10^th & 11^th Journal Review:

Understanding Image Restoration Strategies from a Stakeholder Approach

Chutima Kessadayurat

The research of image restoration is scarce (Benoit, 2001), and, moreover, most of the image restoration studies are based on western theory, which may be or may be not wholly applicable to Thai context, which mainly due to the cultural differences between western and eastern contexts, which influence the practice of image restoration. The theory might need to be adapted to applicable in Thai context. Moreover, the theory allows merely the identification of typology, not the process of how the strategy is communicated. This article, as highlighting the significance of stakeholders in designing image restoration message, should extend the body of knowledge of the image restoration

            Crisis communication is regarded as an important area in the study of corporate communication. It is possible to say that every public and private organization has been encountered with a crisis. Crisis is typically viewed as a threat to an organizational image and an organization attempts to find ways to respond to the crisis and to regain public trust. Crisis can be viewed through its shared variables that are normally found in the examination of a crisis and the organization’s response. Generally, crisis is categorized in terms of public perception, marketing shift, product failure, top management succession and financial crisis. Organization can manage crisis by taking both preventive and restorative approaches.

            Image restoration is considered as a crisis communication approach in recovering an organization’s image. Benoit’s theory of image restoration discourse (1995) explained that “when [a person or organization] image is threatened, it is often considered essential to take action to repair that image” (Benoit & Pang, 2008). Benoit’s image repair theory (1995) offers five image restoration strategies to understand the image repair message. The strategies included 1) Denial, 2) Evasion of responsibility: 3) Reduce the offensiveness of the act: 4) Corrective action: 5) Mortification. Since the image restoration strategy focuses primarily on the message factor, as explained by Benoit (1995), it is clear that image restoration deals with the process of communication. One way to understand the image restoration message as communication process is through the perspective of social construction.

            This article allows both communication scholars and public relations practitioners to develop a deeper understanding on image restoration. The knowledge of stakeholder approach when incorporating with the image restoration strategies enables the practitioners in being aware of the existence of multiple interpretations influencing an individual perception regarding an organization’s image. Therefore, practitioners should be strategically design the restoration message based upon the framework of socially construction of reality and the multi-interpretations to successfully communicate with its stakeholders.

IMPACT OF PAST CRISES ON CURRENT CRISIS COMMUNICATION

Insights From Situational Crisis Communication Theory

W. Timothy Coombs

This second journal is pretty much the same with the first journal above since it describes how an organization that's going through a crisis and lead to several killed-workers that's caused by an error in the SOP work. Because of this case, the Phillips Petroleum Company experienced a reputation’s fall and it can be solved though by using SCCT (Situational Crisis Communication Theory), which it is about how people know the past crisis is an important consideration for crisis managers and it can use the crisis response strategy to establish perception of the crisis and the organization itself. There are 3 factors that affects the application and implementation of the implication, which are first stability that's intended to explain how the company deliver the progress of the case regularly; second is external control that's how and what the cause of the events whether it can be properly controlled or restrained; the third is control of personal that's how the company’s control reflects on the cause of the event can be controlled by the company itself.

Bibliography:

·      Coombs, W.T. (2004). Impact of Past Crisis on Current Crisis Communication: Insights from Situational Crisis Communication Theory. Journal of Business Communication, 41(3), 265-289.

·      Kessadayurat, C. (2011). Understanding Image Restoration Strategies from a Stakeholder Approach. BU Academic Review, 10(1), 282-287.

By: Putri Dena Ramadhania (135120207121025)