HC1: Introduction
Public relations: what is it?
- Managing of communication of an organization, e.g., negotiation of point of views and
bridging interest (Grunig)
- The development of relationships to help communicate about an organization, an issue, a
person or a product (Gordon)
- Management of a mutual understanding between an organization and its publics (Cutlip)
Important terminologies!
- Organization
o ‘Organizations’ is a term we will use a lot
o Organizations complies a broader range of institutions than ‘firm’ or ‘company’
▪ When we talk of companies we discuss commercial entities
▪ Organization implies a number of other institutions that don’t necessarily sell
something but that might still be involved in Public Relations
Five themes
- Crisis communication
o How organizations frame communication in order to limit the damages from crisis,
depending on the origin of the crisis
- Media effects
o How does the media influence public opinion and how can organizations influence
the media agenda
- Corporate social responsibility
o What are an organization’s responsibilities beyond profit and how can they be
effectively communicated to the public
- Webcare
o How can organizations use social media so as to build and maintain relationships
with their relevant audiences
- Internal communication
o How should organization facilitate communication with and within their employees
in a way that fosters a positive environment
HC2: Crisis Communication – theme session
What is a crisis?
A crisis is a turning point in a situation, where an important change takes place, that could determine
a negative outcome.
For organizations, crises include:
- Natural crises (floods, earthquakes, fires)
- Political crises (corruption, changes in government)
- Internal crises (misconduct, abuse)
- …
What is a crisis?
A crisis is the perception of an unpredictable event that threatens important expectancies of
stakeholders related to health, safety, environmental, and economic issues, and can seriously impact
an organization’s performance and generate negative outcomes.
(Coombs, 2015)
Stakeholders
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,Stakeholders in a crisis can be defined as individuals, groups, communities or organizations, who may
affect, be affected by or perceive themselves to be affected by the crisis.
(Ndlela, 2019)
Why stakeholders?
- Interest around stakeholders comes from stakeholder theory, an economic theory that
posits that organizations are embedded in a series of relationships with other organizations,
communities, and institutions such as governments.
→ According to this theory, the goal of an organization should be the mediation of everyone’s
interests (and not just making a profit).
→ “An organization’s success is dependent on how well it manages the relationships with key groups
such as customers, employees, suppliers, communities, financiers and others that can affect the
realization of its purpose” (R. Edward Freeman & Philips, 2002)
Stakeholder classification: why and how?
Organization as networks
Most organizations, no matter if NGO or commercial, are involved in a number of relationships that
include people inside and outside of the organization.
When thinking of how to respond to a crisis, organizations should
understand:
- Which stakeholders are affected
- How seriously they are affected
- What are the consequences of the stakeholders being affected
… this requires a classification.
Stakeholder management
At the center of establishing and maintain relationships with stakeholders is communication.
Organizations should:
- Be aware of whom to relate to in case of a crisis
- Involve stakeholders in pre-crises preparedness, for crises that can be prevented
- Establish appropriate communication channels for each stakeholders
Stakeholder management
Stakeholder management
Two fundamental questions:
1. How to define and identify stakeholders?
2. How to manage the relationship with
various stakeholder groups?
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,Primary vs secondary stakeholders
- Primary stakeholders: those who are directly, significantly or potentially affected by the
activities of the organization (employees, customers, suppliers, etc.). This can also mean
those who are directly, significantly and potentially affected by a crisis.
- Secondary stakeholders: those indirectly affected or for whom the impact is not that direct,
such as the media, special interest groups and authorities.
Internal vs external stakeholders
- Internal stakeholders: directly affected and take part in the organization’s decision-making
and operations. E.g., managers, owners, employees.
- External stakeholders: not involved in the organization’s operations. E.g., customers,
suppliers, authorities.
Organizational linkage
Matrix model
Interest = how involved stakeholders are in the crisis
Power & influence = how many other stakeholders they can influence
A. High power/low interest: stakeholder in this
category can have a lot of influence if they decide
to use their power, but not a lot of interest in
doing so.
B. High power/high interest: this group includes key
stakeholders who should be involved in decision-
making.
C. Low power/low interest: stakeholders who barely
can influence the management of the crisis.
D. Low power/high interest: stakeholders who are
directly affected by the crisis, but might not have
the power to be heard.
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, Attitude
Mapping consumers’ attitudes can be really useful to track
their feelings around an organization pre-post crisis
Stakeholder classification: how to use? An example.
The case
Primary vs secondary Internal vs external
Organizational linkage
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