Presentation at the EMAC 40th Conference: 24th – 27th of May 2011, Ljubljana, Slovenia

This study seeks to investigate the role of corporate associations of Corporate Ability (CA) and Corporate Social... more This study seeks to investigate the role of corporate associations of Corporate Ability (CA) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on consumers’ brand evaluation and buying intentions in brand crisis, questioning the positioning of a product on performance or values. According to the results of the experimental study, corporate association of CSR has a positive direct effect on brand evaluation. Likewise, corporate association of CA also has a positive direct effect on brand evaluation but two times stronger than CSR. Regarding the relationship between CA or CSR and buying intentions, results indicate indirect effects, only through the brand evaluation. The invariance of the proposed relationships between the different types of product positioning (performance vs. values) was examined, without finding any significant differences that would establish a moderating role of product positioning.

THE EFFECT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON CONSUMERS’ EMOTIONAL REACTIONS IN PRODUCT-HARM CRISIS

by Ioannis Assiouras

American Marketing Association Conference / Winter 2011

This study seeks to investigate the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on consumers’ emotions in... more This study seeks to investigate the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on consumers’ emotions in product-harm crisis. The results of this experimental study indicate that positive prior CSR leads to higher sympathy and lower anger and schadenfreude toward the company, than negative prior CSR or lack of CSR information.The role of CSR importance, ascribed by the consumers and their moderating effect on the relationship between company’s CSR and consumers’ emotions was also pointed out.

El protocolo en el manejo de las crisis comunicacionales

by Luis Miguel Romero Rodríguez

Paper contenido en el capítulo 3

Ya habiendo estudiado la marca como el mayor capital de una organización, empresa, personalidad, sistema, producto,... more Ya habiendo estudiado la marca como el mayor capital de una organización, empresa, personalidad, sistema, producto, servicio o proyecto; que ese capital se basa en percepciones, que las percepciones son frágiles, que los medios manejan muchas veces esas percepciones a nivel masivo y que la opinión pública suele responder a esos mismos intereses de los medios, repasaremos las características comunes de una crisis, en pro de identificar las gestiones propicias para limitar sus efectos negativos y su impacto en el sistema de referencia.

La marca comercial como resultado de procesos perceptivos

by Luis Miguel Romero Rodríguez

Paper que se encuentra contenido en el Capítulo 1 del Libro "Gestión Comunicacional de la Crisis" (Romero, L; 2010) Ed. CEAC

Todas las organizaciones, empresas, proyectos, personalidades públicas, productos y sistemas tienen diferentes... more Todas las organizaciones, empresas, proyectos, personalidades públicas, productos y sistemas tienen diferentes elementos adheridos a su propio ser que los identifica y los hace diferentes. A este conjunto de elementos se les denomina en el ámbito de la comunicación corporativa “valores”, que en sentido general es una cualidad que permite ponderar los beneficios o características especiales sui generis de un elemento. (Frondizi, 1962) Hay tres posiciones encontradas acerca de los valores de los elementos; una que considera que el valor existe independientemente del observador, por lo tanto entiende a los valores como un elemento axiológico objetivo (Platón); la segunda que establece que el observador es el que pondera ese valor, por lo que es un proceso neurológico-apreciativo totalmente subjetivo (George Berkeley) y una tercera corriente, denominada axiología materialista, que entiende que el ser humano tiende a valorar al mundo objetivamente, por lo que la naturaleza del valor es objetiva, pero es interpretada subjetivamente por la conciencia de los individuos. Ante este conflicto de conceptos, la axiología moderna ha tratado de evitar seguir indagando en el debate, proponiendo la tercera corriente mencionada con anterioridad

Radiografía de las Crisis Comunicacionales

by Luis Miguel Romero Rodríguez

Paper que se encuentra contenido en el Capítulo 2 del Libro "Gestión Comunicacional de la Crisis" (Romero, L; 2010) Ed. CEAC

Ya habiendo estudiado la marca como el mayor capital de una organización, empresa, personalidad, sistema, producto,... more Ya habiendo estudiado la marca como el mayor capital de una organización, empresa, personalidad, sistema, producto, servicio o proyecto; que ese capital se basa en percepciones, que las percepciones son frágiles, que los medios manejan muchas veces esas percepciones a nivel masivo y que la opinión pública suele responder a esos mismos intereses de los medios, repasaremos las características comunes de una crisis, en pro de identificar las gestiones propicias para limitar sus efectos negativos y su impacto en el sistema de referencia.

Comunicación de riesgo y sistemas de información en la Web: cinco modelos

by Carles Pont

Las administraciones públicas de los países avanzados están llevando a cabo iniciativas para gestionar la información... more Las administraciones públicas de los países avanzados están llevando a cabo iniciativas para gestionar la información y la comunicación de riesgo y emergencias mediante sitios web concebidos y diseñados para ello. Estos sitios están pensados para facilitar información a los ciudadanos en caso de emergencias, pero también contienen información útil para los expertos y las autoridades. En este trabajo, y a la luz de la legislación española sobre emergencias, se comparan los sitios de la administración autonómica catalana y del gobierno de España con los sitios de tres países de referencia: Estados Unidos, Francia y Reino Unido. Al mismo tiempo se propone una metodología simple para llevar a cabo una comparación que permita extraer conclusiones y plantear recomendaciones en un aspecto de la gestión de la información que puede resultar clave para salvar bienes materiales y vidas humanas.

Complexity and crises: A new paradigm

by Dawn Gilpin

In W. T. Coombs & S. J. Halladay (Eds.), The handbook of crisis communication. New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Co-authored with Priscilla Murphy

In the past thirty-odd years, the field of organizational crisis management has become a central area of practice and... more In the past thirty-odd years, the field of organizational crisis management has become a central area of practice and scholarship in public relations. Strategic and pragmatic perspectives have traditionally dominated the field, emphasizing the need for managers to identify, classify, and prioritize crises; maintain lists of key contacts and stakeholder groups with messages tailored to each; and weigh criteria ranging from degree of responsibility to financial impact in order to plan appropriate crisis responses (e.g., Barton, 2001; Coombs, 2007; Fearn-Banks, 2007; Fink, 1986). Recently these pragmatic perspectives have expanded to acknowledge the cultural basis of crises, the socially constructed nature of crises, and the effect of interactions between internal and external stakeholders upon the emergence and handling of crisis situations. Asymmetric approaches to crisis planning strategies, in which the organization’s needs come first, are giving way to a more relational view that emphasizes ongoing stakeholder interactions to negotiate how a crisis is interpreted, who is responsible, and what should be done.

Implications of complexity for public relations: Beyond crisis

by Dawn Gilpin

(Uploaded version is page proofs) In R. L. Heath (Ed.), Handbook of Public Relations (2nd ed.). New York: Blackwell. Co-authored with Priscilla Murphy; 2010.

As the public relations field has matured, scholars have called for more careful reflection on the linkages between... more As the public relations field has matured, scholars have called for more careful reflection on the linkages between public relations research and larger bodies of theory, to expand the scope of the discipline and situate it more effectively within an interdisciplinary, pluralistic framework (Bentele, 2007; Ihlen & van Ruler, 2007). We address that call here by extending prior applications of complexity theory in public relations beyond a nearly exclusive focus on crisis communication (Goulielmos, 2005; Gilpin & Murphy, 2005, 2008, in press; Holtzhausen, 2004; Murphy, 2000, in press; Paraskevas, 2006; Ulmer, Sellnow, & Seeger, 2007). Instead, in this chapter we consider the possible contribution of complexity-based thinking to public relations theory, as well as its implications for professional practice in such areas as media relations, stakeholder identification, issues management, and organizational reputation.

Journalistic practice in risk and crisis situations: Significant examples from Spain

by Carles Pont

Carles Pont Sorribes and Sergi Cortiñas Rovira

In a democratic society, the media are central to the communication of risks and uncertainties to the public. This... more In a democratic society, the media are central to the communication of risks and uncertainties to the public. This article presents 10 proposals for improving media coverage in social risk situations. The article focuses on the production logic of the media and its consequences for society. The proposals and the conclusions of this research are supported by an analysis of three Spanish cases: the risk implied by the Tarragona chemical complex (one of the biggest in Europe); the terrorist attacks on 11 March 2004 in Madrid; and the Carmel tunnel disaster in Barcelona on January 2005. The authors are participating in a research project on public perception of risk funded by the Spanish Education Ministry on public perception of risk (2004–2007 and 2007–2010).

Epistemological Error: A Whole Systems View of Converging Crisis

by Jody Joanna Boehnert

Paper for 'Learning from the Crisis', Philosophy of Management conference at the University of Oxford, July 2010 and to be published in the journal Philosophy of Management in 2012.

Gregory Bateson said that we are ‘governed by epistemologies that we know to be wrong’ back in 1972. In the same book... more Gregory Bateson said that we are ‘governed by epistemologies that we know to be wrong’ back in 1972. In the same book Bateson wrote: 'the organism that destroys its environment destroys itself.’ Almost forty years later global ecological systems are in steep decline and converging crises make a deep evaluation of the underlying premises of our philosophical traditions an urgent imperative. This paper will suggest that the roots of the economic crisis are epistemological and that to correct this error whole systems thinking and ecological literacy will become increasing important in business management as well as in other disciplines. It will also suggest that the economic crisis opened new political space and has provided an opportunity for intervention. If we are brave enough to examine of the roots of our problems there is possibility for renewal.

Paper for Philosophy of Management conference at the University of Oxford in July 2010. More info here: http://bit.ly/a895P2+

Finding community through information and communication technology during disaster events

by Irina Shklovski

Emergency Management, Twitter, and Social Media Evangelism

by Irina Shklovski

co-authored with Mark Latonero
published in the 'International Journal of Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (IJISCRAM)', 2011

This paper considers how emergency response organizations utilize available social media technologies to communicate... more This paper considers how emergency response organizations utilize available social media technologies to communicate with the public in emergencies and to potentially collect valuable information using the pub- lic as sources of information on the ground. The authors discuss the use of public social media tools from the emergency management professional’s viewpoint with a particular focus on the use of Twitter. Limited research has investigated Twitter usage in crisis situations from an organizational perspective. This paper contributes to the understanding of organizational innovation, risk communication, and technology adop- tion by emergency management. An in-depth longitudinal case study of Public Information Officers (PIO) of the Los Angeles Fire Department highlights the importance of the information evangelist within emergency management organizations and details the challenges those organizations face engaging with social media and Twitter. This article provides insights into practices and challenges of new media implementation for crisis and risk management organizations.

Social Media Use in Response to the Virginia Tech Crisis: Moving From Chaos to Understanding

by Adam Tyma