Corporate Crisis Research Articles

Performative narcissism: When organizations are made successful, admirable, and unique through narcissistic work

Dramatic stories of corporate crises appear in newspapers and magazines all over the world; one explanation offered by scholars has been that the affected organization suffered (literally) from narcissism. As responsible, ethical, non-narcissistic behavior is claimed to be crucial for management, the purpose of this article is to advance our knowledge about narcissism in organizations by developing an understanding of which organizational work enacts organizations as successful, admired, and unique. The dominant use of narcissism as a pathological condition limits the possibility to learn about organizing processes since it provides simplistic explanations. By introducing the notion of performative narcissism, we re-focus attention from the pathological condition of organizations to potentially pervasive organizational practices. Thus, we see that narcissistic work is a sociomaterial process not limited to organizational borders, but connecting and enrolling people, artifacts, animals, and places into mutually dependent, shifting, and composite assemblages that emerge through practices reproducing the organization as successful and unique.

Corporate Crisis and the Long View

The public primarily encounters the corporate communications function during a crisis. General rules are a good starting place for dealing with a crisis and handy to know, but a historical perspective is a critical supplement. Understanding the kind of crisis your organization faces (or is attempting to avoid) and managing that crisis successfully to the extent possible involves precedents encompassing connections among corporate identity and culture, brand, reputation, business model, and business type, as well as the changing nature of media and crises themselves. Excerpt UVA-BC-0246 Mar. 1, 2013 CORPORATE CRISIS AND THE LONG VIEW For most organizations, every crisis has an established set of procedures. When a commercial jet crashes, the thinking goes, an airline can do little but comfort families, for example, because government agencies take over investigations and make public announcements. Yet few airlines manage to get it right—unless the airline is lucky enough to have a pilot land in the Hudson River, and even that has to be managed carefully. The public primarily encounters the corporate communications function during a crisis. General rules are a good starting place for dealing with a crisis and handy to know, but a historical perspective is a critical supplement. Understanding the kind of crisis your organization faces or is attempting to avoid—indeed, managing a crisis successfully to the extent possible—involves precedents encompassing connections among corporate identity and culture, brand, reputation, business model, and business type, as well as the changing nature of media and crises themselves. Is the Medium the Mess? . . .

Small Medium at Large: Technology, Time, and Memory in Corporate Communications

This note considers the role technological growth continues to play in the evolution of corporate communications. Excerpt UVA-BC-0248 Aug. 11, 2013 SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE: TECHNOLOGY, Time, AND MEMORY IN CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS The first indication of the dramatic effect the nascent World Wide Web could have on corporate communications may have been the Brent Spar crisis in 1995. Shell UK was planning to decommission an oil storage buoy in the North Sea and faced the choice of sinking it or beaching it. Environmental studies had found that the negative impact of either choice would be about equal, but Greenpeace adamantly opposed sinking the buoy and brought its panoply of protest methods to bear. Rubber boats approached the buoy, and as Greenpeace members attempted to board the platform, Shell employees used water hoses to repulse them. But Greenpeace had a new tool: as their activists were being hosed, Greenpeace streamed live video of the confrontation online. The next day, the front page of the Financial Times carried pictures of the event. Shell gas stations were set on fire in Germany. Shell beached the buoy. In the United States, the Brent Spar incident received little attention, but in Europe, it ranks as a landmark corporate crisis on the order of the Exxon Valdez oil spill—the first inkling of how the web could amplify the voice of a small NGO to match that of what was, at the time, the world's largest corporation. Is it a coincidence that NGOs have proliferated to a large extent through the medium of the web and now rank far higher in public trust than corporations? . . .

The role of emotions in crisis news framing and corporate crisis response

The role of emotions in crisis news framing and corporate crisis response

Is it always effective for a corporate to communicate with consumers?: The interaction between an information provider and a media for apology in corporate crisis situations

Is it always effective for a corporate to communicate with consumers?: The interaction between an information provider and a media for apology in corporate crisis situations

An Examination of Consumer–Company Identification as a Key Predictor of Consumer Responses in Corporate Crisis

Through an experiment, this study examined how varying degrees of consumer–company identification, crisis severity and different crisis response messages (i.e., two‐sided vs. one‐sided) affected consumers’ responses to corporate crisis and the crisis‐affected company. Results suggested that two‐sided response messages were more effective in reducing the attribution of crisis responsibility than one‐sided positive response messages for weak identifiers, while one‐sided positive response messages were more effective than two‐sided response messages for strong identifiers. But this message effect was only found in low but not high severity crisis. Findings of the study indicated that consumer–company identification may serve as one of the key factors in predicting consumer reactions to crisis.

In Search of a Scapegoat: The Global Corporate Blame Game

Humanity has a long tradition of searching for means to cope with crisis situations and to manage the order of society. In our contemporary world, corporations with their complex global networking often face crises and need to minimise damage. This paper aims to identify why and how scapegoating is used as a strategy in crisis communication by global business. To this end, Situational Crisis Communication Theory has been used to analyse some recent corporate crises (e.g. Volkswagen AG’s handling of its emissions debacle and Costa Cruises’ fatally shipwrecked Costa Concordia). This study reveals that, even though slightly different from its ancient counterparts in its aims, scapegoating is a frequent tool of corporations seeking to mitigate their multi-causal crises. It also appraises the efficacy of this manoeuvre.

The Effectiveness of Crisis Communication Strategies on Sina Weibo in Relation to Chinese Publics’ Acceptance of These Strategies

With their timely, interactive nature and wide public access, social media have provided a new platform that empowers stakeholders and corporations to interact in crisis communication. This study investigates crisis communication strategies and stakeholders’ emotions in response to a real corporate crisis—the crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214—in order to enhance our understanding of socially mediated crisis communication. The authors examine 8,530 responses from Chinese stakeholders to crisis communication on the Chinese microblogging Web site Sina Weibo. Their findings suggest that the integrated use of accommodative and defensive communication strategies in the early stage of postcrisis communication prevented escalation of the crisis.

Corporate Crisis and Sustainable Reorganization: Evidence from Bankrupt Austrian SMEs

Bankruptcy and failure continue to affect small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide. Since bankruptcies are costly and disruptive, it seems useful to identify factors and resources that are essential for SMEs to overcome a crisis and to reorganize in a way that leads to a sustainable and lasting renewal. By drawing on longitudinal data, we identified essential elements of sustainable reorganization of bankrupt SMEs in Austria that ensure long‐term survival and competitiveness. The results of our study show that the pivotal factor in turnaround is repositioning, which is characterized by a unique selling proposition combined with some kind of innovation and change, and integration into networks.

Corporate crisis advertising: A framework examining the use and effects of corporate advertising before and after crises

While corporate advertising has been widely studied as a promotional tool, few studies have examined how it can be used in a corporate crisis situation. In 2013, Kim proposed a conceptual framework for examining stakeholders’ evaluation of pre-crisis corporate advertising, using the inoculation and reactance theory. The framework, published in Journal of Marketing Communications, suggested that pre-crisis advertising can increase audience resistance towards negative news of an organization and decrease audience resistance towards future corporate advertisements from the organization. The present study expands on Kim’s work to develop the corporate crisis advertising (CCA) framework. In addition to the inoculation and reactance effects discussed in Kim’s model, CCA aims to discuss the effects of corporate advertising on improving organization’s prior reputation based on halo effect, and how post-crisis advertising messages can be evaluated based on crisis theories. Our proposed framework provides a comprehensive view of the use of corporate advertising both before and after a crisis and is useful for organizations to understand the impact of corporate advertising on stakeholders’ evaluation of the organization in a crisis situation. Potential applications of CCA are discussed and directions for future research suggested.

Brand crisis communication through social media

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how companies make use of social media communication to turn crises into opportunities and how consumers respond to this brand management strategy, and evaluate the effects of this kind of advertising campaign. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses the textual analysis method to examine the verbal fight between two brand competitors on Sina Weibo. An interpretative analysis approach is adopted to analyze a series of micro-blog messages and relevant responses and comments. A statistical analysis is conducted to reveal the public opinion on this case. Findings – The brand crisis due to trademark dispute has been successfully turned into an advertising campaign, which received eager and favorable responses from the consumers. In the name of making apologies, the company in crisis availed itself of the Weibo platform to make a veiled protest against the verdict of the Court. The technique “acting cute” was proved to be effective in diminishing the negative effect of a brand crisis and winning public sympathy and support. Research limitations/implications – The research findings may provide insights into the interplay between brand advertising and corporate crisis communication on the platform of social media. Practical implications – This study can inform practitioners of useful techniques to deal with brand crises via social media. Originality/value – The value of this study lies not only in its contribution to the body of knowledge on online crisis management with a case of Chinese companies, but also in its validation of the interplay between crisis communication and advertising.

Representation of modeling based on negative emotions on a corporate crisis : by use of pairwise comparison

Representation of modeling based on negative emotions on a corporate crisis : by use of pairwise comparison

Handling Corporate Crises Based on the Correct Analysis of Its Causes

The extent of a crisis is simultaneously reflected in several areas, making it a complex or multidimensional phenomenon affecting the economic, social, traditional, psychological and legal aspects of an organization. An analysis of the real causes of a crisis or serious problems in a company’s operations, which should not be confused with the symptoms or consequences of a crisis, is extremely important, as it can be used to identify the areas whose effects need to be limited or eliminated. Despite the fact that in business practice there are often suggestions and pressures in the recovery procedure not to deal with the analysis of the causes that brought on the crisis, claiming that it is all in the past and solutions have to be found for the future, the analysis of the real causes for the preparation of a recovery plan of a company is as important as the preparation of the measures to achieve the desired changes. To resolve a crisis, its real causes need to be eliminated or minimised, while working on the wrong causes is just a further waste of time, money and effort, which only makes the crisis situation worse. In the empirical part of the article, using a sample of 164 Slovenian companies in difficulty, the causes, as were listed by the management of these companies, were studied, while two stances were adopted regarding the two set hypotheses.

Corporate Crisis: Evolution of Human Resource Function Roles

Corporate crises involving public scandals are pivotal events as firms evolve, creating new business operating conditions. In this paper, we investigate how the human resource (HR) function respond...

Results from the Integrated Oil & Gas Sector: The 2015 Strategy and Corporate Performance in the Energy Industry (SCOPE) Study

We report results for the Midstream Oil & Gas sector from the Strategy and Performance in the Energy Industry (SCOPE) Survey conducted among professionals in the energy industry (so called “insiders”) to measure their perceptions about specific companies on multiple dimensions of strategic performance. The study includes nine of the most prominent midstream oil & gas companies: 1) Buckeye Partners, 2) Enbridge Energy Partners, 3) Enterprise Products Partners, 4) Genesis Energy, 5) Kinder Morgan, 6) Plains All American Pipeline, 7) Spectra Energy, 8) Sunoco, and 9) Targa Resources. This report includes analysis based on a total of 828 individual company evaluations provided by 665 O&G industry insiders. Using indexed scores, we report the relative performance of the nine companies on ten different dimensions of strategic performance: leadership and strategy, financial management, customer focus, corporate social responsibility, innovation, human resources, safety, global focus, crisis handling, and vendor satisfaction. The results of each company’s overall reputation among O&G industry insiders are also reported.

Improving Corporate Governance Effects on an Enterprise Crisis Based on a New Hybrid DEMATEL with the MADM Model

Abstract The purpose of this study is to set up a new enterprise crisis improvement model for corporate governance based on the hybrid MADM model, which addresses on the main causal factors and amended priorities in order to reduce the occurrence of corporate crises. In this study, we present the use of a new hybrid MADM combined with a DEMATEL technique to construct an influential network relationship map (INRM) and find the influential weights of DANP in criteria from the influential relationship matrix, as well as the modified VIKOR method using influential weights, to evaluate and integrate the criteria performance in the gaps. This study also analyzes how to reduce the gaps to evaluate the decision for improving corporate governance effects based on INRM. This method provides decision-makers with a way to formulate improvement strategies. The results show that the overall average gap of corporate governance is 0.501 (signaling a crisis on the 0 to 1 scale). To remedy this issue, much bigger gaps are needed for improvement in each criterion. The implication is that Taiwan's current financial industry corporate governance system is too weak and needs to be strengthened, reengineered, and transformed.

Sector-Level Results from the 2015 Strategy and Corporate Performance in the Energy Industry (SCOPE) Study

We report sector-level results from the Strategy and Performance in the Energy Industry (SCOPE) Survey conducted among professionals in the energy industry (so called “insiders”) to measure their perceptions about specific companies on multiple dimensions. The study includes 51 of the most prominent oil & gas companies covering six sectors: integrated oil & gas, exploration and production, midstream oil & gas, oil & gas services, refining and marketing, and engineering, project management, and construction. The study dataset includes responses from 1,978 oil & gas industry insiders who provided a total of 4,742 company evaluations. Results revealed that financial management, safety, leadership & strategy, and global focus are assessed relatively highly by respondents whereas corporate social responsibility, crisis handling, and innovation are rated relatively lower. The refining sector is consistently the worst performer of the six sectors. The best performer honors are enjoyed by the integrated oils in eight of ten performance factors. Six performance factors are significant predictors of the firm’s overall reputation. We also report results of an importance-performance analysis to help prioritize dimensions of strategic performance.

Facebook’s role in crisis response

Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings – This paper notes that, while the public represented on Facebook applies distinct crisis frames in comparison to conventional sources, its frame-setting power is limited. It discovers that it is rather the news media that influences the crisis framing in social media. This paper concludes that the role of the public represented on Facebook appears marginal in comparison to news media that remain a major force in the discursive negotiation of a corporate crisis. Practical implications – The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Corporate Crisis Communication: Examining the Interplay of Reputation and Crisis Response Strategies

This experiment study used a 2 × 3 between-subjects design to assess two factors in crisis communication and reputation management—prior corporate reputation (good and bad) and crisis response strategies (apology, sympathy, and compensation)—on an organization facing high crisis responsibility. Results indicate that stakeholders prefer apology to compensation response strategies. Organizations with a prior good reputation have better postcrisis reviews that those with a prior bad reputation. Crisis managers facing crises that generate high attribution of crisis responsibility and anger are advised to rely on apology rather than compensation strategy. It would also be advantageous for an organization with prior good reputation to highlight its past achievements when responding to a crisis.

Towards Efficient Security

Business Continuity Management (BCM) is an integral part of civil security in terms of corporate crisis management. According to the ISO 22301 (2014) BCM is defined as a holistic management process which identifies potential threats to an organization and the impacts those threats might have on business operations. Looking at the current situation of studies conducted in this field it seems to be obvious that the use of BCM in Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) is underrepresented and that the security level is partially located in an uneconomical range. This paper presents a literature research on the use of BCM in SME and discusses research findings concerning this matter. Based on this a matrix for possible impacts vs. quality of the crisis management for different actors is derived. The article concludes with the presentation of lightweight und easy to handle BCM security solutions in form of Smart Services, as a possible solution for the increasingly IT relaying industry 4.0.