Journal Review !

AAZARAH AYU ANGGRAINI

135120207121007

Journal Review:

Apologies and Public Relation Crises at Chrysler. Toshiba, and Volvo

Keith Michael Hearit

The author of this journal attempt to analyze corporate apologies discourse from three cases, Chrysler, Toshiba, and Volvo. Firstly, author illustrate the crisis that face of by three corporation which is made as study case in this journal and describe generally about how the corporations in solving the crisis which is they tend to silence and wait. The purpose of this journal to discuss the communication strategies that corporations apply to resolve the crisis and the main focus of the author is apologia strategy. An apologia is not an apology, it is defense that seeks to present a compelling, counter description of organizational actions.

Communication strategies that have been mention by the author are persuasive account, statement of regret, and dissociation which is they are applying discourse analysis. The thing that have to do in manage crisis is doing apologist response use persuasive account in attempt to assert the terminology control. Chrysler Chairman Iacocca first responds to the indictment by disputing the validity of the charges: “Testing cars is a good idea. Disconnecting odometers is a lousy idea. That’s a mistake we won’t make again at Chrysler. Period. [signed] Lee Tacocca.” It is appealing bad response from the public, it is supposed to be “The quality testing program is a good program. But there were mistakes and we were too slow in stopping them. Now they’re stopped.” The other strategy is deliver statement of regret that express sorrow of undesirable situation. Toshiba Corporation, president and CEO Joichi Aoi affirm that the wrongdoing is not Toshiba fault but it is the subsidiaries TMC fault. “Toshiba Corporation, as a majority shareholder of TMC, profoundly apologizes for these past actions by a subsidiary of Toshiba”. Last one strategy dissociation, this strategy tend to be applied in organization that accused in wrongdoing use dissociation is through an appearance/reality. This appearance/reality formed into three, the use depends on the crisis: opinion/knowledge, individual/group, act/essence.

Eventually, this journal really interesting to be read and giving knowledge to the public relation practitioners on how to handle or solve the crisis that happen to the company/organization, and it can used as the guidance of taking the step to handle the crisis. The explanation from the author is greatly clear and the point of the journal received very well to the reader.

Journal Review:

Attribution Theory as a guide for post-crisis communication research

W. Timothy Coombs

            The successfulness of organization not standing apart through several experience on how to solving a communication organization crisis. This journal, in the first part the writer is describing on how crisis is being solved. The writer mention the list of what to do and what not to do is one or other step in encounter the crisis. Indeed, the substantial thing in communication is evidence-based management, the use of scientific evidence to guide managerial decision making (Rousseau, 2005). “Genre”, term that associated by author as a crisis communication management way, apologia which is gateway for many crisis communication. Genre can be developed by applying post-crisis communication research and providing rhetorical cases’ studies because it is bringing us to the need of organization in situation in influencing crisis responses.

            The objective of this journal is to find out the other genre beside apologia by applying Attribution Theory as a guide, it is expressed by Bernard Weiner which has same characteristic along with crisis, unexpected and negative. Attribution theory identified as a people perception towards a crisis by finding out any information both the cause of the crisis and the whole of organization which suffering the crisis. This theory has been applied into Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), it is identifying how the perception about crisis situation which affect the crisis response such reputation, purchase intention, and emotions. SCCT tempt the crisis situation in the level of reputational threat, three factors are formed reputational threat in crisis situation, initial crisis responsibility, crisis history, and relationship history/prior reputation.

            Initial crisis responsibility is a function of stakeholder attributions of personal control for the crisis by the organization – how much stakeholders believe organizational actions caused the crisis (Coombs, 1995). A crisis type is a frame that represent how people should interpret the crisis happening. SCCT identified three crisis situation based on attributions of crisis responsibility: the crisis that occur by natural disaster, workplace violence, product tampering, and rumor, the organization viewed as the victim of the incident. Technical error, technical-error product harm, and challenge if those are the causes of the incident, it is considered as the organization unintentionally cause the incident, and the cause of the crisis is because of last human error accident, human error product harm, and organizational misdeed, the organization considered to be purposeful as the unexpected guilty. The other two of three crisis types are consistency and distinctiveness. Consistency associated as crisis history, whether the organization has had similar crisis in the past, then distinctiveness associated as relationship history/prior reputation, how the organization has treated stakeholder in other state.

            Overall, this journal is really great in explaining attribution theory and the theory application both generally and into situational communication crisis theory (SCCT), the explanation is greatly understand and give advantage to management crisis practitioner in case facing of the crisis that might happen. It is much better if the author would provide the example in real case in every each explanation.

References:

Hearit, K. M. (1994). Apologies and public relations crises at Chrysler, Toshiba, and Volvo. Public Relation Review, 20 (2), 113-125.

Coombs, W. T. (2006). Attribution theory as a guide for post-crisis communication research. Public Relation Review, 33. 135-139.