Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management最新文献

Although crisis planning (including both prevention and preparation) is well-established as the 'alpha' of crisis management, businesses often find themselves caught off-guard in the face of crises. What impedes business organizations from heeding scholarly advice to engage in crisis planning? Interviews with corporate communication professionals suggest that in a fast-evolving digital landscape characterized by the ambiguity of what ‘qualifies’ as a crisis, the need for an organizational culture of preparedness and balancing structure with agility are the hallmarks of crisis planning. Even when interviewees acknowledge the importance of crisis planning, cultivating a culture of preparedness is contingent on an engaged leadership that recognizes and provides communication professionals a seat at the table, fosters internal coordination, and understands the importance of peacetime relationships with stakeholders. Our paper addresses the complexities and implications of crisis planning that is typically hidden from view.

Public warning failure is an undertheorized concept. A shared definition of public warning failure is needed to help stakeholders assess responsibility in the aftermath of government nonuse, misuse, or misunderstanding of public warning systems, especially mobile device-based systems that have become a critical element of the public warning ecosystem. Although some uncertainty in the disaster information environment is inevitable, a shared definition of public warning failure could help clarify the roles and responsibilities of government officials and agencies across the arc of disaster communication: public preparation, hazard detection, warning message creation, message dissemination, and public response monitoring. In the context of earthquake early warning system performance, warning failure has been defined as false alert, missed alert, inaccurate alert, no alert, and late alert. Building upon this typology, in this essay, we propose an all-hazards definition of public warning failure, illustrate it using a conceptual model, and assess the conceptual model using examples drawn from media reporting.

This study aims to suggest visual strategies for social media response in corporate crisis communication. Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and Associative Network Theory of Memory (ANT) are applied to investigate the types of visuals (photos) that companies may utilize in Facebook messages. A 3 (message: excuse vs. attack accuser vs. apology) × 4 (photo: no-image vs. product vs. stereotypical CEO vs. CEO reflecting corporate character) between-subject design online experiment was conducted in the United States (N = 296). The results confirmed the effect of message strategies on crisis communication outcomes such as perceived responsibility, anger, and reputation. Preliminary interaction effects showed that the stereotypical CEO image (e.g., wearing a suit at a podium in a conference setting) was effective on reputation in two message strategies: an excuse in an accidental cluster crisis and an apology in a preventable cluster crisis. Based on these findings, the current study offers theoretical and practical implications for corporate crisis communication. Details are discussed in the study.

Persons with disabilities (PwDs) face a disproportionately high risk due to their physical or mental limitations and socioeconomic barriers during emergencies. To better understand and empower PwDs for disaster preparedness, this study used an updated national representative survey (2021 Federal Emergency Management Agency National Household Survey) from the United States to examine the differences between PwDs and their counterparts concerning disaster preparedness with the guidance of the protection motivation theory. The results of the Tobit regression models indicated that being disabled was negatively correlated with the level of preparedness. Furthermore, disability status significantly and negatively modified the relationship between risk perception and disaster preparedness. Likewise, self-efficacy was less strongly correlated with preparedness activities if people self-reported themselves as having a disability. Moreover, for people with disabilities, their beliefs about the effectiveness of preventive behaviours (response efficacy) predicted decreased adoption of preparedness measures. Promoting disaster risk reduction education, strengthening self-efficacy and developing more inclusive and targeted intervention strategies for PwDs can be used to improve their preparedness degree and capacity for disaster prevention.

This study aimed to explore how non-disaster missioned organizations extend their roles to respond to disasters, which is referred to as ‘extending organization’ or Type III in the Disaster Research Center Typology. To achieve this, the current study investigated the formation conditions and evolution processes of extending organizations of a cooperative consumer organization, Gyeongju iCOOP (GiCOOP), which extended its roles by self-organizing a disaster-response team after the 5.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Gyeongju City, South Korea, 2016. Through a case study comprising in-depth interviews with GiCOOP members and public officials of central and local governments, this study found that the extending organization was successfully formed under several conditions, with the earthquake as a trigger and trustworthy relationships among the members, and evolved through diverse activities to strengthen community resilience capacity. Although the GiCOOP had sufficient financial resources and utilized external experts, its lack of workforce, expertise in disasters, and collaboration with local governments were critical hindrances in expanding its future activities. Based on these findings, several suggestions were made on the sustainability of extending organizations in the future.

Media framing of organizational crises is an important factor to consider in crisis communication since it can shape stakeholders' perceptions of organizations and discussions in the public sphere. This takes place in complex media ecologies where public communication happens at a large scale, both in the news and on social media. Here, computational methods offer new venues for analysing media framing in flux throughout the crisis life cycle. Especially methods for automated content analysis can quickly and efficiently reveal what media frames emerge in a crisis context and how they change over time across different channels and platforms. The present study showcases the benefits of such methodological approaches by critically exploring the example of the data breach at the national municipal health service in the Netherlands. Using computational methods for media frame analysis on news texts (N1 = 519) and social media postings (N2 = 2986), this article reconstructs how the incident was perceived throughout four crisis stages (build-up, outbreak, chronic stage, termination). The article critically discusses the relevance of researching media framing empirically with emphasis on the benefits but also limitations of computational approaches. It concludes with some general pointers for crisis researchers interested in such methods as well as their implications for practitioners in the field.

Disaster management, mainly related to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents, is a critical field that requires constant evaluation to improve preparedness and response strategies. This review synthesises evidence on global health sector strategies for CBRN preparedness, gathering lessons to enhance policymaking for future response and readiness. This review included original English and French research addressing healthcare preparedness for CBRN threats. Database searches, such as EBSCO, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Ovid, Lissa, and Santécom, were conducted until November 2022. The Joanna Briggs Institute's tools were utilised to assess the risk of bias. Al-Raayan® and Nvivo® version 12 software were employed for the review and analysis. 57 articles in English and 6 in French met the inclusion criteria. The analysis identified numerous strategies, concentrating on chemical and biological incidents (Chemical and biological bioterrorism: n = 27; Epidemics and Outbreak: n = 15). “Hospitals”, “responsibility”, and “health” emerged as prominent keywords, emphasising institutional roles and health outcomes in CBRN incidents preparedness. Key findings highlighted the need for a unified global definition of bioterrorism to align international efforts. Hospital-level initiatives were emphasised as the foundation for national preparedness, emphasising specialised training, community engagement, and robust coordination mechanisms. Geographical variability in response strategies was noted, necessitating a harmonised global approach. Continuous research, epidemic management, and addressing radiological/nuclear threats emerged as crucial elements. Among others, strategies defined under “Emergency Response Preparedness” and “Intersectoral Policy Development” outlined comprehensive preparedness contexts for CBRN incidents. The review suggests an imperative shift towards building collaborative networks and enhancing health sector operational readiness to mitigate the impacts of CBRN incidents.

Recent research on crisis communication has focused on the challenges of complex and protracted crises. In this essay, it is argued that such crises must be handled communicatively by putting the communication challenges, constraints and opportunities at the centre. To this end, the combination of the notions of the rhetorical situation and kairos is suggested as a keystone that provides a bottom-up, context-sensitive approach needed to cope with the fluid and changing situations of such crisis. Importantly, the life cycle of a protracted crisis can not only be understood in terms of physical factors (e.g., infection rates in a pandemic) but is also formed through the public's perceptions and the communicative choices of crisis communicators calling for action to mitigate or end a crisis. The rhetorical situation and kairos highlight the importance of spatial temporality, the uniqueness of the situations and the constitutive dimension of communication in a crisis. This implies the identification of the opportune moments to present a response and recognising the important ‘spaces’ between typical crisis situations.

Societies are increasingly subject to transboundary crises that pose new challenges to crisis management and require a structural rethinking of longstanding arrangements. This study explores which governance aspects could be embedded in legislation to facilitate the organization of such transboundary crisis management. It builds upon research findings from the comprehensive 2020 governmental evaluation study of the Safety Regions Act in the Netherlands and the relevant literature. First, we provide a framework for a systematic study of the relationship between law and practice. Second, we present a model on how legislation for crisis management could be adapted to better fit with transboundary crises. This consists of a set of 10 key aspects categorized into five pillars: the interconnectedness of the various phases of crisis management and risk assessments as a starting point; flexible crisis management organization and network collaboration; allocated facilitator and exceptional decision-making power; professional competences and netcentric information management; and learning capacities and democratic feedback. This model provides a point of departure for researchers and policymakers alike for rethinking the role that legislation can play in preparing for the crises of the future.

Türkiye has long been plagued by deadly natural hazards, including earthquakes, wildfires, landslides, and floods, which have caused widespread destruction throughout the country. 2021 Wildfires in Türkiye, the most destructive in the country's history, have disrupted the region's ecological balance by destroying vast swathes of forests and the habitats of many species. This study aimed to explore crisis management and communication practices during the 2021 Türkiye wildfire. This qualitative research utilized a phenomenological approach and the discourse analysis method to study the data. The study's methodology aimed to delve into the lived experiences surrounding the disaster and analyze the statements of the responsible minister to uncover best practices. The results indicate that wildfires were not contained during the initial day, and a needs assessment was impossible. During the response, frequent disinformation, rumors, and suspicious situations arose, indicating difficulties in information management. A consistent call for solidarity is beneficial for crisis management and communication. However, a debate about inadequate resources highlights trust and transparency issues in crisis communication. Moreover, drawing comparisons with other countries and making self-congratulatory statements about success and strength are not aligned with crisis management or crisis communication and may be perceived as politically motivated.