Crisis Communication (eBook)

Martin N. Ndlela is Associate Professor at the Inland School of Business and Social Sciences, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway, where he teaches and supervises courses within the Crisis Management programme. He has researched and taught various aspects of crisis communication management, PR, and organisational communication.

Contents 5
About the Author 9
List of Figures 10
List of Tables 11
Chapter 1: Introduction 12
In the Era of Crisis 12
Defining Organizational Crisis 15
Characteristics of Organizational Crisis 16
Crisis Typologies 17
Crisis Management: A Strategic Process 19
Crisis Communication 20
Stakeholder Approach to Crisis Management 23
Conclusion 24
References 24
Chapter 2: Stakeholder Approaches in Crisis Management 26
Introduction 26
Stakeholder Theories and Crisis Management 27
Stakeholder Management Process 30
Stakeholder Management Model 31
Stakeholder Mapping 32
Identifying Stakeholders 33
Analysing Stakeholders 35
Planning Stakeholder Communications 36
Engaging Stakeholders 37
Criteria for Stakeholder Mapping 37
Primary and Secondary Stakeholders 37
Internal and External Stakeholders 39
Organizational Linkage Model 39
Stakeholder Influence and the Matrix Model 40
Situational Theory of Publics 42
Mapping Stakeholders by Attitude 43
Stakeholder Communication Plans 44
Conclusion 45
References 45
Chapter 3: A Stakeholder Approach to Issues Management 48
Why a Stakeholder Approach? 48
Issues Management 50
Issues Management in Crisis Prevention 51
Overview of the Issues Management Process 51
Identification and Analysis 52
Prioritization of Issues 53
Stakeholder Engagement 54
Evaluation 55
Stakeholder Voices in Social Media 56
Managing Issues during a Crisis 59
Post-crisis Issues Management 60
Conclusion 61
References 61
Chapter 4: A Stakeholder Approach to Risk Management 63
Introduction 63
Overview of the Risk Management Process 64
Engaging Risk Stakeholders 65
Stakeholder Risk Communication 65
Persuasive Risk Communication 67
Dialogue with Stakeholders 69
The Risk Message 70
Risk Information Vacuum 71
Risk Communication in Crisis Situations 73
Multiple Stakeholders in Public Health Response 73
Outbreak Communication 74
The Ebola Crisis 76
The Egg Crisis 77
From One-Way to Two-Way Communication Flow 78
The Media and the Framing of Health Risk 79
Post-crisis Risk Management 81
Conclusion 82
References 82
Chapter 5: A Stakeholder Approach in Managing Reputation 86
Introduction 86
Organizational Reputation 87
Stakeholder-Specific Reputation 88
Why Reputation Matters … 90
Volkswagen Emission Scandal 91
Building a Favourable Reputation 92
Monitoring Threats to an Organization’s Reputation 94
Media Impact on Organizational Reputation 96
Media Monitoring 98
Social Media and Organizational Reputation 99
Authentic Interactions 101
Co-created Reputation 103
Social Media Reputation Crisis 104
Kicked Off Delta Flight “For Speaking Arabic” 104
Freia’s Chocolate Social Media Campaign 105
The #myNYPD Campaign 106
Monitoring and Managing Social Media Crises 107
Protecting of Reputation during a Crisis 108
Apologia Theory—Responding to Accusations of Wrongdoing 109
Image Repair Theory 110
Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) 111
The Rhetorical Arena Theory (RAT) 113
Post-crisis Strategies for Repair of Reputation 113
Conclusion 115
References 116
Chapter 6: A Stakeholder Approach to Inter-organizational Relationships 119
Introduction 119
PR and Stakeholder Relationship 120
Relational Perspectives in Crisis Management 122
Stakeholder Relationship Management 123
Social Media in Relationship Management 124
Inter-organizational Relationships 124
Building and Nurturing Inter-organizational Relationships 127
Reducing Knowledge Gaps in IRs 128
Coordination and Communication 131
Managing Stakeholder Relations During the Crisis 133
Post-crisis Relationship Management 134
Conclusion 135
References 135
Chapter 7: Stakeholder Communications During a Crisis 139
Multivocality During Crisis 139
Stakeholders During Natural Disasters and Pandemics 140
Hurricane Katrina 2005 142
Tohoku Earthquake, Tsunami and Radiation (2011) 144
Unanticipated Stakeholders During the Ebola Crisis 145
Communicating Messages During a Crisis 146
Instructing Messages 147
Warning Messages 149
Interpretation of Messages 151
Avoiding Information Vacuum 153
Stakeholder Information Needs 154
Lessening Information Overload 155
Conclusion 156
References 157
Chapter 8: A Stakeholder Approach to Crisis Evaluation 159
Introduction 159
Stakeholder Approach to Crisis Evaluation 160
Evaluation of Crisis Communication 161
Methods for Evaluating Stakeholder Experiences 162
Conclusion 163
References 163
Index 165