PR crisis is a PR opportunity ...!

Crisis Management has literature filled with the lists of do s and dont s and countless checklists. Heath ( 1997:289 ) states that if a company is engaged in issues management before , during and after a crisis , it can mitigate - perhaps prevent - the crisis from becoming an issue by working quickly and responsibly. 

Seymour and Moore ( 2000:10 ) use an extremely interesting metaphor to point out two forms of crises.

The Cobra - It is a 'sudden' crisis , a disaster that hits suddenly and takes the company completely by surprise and leaves it in a crises situation. 

The Python - It is the 'slow-burning' crisis which is a result of a collection of issues that steal up on the company one by one and slowly crush it.

While managing a crisis situation , talking to the media is what requires great deal of tact and knowledge. The 5 C's effective communication model is what has been suggested for the spokesperson  to follow. 

This model explains the 5 attribute which the spokesperson should exhibit on the behalf of his organization . They are Concern , Clarity , Control , Confidence and Competence. 

How ever well a crisis is managed from an operational perspective , it is how an organization communicates about the crisis that makes the real difference. The right kind of communication strategy can indeed transform a crisis into a PR opportunity.


Watch this brief video which elucidates how the right kind of communication can save your life.

This was just a generic example of how can a situation be managed. Approaching crises in Public Relations requires exactly the same kind of thoughtfulness , wit and spontaneity. The ever popular Shilpa Shetty controversy at Celebrity Big Brother , tarnished her image in India for reasons more than one . But , her publicist Dale Bhagwagar was at her rescue and very smartly created an opportunity out of the crisis she was in ,using the PR machinery. 

PR.....GLobal or Local ??

The world is coming closer day by day and delivery of information to the audiences is not a novel phenomenon. 

Similarly, even the world of PR is going beyond cultures and geographical boundaries. Not only multinational organizations but also countries and their governments frequently engage in international public relations to create a positive reputation and image of the particular country abroad or a receptive environment for achieving foreign or economic policy goals. 

One of the major reasons of growth of international public relations can be attributed to the rise of worldwide networks of interdependence. Another significant reason , is the information revolution , which is the result of rapid technological advances in computers , software and communication. 

The standardization versus adaptation debate is prevalent in many communication disciplines Standardisation means sticking to an uniform approach in every country on the other hand adaptation is a culture specific approach. Every Public Relations campaign , which is on an international level , will have standardised objectives and methods of evaluation. The messages will be completely adapted to the region or culture. The tactics and channels will be an amalgamation of standardized and adapted methods.

Another theory which is applied to International Public Relations is that of centralization and decentralization. In reality , centralization and decentralization can vary to different degrees and the balance between the two approaches should be maintained.

Irrespective of whether an organization follows a centralized , decentralized , standardised or adapted approach , it is the co-ordination of the communication efforts that remain crucial to the organization. 

The most interesting aspect of International Public Relations is the idea of country branding. A nation engages in cultivation of a positive image especially if their image has been ruined due to one or the other incident. For example, think about the image USA holds in the eyes of fellow countries , after the War On Terror and War in Iraq. 

Public Relations is now no more restricted to simply and individual , community or organization. It has exploited its own power and spreads across the world to help deliver messages faster than ever. 

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility is an overused term these days and hence it would it be a good idea to go and look at the fundamentals of this phrase. Patricia J Parsons in her book Ethics in Public Relations describes CSR as '' ensuring commercial sucess in ways that honor ethical values and respect people , communities and the environment . Further CSR typically includes issues related to - business ethics , community investment environment , governance , human rights , market place and work place. '' Our guest lecturer Adam Garfunkel defined CSR as a voluntary business effort that is made with an aim of achieving positive social outcomes while benefitting its business objectives. But with the amount of literature on CSR and the hype that surrounds this issue , I think it is not purely a voluntary action.

Why are businesses being socially responsible ? The answer to this question are more than one. The very obvious reasons would be that CSR contributes to corporate image and reputation.Subsequently , a socially responsible reputation is a way of differentiating organizations and providing a competitive advantage. From a stakeholder perspective , CSR works in facilitating a two way flow of information between the organization and stakeholders.
With the kind of benefits a organizations derives from CSR , who would not want to be socially responsible. But the organizations obviously potray it in a different way. This video elucidates how CSR tends to benefit employees.


Business ethics writer Caroll argues that there are four kinds of social responsibility : economic , legal , ethical and philanthropic , demonstrated through the CSR pyramid in the figure below.

This matrix is proposed as an analytical tool for framework to help company managers make sense of their ideas about what the firm should be doing economically , legally , ethically and philanthropically with respect to its defined stake holder groups.

In case of public relations and its functions within an organization , there are ways how ethical PR practise can play a role in the overall socially responsible functioning of organizations. The Public Relations function takes care of - internal relations , client-consumer relations , community relations and media relations . Apart from these , areas of investor relations and goverment relations also serve as opportunities for PR professionals to contribute to an organizations social responsibility programme.