- International doctoral seminar -
STUDYING CRISIS COMMUNICATION:
NEW THEORIES AND METHODOLOGIES
Organized by
Centre for Corporate Communication, Department of Business Communication,
School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University (Denmark)
Hosted by
International Research Group on Crisis Communication, Department of Media Studies,
Ilmenau University of Technology (Germany)
When? From September 30 to October 2, 2013
Where? Ilmenau University of Technology
DESCRIPTION OF DOCTORAL SEMINAR
The seminar, which spans over three days and is aimed at doctoral students within the
social sciences and the humanities, is divided into two parts.
Part (I) consists of an advanced presentation and discussion of recent crisis
management and crisis communication research. The focus is on how the discipline of
crisis management has developed from a narrow to a broad perspective, and from a
simple broad to a complex broad perspective; and how crisis communication has moved
from a rhetorical and text-oriented approach to a more strategic and context-oriented
approach with a view to allied fields such as risk communication, issues management
and reputation management. A special interest is devoted to international crises and the
role of the new social media.
Part (II) consists of an advanced introduction to the methodologies of crisis
communication including both quantitative methodologies and research techniques
(experimental designs, content analysis, and surveys) and qualitative methodologies and
research techniques (especially case studies as a research design). The seminar also
includes a one-day long case study-based workshop focusing on theory building.
Before the seminar, the participants will be asked to hand in a two-page long
presentation of their research project. After the seminar and in order to receive the 5
ECTS, the participants will be asked to submit a short paper (8-10 pages), which will be
commented on and evaluated by the teachers based on the content of the seminar.
After the seminar, you should be able to
 Understand how crisis management and crisis communication have developed as
academic disciplines since the mid-1980s
 Identify and discuss key concepts, models and theories within the field of crisis
management and crisis communication
 Understand the mechanisms of theory building
 Apply various types of research designs and research methods within the study of
crises, crisis management and crisis communication
Teachers
 Professor W. T. Coombs & professor S. J. Holladay, U. of Central Florida (USA)
 Professor F. Frandsen & professor W. Johansen, Aarhus University (Denmark)
Organizers
 F. Frandsen & W. Johansen, Aarhus University (Denmark)
General information about the seminar
 ECTS: 5
 Readings: A text compendium will be published on September 2, 2013 (in a
Dropbox folder). To get access to the folder, please contact Finn Frandsen
(ff@asb.dk)
 Important! Deadline for registration: September 16, 2013
 Registration: Please contact Vibeke Vrang (vv@asb.dk), Department of Business
Communication, Aarhus University
PRELIMINARY PROGRAM
September 30
Ilmenau University of Technology
09:00-10:30 am
Room: Sr HU
211/212
Opening session:
Lecture for MA students at Ilmenau University of Technology
11:00-2:30 pm
Room: EAZ 1320
Introduction to Doctoral Seminar: Crisis Management and
Crisis Communication: A Vibrant Field
(Winni Johansen)
The discipline of crisis management has developed from a narrow
and event-oriented approach to a broad and process-oriented
approach, and again from a simple broad perspective to a complex
broad perspective. However, how far can we go applying a life
cycle model? Other issues debated recently: anticipation vs.
resilience, external vs. internal crisis management, crisis
sensemaking theory, and the disturbance of relational systems. The
development within the discipline of crisis management is also
reflected within the discipline of crisis communication. We have
seen an evolution from text-oriented approaches to context-oriented
approaches and new approaches embracing the complexity and the
dynamics of today’s organizational crises. In this section, we will
look at the dominant paradigms, theories and models in crisis
management and crisis communication research.
Lunch on campus (1:00-1:30 pm)
2:30-4:30 pm
Room: EAZ 1320
Crisis Communication Research: New Challenges
(W. Timothy Coombs)
The new challenges for crisis communication research focus on two
categories: (1) complex situations and (2) integration with allied
fields. Crisis managers are facing more complex crisis situations
that include crises that are global, competing voices, and social
media. With the growth of transnational organizations, global crises
are on the rise as well. Crises may transpire in multiple countries
and/or require the management of a crisis in host culture that is
different from one’s own. The challenge becomes how to factor
culture into the crisis communication process. The rhetorical arena
approach has focused attention on multiple voices trying to manage
crises. The challenge becomes identifying the voices and the
potential effects of each on the crisis communication process. The
social media can add to the number of voices but also raises issues
about the origin of crises and how to select communication
channels for crisis communication. Integration involves fusing
elements of the key fields that are allied with crisis communication.
The primary allied fields are risk communication, issues
management, and reputation management. Crisis communication
does not exist in isolation and understanding why crisis
communication is effective or ineffective often demands the
application of principles and theories from these allied fields.
Researchers need to broaden their views and literature reviews to
address this challenge.
4:30-6:00 pm
Room: EAZ 1320
Project Presentations
(PhD students)
Dinner (7:30 pm) at a restaurant in Ilmenau
October 1
Ilmenau University of Technology
9:00-4:00 am
Room: EAZ 1320
Workshop: Applying and Developing New Theories
(W. Timothy Coombs, F. Frandsen, Sherry J. Holladay, Winni
Johansen)
Short introduction to case study (and selected theoretical
approaches)
All course participants will get an introduction to a recent
organizational crisis and to a set of different theoretical approaches
to crisis communication research (selected by the four teachers).
After the introduction the participants will be divided into teams.
Lunch on campus (12:00-1:00 pm)
Team work
Each team will be asked to study the case from the perspective of a
specific theoretical approach (such as situational crisis
communication theory, crisis communication as terminological
control, contingency theory of crisis communication, the rhetorical
arena, crisis sensemaking, etc. Key questions:



How far can we get with the case study applying this
specific approach?
How can the approach be developed?
And how can we develop new theories that can improve our
understanding of crisis communication?
Presentations and discussions: Results team work
4:30-6:30 pm
Room: EAZ 1320
Project Presentations
(PhD students)
Dinner (7:30 pm) at a restaurant in Ilmenau
October 2
Ilmenau University of Technology
9:00-11:30 am
Room: EAZ 1315
The Methodologies of Crisis Communication (I)
(Sherry J. Holladay)
This session focuses on the use of quantitative methodologies in
crisis communication research. Three primary methods of
quantitative research will be discussed: experimental designs,
content analyses, and surveys. Each method offers opportunities
for exploring various aspects of crisis communication. Examples
from previous research will illustrate the purposes, processes, and
outcomes of these methods. Issues related to the specific methods,
such as the scope of research, development of stimulus materials,
measurement issues, content coding, interpretations, and
appropriateness of the methods to the research problems will be
examined. Advantages of and challenges to using the three
quantitative approaches will help participants evaluate the utility of
the methods for addressing particular types of crisis communication
issues.
Lunch (11.30-12:30 pm)
12:30-3:00 pm
Room: EAZ 1320
The Methodologies of Crisis Communication (II)
(Finn Frandsen)
This session focuses on the use of qualitative methods in crisis
communication research. A set of important qualitative methods
and/or research designs will be discussed: rhetorical analysis and
discourse analysis, interviews, and participant observation. The use
of mixed methods, that is, the combination of qualitative and
quantitative approaches, will also be addressed. The discussion will
be rooted in the ongoing debate about the use of case studies as a
research design in public relations research in general and in crisis
communication research in particular. Is it a “methodical failure”?
(cf. Cutler, 2004, An & Cheng, 2010).
3:00-4:00 pm
Room: EAZ 1320
Wrapping Up: On Our Way to the Conference in Erfurt!
7:00 pm
Erfurt
Get together -- “Crossing Boundaries in Crisis Communication”
Third International Conference on Crisis Communication in the 21st
Century
Readings
Winni Johansen

Frandsen, F. & Johansen, W. (2010). Crisis Communication, Complexity, and
the Cartoon Affair: A Case Study. In Coombs, W. T. & Holladay. S. J. (eds).
The Handbook of Crisis Communication. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 425448

Gilpin, D. R. & Murphy, P. (2010). Complexity and Crises: A New Paradigm. In
Coombs, W. T. & Holladay. S. J. (eds.). The Handbook of Crisis
Communication. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 683-690.

Gilpin, D. R. & Murphy, P. (2010). Implications of Complexity Theory for
Public Relations. In Heath, R.L. (ed.). The SAGE Handbook of Public Relations.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 71-83.

Maguire, S., Mckelvey, B., Mirabeau, L. & Öztas, N. (2006). Complexity
Science and Organization Studies. In Clegg, S. R., Hardy, C., Lawrence, T. B. &
Nord, W. R. (eds.). The SAGE Handbook of Organization Studies, Thousand
Oaks: Sage Publications, 165-214

Roux-Dufort, C. (2007). A Passion for Imperfections. Revisiting Crisis
Management. In Pearson, C. M., Roux-Dufort, C. & Clair, J. A. (eds.).
International Handbook of Organizational Crisis Management. LA: Sage
Publications, 221-251.
W. Timothy Coombs

Coombs, W. T. (2010). Crisis communication: A developing field. In Heath, R.
L. (ed.). The SAGE Handbook of Public Relations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage,
477-488.

Coombs, W. T. (2010). Crisis communication and its allied fields. In Coombs,
W. T. & Holladay. S. J. (eds.). The Handbook of Crisis Communication.
Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 54-64.

Curtin, P. A. (2010). Negotiating global citizenship: Mattel’s 2007 recall crisis.
In Coombs, W. T. & Holladay. S. J. (eds.). The Handbook of Crisis
Communication. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 467-488.
Sherry J. Holladay

Holladay, S. J. (2010). Are they practicing what we are preaching? An
investigation of crisis communication strategies in the media coverage of
chemical accidents. In Coombs, W. T. & Holladay. S. J. (eds.). The Handbook of
Crisis Communication. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 159-180.

Coombs, W. T. & Holladay, S, J. (2010). Examining the effects of mutability
and framing on perceptions of human error and technical error crises:
Implications for situational crisis communication theory. In Coombs, W. T. &
Holladay. S. J. (eds.). The Handbook of Crisis Communication. Malden, MA:
Wiley-Blackwell, 181-204.

Elliot, J. D. (2010). How do past crisis affect publics’ perceptions of current
events? An experiment testing corporate reputation during an adverse event. In
Coombs, W. T. & Holladay. S. J. (eds.). The Handbook of Crisis
Communication. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 205-220.
Finn Frandsen

An, S-K. & Cheng, I-H. (2010). Crisis communication research in public
relations journals: Tracking research trends over thirty years. In Coombs, W. T.
& Holladay. S. J. (eds.). The Handbook of Crisis Communication. Malden, MA:
Wiley-Blackwell, 65-90.

Cutler, A. (2004). Methodological failure: The use of case study method by
public relations researchers. Public Relations Review, 30, 365-375.

Efthimou, G. G. (2010). Regaining altitude: A case analysis of the JetBlue
Airways Valentine’s Day 2007 crisis. In Coombs, W. T. & Holladay. S. J. (eds.).
The Handbook of Crisis Communication. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 115140.