Crisis Communication: Managing Stakeholder Relationships

Crises come in many shapes and sizes, including media blunders, social media activism, extortion, product tampering, security issues, natural disasters, accidents, and negligence - just to name a few. For organizations, crises are pervasive, challenging, and catastrophic, as well as opportunities for organizations to thrive and emerge stronger. Despite the proliferation of research and books related to crisis communication, the voice that is often lost is that of the stakeholder. Yet, as both a public relations and management function, stakeholders are central to the success and failure of organizations responding to and managing crises in a cross-platform and global environment. This core textbook provides a comprehensive and research-driven introduction to crisis communication, critical factors influencing crisis response, and what we know about predicting stakeholder responses to crises. Incorporated into each chapter are global case studies, ethical challenges, and practitioner considerations. Online resources include an extensive set of multimedia materials ranging from podcast mini-lectures to in-class exercises, and simulation-based activities for skills development (https://audralawson.com/resources/crisis-communication-managing-stakeholder-relationships/).Demonstrating the connection between theory, decision-making, and strategy development in a crisis context, this is a vital text for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, and Strategic Management.

About the Author

Audra Diers-Lawson is a Senior Lecturer at Leeds Beckett University, United Kingdom. She serves as chair of the Crisis Communication Division of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) and sits on several journal editorial boards with recent publications on topics like consumer trust, intercultural crisis communication, crisis atonement, whistleblowing, and stakeholder anger at organizations in crisis.