Crisis Communication: The Public
First/Organization Last Paradox
Elizabeth L. Toth, Ph.D.
University of Maryland
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The General Rule of Crisis
Communication
“Environmental turbulence is a catalyst
for pushing public relations and
communication management to center
stage.”
(L. Grunig et al., 2002, p. 424)
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No Public Relations In Evidence
“But don’t you CEO’s get the optics?
This is a PR debacle.
You’re not talking to shareholders or staff
members; you’re talking to Congress. And
Congress doesn’t work for you; it works for
millions of Americans who are struggling and
getting pretty desperate for a way out.”
(Brown, 2008)
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A Crisis is. . .
“A people-stopping, show-stopping, product
stopping, reputationally defining event, which
creates victims and/or explosive visibility.”
(Jim Lukaszeski, 2001, p. 203)
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Question
• Is there anything of sufficient explanatory and
strategic value in public relations theory to
help organizations and global governments
relieve crisis situations?
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Powerful Paradox
“On a day to day basis, companies and
organizations tend to operate around what is
in their economic and operational best
interest. . . However, when a crisis situation
occurs, it is the community’s value system that
predominates. “ (Lukaszewski, 2001, p. 201)
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Lukaszewski’s advice:
“Respond to community values.”
“If the company does not respond to the
community, its ability to operate and possibly
its future is threatened.” (2001, p. 212)
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Purpose of Paper
To examine Lukaszewski’s observation of the
powerful paradox of community or publics
first over organizational priorities in crises, by
discerning how we will know what public
values are.
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Simple, says Luaszewski
Health and Safety
Natural Environment
Social Environment
Cultural Environment
Technical Considerations
Financial Considerations
Economic Considerations
(the reverse of corporate interests)
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His Advice:
“Solve the crisis, care for the victims, involve
employees, alert those indirectly affected and
manage those who appoint themselves as part
of the situation, such as the news media.”
(2001, p. 207)
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Outline of Paper
• Summarize major strategic crisis management
and crisis communication theories’ view of
publics
• Define those directly involved in the crisis
(community as defined by Lukaszewski, or publics
in public relations theory)
• Center those involved in a crisis as those found
through discourse
• Advocate scenario building as a means to
conceptualizing “values” more accurately.
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Public Relations Defined
“The management of
communication between an
organization and its publics”
J. E. Grunig & T. Hunt (1984, p. 6)
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Major Theories
Strategic Public Relations Management
Rhetorical Theory
Situational Crisis Communication Theory
Symmetrical/Excellence Theory
Contingency Theory
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Definitions of “Those involved”
“Individuals’ attitudes toward specific issues”
(Fern-Banks)
“Persons who are affected”
(Heath and Millar)
“ People who are affected by the organization or
who have power to affect the organization”
(J.E. Grunig)
“Size, credibility, commitment, power”
(Pang, et al.)
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Publics
Groups that Arise Out of Problems
that Affect Them
(John Dewey, in J. E. Grunig, 1994)
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Three views of publics
• Economic view: The situational theory of
publics
• The social interpretist view: publics develop
through discourses
• The critical view: diffuse coalitions with
diverse needs, values, and perceptions
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Publics Paradox
• Dozier and Lauzen’s exemplar of activist public
that doesn’t want “mutually beneficial
relationships”
• Murphy’ s publics as “complex adaptive
systems in their own right”
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To Summarize
• Publics are situational, without fixed values
• Publics have identities
• Publics have power, are resistant
• Publics self-organize new information
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Knowing values not a matter of
strategic planning
“Strategic management is the process of actively
participating in conversations around
important emerging issues. Strategic direction
is not set in advance, but understood in
hindsight as it is emerging or after it has
emerged”
(Stacey, 2003, p. 423)
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Scenario Planning/Building
• Considering all outcomes, and beyond bottom
line (Stroh)
• Projects multiple environmental situations
based on the analysis of a variety of
environmental factors (Sung)
• Learning process that shares and explores
different perspectives (Sung)
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Steps
1.
2.
3.
4.
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6.
7.
8.
9.
Task analysis
Environmental influence analysis
Issues analysis and selection
Key uncertainty identification or problem areas
Key public identification
Scenario plot and component identification
Final scenario development and
Final decision scenarios
Consequence analysis and strategy development
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Conclusion
• Public relations takes central role in
organizational crises by providing accurate
descriptions of values and priorities of
constituent groups that give organizations
permission to operate.
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