Finn Frandsen

The study of internal crisis communication: towards an integrative framework

Purpose – Previous crisis communication research has primarily examined the external dimension of crisis communication, i.e. the crisis response strategies applied by organizations to protect and/or restore their image or reputation among external stakeholders in a crisis situation. The purpose of this paper is to set up an integrative framework for the study of internal crisis communication in private and public organizations.Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes a theoretical approach reviewing the literature on crisis management and crisis communication and discussing the concept of internal stakeholder and the implications of a staged approach.Findings – An integrative framework for the study of internal crisis communication is developed based on two assumptions: first, that internal crisis communication research must start with a detailed study of the relationship between an organization and its internal stakeholders (in this case: the employees) to clarify to what extent internal crisis comm...

Why a concern for apologia and crisis communication

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide context for and a preview of the content for the special issue on corporate apologia.Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is a review of literature relevant to crisis communication and the role of apologia within this body of literature.Findings – Apologia, a rhetoric of self‐defense, has a strong connection in the creation and development of crisis communication. Current research is moving beyond the parameters of apologia but it remains a strong influence on the field. Future crisis communication research needs to explore further the role of emotion if crisis communication and the implications of international crisis communication. The various contributions the articles in the special issue provide for crisis communication are reviewed as a means of previewing the special issue.Practical implications – The paper provides lessons that crisis managers can apply when they need to communicate during a crisis.Originality/value – The paper provides in...

Apologizing in a Globalizing World: Crisis Communication and Apologetic Ethics

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study three apologies or statements offered by the Vatican and/or Pope Benedict XVI after a much‐debated lecture at the University of Regensburg in Germany in 2006. The rhetorical model of apologizing and apologetic ethics proposed by Hearit is applied and tested in the study with the aim of expanding his theory.Design/methodology/approach – The research design is qualitative and based on a case study methodology combining rhetorical criticism and ethics with crisis communication theory.Findings – The analysis shows that although Hearits approach allows us to both describe, explain and evaluate the apologies or statements offered by the Vatican and/or the Pope during the crisis, it does not take into account the globalizing context, or the more complex and less evident sociocultural order, into which their crisis communication is embedded.Originality/value – The paper introduces and discusses the new concept of meta‐apology, i.e. an apology where the apologist is...

Rhetoric, Climate Change, and Corporate Identity Management

This article examines rhetorical aspects of corporate identity management practiced by corporations in many parts of the world as a consequence of the ongoing institutionalization of climate change. Through a case study, we analyze the rhetoric produced by car producers in Denmark (the three best selling brands in 2009: Peugeot, Ford, and Toyota) to identify themselves vis-à-vis external key stakeholders. The article is based on theories stemming from neoinstitutional organizational studies, especially the Scandinavian research tradition, where organizations are active “translators” that adopt new rules, norms, and ideas in accordance with their local organizational contexts. We ask what kind of impact the new external organizational rhetoric may have on the organizations concerned and on society at large: Do organizations, in the course of time, become what they claim to be?

Institutionalizing Crisis Communication in the Public Sector: An Explorative Study in Danish Municipalities

As a reaction to a series of complex and ongoing changes, a growing number of Danish municipalities have embarked on a comprehensive process of “communicative rearmament,” strengthening their organization with new chief communication officers and new communication departments. This article examines how far the municipalities have come in the institutionalization of crisis management and crisis communication, which are defined as an integrated part of their strategic communication. Based on the cultural-cognitive model of institutions and a process-based approach to institutionalization, it is shown how two different institutional logics operate behind the crisis-preparedness of the municipalities: an already existing emergency logic represented by the emergency officer and the municipal rescue preparedness, and a new crisis management logic represented by the chief communication officer and the municipal communication department. It is of great importance that these two logics start interacting across functions and departments in todays public organizations.

Public relations and the new institutionalism: In search of a theoretical framework

The aim of this conceptual article is to study a possible dual relationship between public relations and the new institutionalism. How can neo-institutional organizational theory contribute to public relations research, including answering the question: How is public relations (corporate communication or strategic communication) institutionalized in private and public organizations? And how, vice versa, can public relations contribute to the neo-institutional study of organizations, including answering the question: How does public relations institutionalize? In the first part of the article, a short up-to-date précis of the new institutionalism is given demonstrating how this theoretical framework within organizational sociology has developed through various stages and in various directions. The focus is on the shift towards a more complex and interactive understanding of how and why organizations adopt institutionalized norms. In the second part of the article, the new interest in rhetorical, discursive and communicative aspects among neo-institutional scholars is discussed with special reference to Lammers’s theory of institutional messages. An outline of a new theory about how public relations institutionalizes is presented. Each of the two parts of the article ends with a set of research questions to be addressed by future cross-disciplinary research in public relations and neo-institutional organizational theory.

Organizations, Stakeholders, and Intermediaries: Towards a General Theory

The aim of this conceptual article is to contribute to the development of a general theory of intermediaries (e.g., trade associations, trade unions, advocacy groups, government agencies, consulting firms, and the media). The primary function or mission of intermediaries is to mediate the relationship between an organization and its stakeholders; that is, to represent either the organization and/or the stakeholders, and/or to intervene in their relationship by furthering or impeding their interests and activities. We are in particular interested in how the specific status and function of intermediaries affect how they communicate. After a brief review of the research on stakeholders in general, and organization-stakeholder relationships and organization-public relationships in particular, a definition of intermediaries and a set of taxonomic criteria for the classification of intermediaries are presented. These first steps towards a theory of intermediaries are illustrated with a case study.

A Comparative Study of Crisis Consultancies Between Singapore and Denmark: Distant Cousins of the Same Destiny?

The aim of this article is to compare the state of crisis consultancies in Singapore and Denmark. Adapting and integrating indicators to assess professionalism, the study seeks to examine: 1) the level of expertise of public relations consultants in offering crisis management and communication consultancy to private and public organizations; 2) the level of experience of the consultants; and, 3) the value and expedience of the consultancy services offered to the clients. The research design comprised two stages. First, archival search of the websites of the public relations agencies that professed to offer crisis consultancy in the two countries was conducted. Second, the agencies that claimed to offer such services were contacted and a series of qualitative in-depth interviews with senior executives was conducted. The findings identified important differences and similarities between crisis consultancies in Singapore and Denmark.

From Management Consulting to Strategic Communication: Studying the Roles and Functions of Communication Consulting

The body of knowledge about the management consulting industry has been growing at an impressive speed in recent decades. Today, we have a detailed and empirically founded knowledge about the history, economics, and sociology of management consulting; about consultants as transmitters or “carriers” of new management knowledge; about the client-consultant relationship and the interaction taking place inside consulting projects; and, about the complex and often problematic relationship between management consulting, management fads and fashions, and academia. However, we still know very little about the external and/or internal consulting work offered and performed by communication professionals in the field of strategic communication (including public relations and corporate communication) in Europe, North America, Asia, and other parts of the world. Although communication consulting agencies play an important role when private and public organizations are in need of using communication to reach their organizational goals, they have not very often been subjected to scientific study. The aim of this IJSC special issue on Strategic Communication and Consulting: Research on Internal and External Advising in Communication Management is to address this gap. The issue comprises five articles covering or representing different areas, approaches, and perspectives: from management to communication consulting; from external to internal communication consulting; from public relations consulting to crisis consulting; and, across national borders (from the United States to Singapore and Denmark).

Civil Servant Involvement in the Strategic Communication of Central Government Organizations: Mediatization and Functional Politicization

ABSTRACT This article investigates the involvement of permanent civil servants in strategic communication in government organizations within the context of mediatized democracies. Based upon an argument that the involvement in strategic communication is to be seen as part and parcel of a functional politicization of the civil service, the article identifies a significant and positive relationship between media awareness and functional politicization across the ministerial hierarchy as well as between media pressure and functional politicization, although moderated by organizational level and position. Based upon these empirical findings, the article demonstrates how strategic communication for pursuing and achieving political ends in central governments involves a permanent civil service aware of and positioned in organizations subject to pressures from the news media. The article discusses how these findings relate to different perspectives on strategic communication in central government organizations and identifies the need for mediatization research to re-emphasize central government organizations as organizations in their own right but just as importantly as an instrument for governments. Furthermore, the article points out the relevance for including non-elected actors into the research on political communication from politicians once elected into offices. The empirical analysis is performed in the context of Danish central government organizations.