Managing organizational PR activities in crisis situations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26661/2522-1566/2023-4/26-08Keywords:
public relations, crisis situations, crisis management, organizational PR-activities, PR-unit, anti-crisis strategy, company’s imageAbstract
Public relations have proved to be an efficient apparatus in the organizational crisis management, acting to resolve crisis situations, promoting organizations/enterprises, their products or services by shaping public opinions and coordinating with civil society. PR activities involve a set of different practices, including managing the company’s image, media mediation, organizing various events, corporate communications, which are aimed at mutually beneficial relationships between staff and customers, partners, and other publics. Therefore, the relevance of our research is determined by the need to increase the effectiveness of PR activities in crisis situations at domestic enterprises in order to provide their development and successful functioning as well as avoid the threats to organizational reputation and image caused by crisis situations. The study is aimed at analyzing the theoretical and practical aspects of managing enterprises’ PR activities in crisis situations and revealing the role of effective strategies and methods in anti-crisis PR as a means of preserving the enterprise’s image. The subject matter of this paper is organizational PR anti-crisis activities. In the article, critical analysis, synthesis and comparison were applied as the basic research principles. The results suggest that managing the organizational PR activities in crisis situations is successful if the following measures are implemented, namely analysis of the company’s (organization) image by studying the publics’ opinions; development of a crisis response strategy together with the management; implementation of PR programs through establishing communications with general public and target audiences. It is determined that in crisis situations, the main task is to manage the communication process aimed at spreading the organization’s viewpoint, influencing the problem perception, preventing the spread of rumors and disinformation as well as neutralizing or minimizing the consequences of the crisis for the image and reputation of the organization.
JEL Classification: М 10, M14, M15, M19
References
Bernays, E. (2019). Crystallizing Public Opinion. New York: G&D Media.
Black, S. (1989). Introduction to Public Relations. London: Modina Press.
Booth, S. (2017). Crisis Management Strategy. Competition and Change in Modern Enterprises. London: Routledge.
Broom, G., Casey, S., and Ritchey, J. (2000). Concept and Theory of Organization-Public Relationships. In: Public Relations as Relationship Management: A Relational Approach to the Study and Practice of Public Relations (ed. J.A. Ledingham and S.D. Bruning), 3–22. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Chen, S., Chia, Yu. & Lia, A. (2023). Study on the image restoration strategy and effect of corporates in crisis situations based on text mining. Procedia Computer Science, 221, 1250-1257. DOI: 10.1016/j.procs.2023.08.113.
Coombs, W. (2007). Protecting Organization Reputations during a Crisis: The Development and Application of Situational Crisis Communication Theory. Corporate Reputation Review 10, 163-176. DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.crr.1550049.
Coombs, W. (2015). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing, and responding (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Coombs, W. & Holladay, S. (2023). The Handbook of Crisis Communication (2d ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.
Cutlip, S., Center, A., & Broom, G. (2006). Effective Public Relations (9th ed.). NJ: Prentice-Hall; Upper Saddle River.
Dergousova, A., Elagin, Yu. & Chebanova, O. (2018). Improvement of the Concept of the Image of the Enterprise for the Account of Social Ecological Public Effects. International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 7 (4.3), 409-413. DOI:10.14419/ijet.v7i4.3.19852.
Dmytriiev, I., Horova, K. & Melnychenko, O. (2018). Evaluation of the Crisis Management Efficiency at the Enterprise. Ekonomika rozvytku, 1, 84-92 [in Ukrainian]. URL: http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/ecro_2018_1_12 (accessed 16.10.2023)
Fearn-Banks, K. (2001). Crisis communication: A review of some best practices. In R. L. Heath (Ed.), Handbook of Public Relations (479–485). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Góis, A., De Luca, M., Lima, G. & Medeiros, J. (2020). Corporate Reputation and Bankruptcy Risk. BAR-Brazilian Administration Review, 17 (2), 1-22. DOI: 10.1590/1807-7692bar2020180159.
Gregory, A. (2010). Planning and managing public relations campaigns: a strategic approach (3rd. ed.). London; Philadelphia; New Delhi: Kogan Page.
Grunig, J. & Hunt, T. (1984). Managing Public Relations. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Kennan, W. & Hazleton, V. (2006). Internal public relations, social capital, and the role of effective organizational communication. In C. Botan & V. Hazleton (Eds.), Public Relations Theory II (311–338). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Korolko, V. & Nekrasova, O. (2009). Public Relations. Scientific Grounds, Methodology, Practice (3rd ed.). Kyiv: Vyd. dim “Kyievo-Mohylianska akademiia” [in Ukrainian].
Ledingham, J. (2003). Explicating relationship management as a general theory of public relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 15 (2), 181–198. DOI: 0.1016/S0363-8111(98)80020-9.
Lerbinger, O. (1997). The Crisis Manager: Facing Risk and Responsibility. New Jersey: Erlbaum.
Li, Z. & Chen, H. (2015). Strategy of Enterprise Crisis Management in the Information Age. 3rd International Conference on Management Science, Education Technology, Arts, Social Science and Economics. DOI: 10.2991/msetasse-15.2015.159.
Lyhonenko, L. (2001) Anti-crisis Management of Enterprise: Theoretical and Methodological Premises and Practical Apparatus. Kyiv: KNTEU [in Ukrainian].
Marsh, Ch. (2016). Classical Rhetoric and Modern Public Relations: An Isocratean Model. New York, London: Routledge.
Moiseiev, V. (2007). Public Relations. Kyiv: Akademvydav [in Ukrainian].
Myronenko, V. (2020). Measuring the effectiveness of PR activities: variability of criteria and approaches. Communications and Communicative Technologies. 107-115. DOI: 10.15421/292016 [in Ukrainian].
Oliver, S. (2010). Public Relations Strategy (3rd ed.). London: Kogan Page Publishers.
Pashko, L. & Myronenko, V. (2018). Crisis PR as a factor of formation and protection of the PR-activities subject’s image. Mass Communication in Global and National Dimensions (MCGND), 10, 188-193.
Pérez-Cornejo, C., de Quevedo-Puente, E. & Wilson, A. (2022). In search of the roots of corporate reputation management: Being a consistent corporate social performer. Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, 31 (1), 4-16. DOI: 10.1111/beer.12386.
Regester, M. & Larkin, J. (2008). Risk Issues and Crisis Management in Public Relations: A Casebook of Best Practice (4th ed.). London: Kogan Page Publishers.
Romanovskyi, O., Sereda, N. & Vorobiova, Ye. (2015). The Basics of Public Relations. Kharkiv: NTU «KhPI» [in Ukrainian].
Rousseau, D. M. (2006). Is there such a thing as "evidence-based management"? The Academy of Management Review, 31(2), 256–269. DOI: 10.2307/20159200.
Seitel, F. (2017). The Practice of Public Relations (13th ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd.
Stravinskienė, J., Matulevičienė, M. & Hopenienė, R. (2021). Impact of Corporate Reputation Dimensions on Consumer Trust. Engineering Economics, 32 (2), 177-192. DOI: 10.5755/j01.ee.32.2.27548.
Shtanhret, A. (2008). Anti-crisis Management of the Enterprise. Lviv: Ukrainska akademiia drukarstva [in Ukrainian].
Shtanhret, A. (2012). Anti-crisis Personnel Management of the Enterprise. Scientific Notes of the Ukrainian Academy of Printing, 4, 64-68 [in Ukrainian]. URL: http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/Nz_2012_4_10 (accessed 12.11.2023).
Tyler, L. (2005). Towards a postmodern understanding of crisis communication. Public Relations Review, 31, 566–571.
Ulmer, R. R., Sellnow, T. L., & Seeger, M. W. (2007). Effective crisis communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Xifra, J. (2020). Public Relations and Corporate Propaganda. In P. Baines, N. O’Shaughnessy & N. Snow (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Propaganda (137-153). SAGE Publications Ltd. DOI: 10.4135/9781526477170.
Zalohina, R. (2004). Anti-crisis Management of the Enterprise in the Conditions of Transitional Economy in Ukraine. Extended abstract of PhD thesis. Khmelnytskyi: Khmelnytskyi State University [in Ukrainian].







