Public Relations
Week 1: Introduction
Session 1: Public Relations: An Introduction | Giulia Ranzini
Definitions PR
Management of communication of the organization, e.g. negotiation of points of view
& bridging interests (Grunig)
Management of a mutual understanding between an organization and its publics
(Cutlip)
The development of relationships to help communicate about an organization, an
issue, a person or a product (Gorden)
Terminorlogy
Organization: Implies a broader range of institutions than “firm” or “company”
When we talk of a company, we discuss a commercial entity
Organizations implies a number of other institutions, that don’t necessarily sell
something, but that might still be involved in in public relations
Public relations vs marketing vs advertisement;
It is not just about the message, it is about the established relationship (with the press,
customers, suppliers)
Week 2: Crisis management and communication
Session 2 (theme session): Crisis Communication | Giulia Ranzini
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.
A crisis means that change is needed, which is not necessarily negative. But it can be positive
in the sense that a crisis fuels change which is sometimes really needed.
For organizations, crises include:
Natural crisis (like floods, earthquakes or fires)
Political crisis (corruption or changes in government)
Internal crisis (misconduct or abuse)
A crisis is the perception of an unpredictable event that threatens important expectancies of
stakeholders related to health, safety, environmental and economic issues, and seriously
impact an organization’s performance and generate negative outcomes (Coombs, 2015)
Stakeholder: Stakeholders in a crisis can be defined as individuals, groups, communities or
organization who may affect, be affected by or perceived themselves to be affected by the
crisis (Ndlela, 2019)
,Example: The idea of a restaurant
Imagine opening a restaurant yourself; how many people does it involve? Customers?
Suppliers? Do I have to go to the government first? What is the competition in the
same street? What to do with trash? A very small operation (so not being a
multinational), you still have many stakeholders.
Why stakeholders?
Interest around stakeholders come from stakeholder theory
= An economic theory that posists that organizations are embedded in a series of relationships
with other organizations, communities and institutions such as governments.
It is not enough to just make profit! You are part of a broader system of stakeholders.
According to this theory, the goal of an organization should be the mediation of everyone’s
(happy neighbours, enough money for employees etc) interest.
“An organizations’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” (Freeman & Philips, 2002)
Stakeholders matter because taking decision that affects stakeholders can spill over to other
stakeholders. Example: You move your factory from America to Mexico. Your employees
can go on strike get picks up by social media consumers won’t buy your product
anymore.
Stakeholder classification
Not all stakeholders are equally relevant for your organization (think about 1 customer
placing a bad review versus not paying for your water to someone)
Organizations 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, organization should understand:
Which stakeholder are affected?
How seriously they are affected?
What are the consequences of stakeholders being affected?
this requires a classification!
Stakeholder management
At the center of establishing and maintaining relationships with stakeholders is
communications. Organizations should:
Be aware of whom to relate to in case of a crisis
Involve stakeholders in pre-crisis preparedness, for crises that can be prevented
, Establish appropriate communication channels for each stakeholder (different for
government as for consumers as for other stakeholders)
4 phases of stakeholder management (Rawlins, 2006)
Two fundamental questions:
1. How to define and identify
stakeholders?
2. How to manage the relationship with
various stakeholder groups?
Primary versus secondary stakeholders
Primary stakeholders are fundamental, are immediately affected by the actions of the
organization.
Secondary stakeholders are generally not really involved, unless there is a crisis! Think about
the press or activists. Do not care enough otherway.
Internal versus external stakeholders
About being inside or outside your organization
Organizational linkage
Classify stakeholders based on what they can
do for us this is another way of thinking
about classifying stakeholders:
Enabling stakeholders: Enable your ability to
continue doing your job.
Functional stakeholders: Management of the crisis, who solve/handle the crisis
, Diffusive stakeholders: Like secondary stakeholders
Normative stakeholders: Who have similar problems
Matrix model
Interest = how involved stakeholders are in
the crisis
Power & influence = how many other
stakeholders can they influence
A: High power/low interest
Stakeholder in this category can have a lot o influence if they decide to use their
power, but not a lot of interest in doing so
Keep satisfied
B: High power/high interest
This group includes key stakeholders who should be involved in decision-making
Manage closely (with maximum effort)
C: Low power/low interest
Stakeholders who barely can influence the management of the crisis
Monitor (with minimum effort)
D: Low power/high interest
Stakeholders who are directly affected by the crisis, but might not have the power to
be heard
Keep them informed
Stakeholders can shift from one to another! There are many circumstances in which this can
happen. The media usually play a big role in this.
Attitude
Mapping consumers’ attitudes can be really useful
to track their feelings around an organization pre-
post crisis.
Being an ally, neutral or an opponent
Example case: Chipotle (restaurant – Chain)
