The purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of how crisis communication strategies, specifically digital crisis communication, used by public organizations and governments, can reduce uncertaintyduring a crisis. The researchmethod of this studyis amixed method approachwhichobtainsqualitative data through interviews and quantitative data through a survey. The data for this research wasprocessed and analysed using thematic analysis, by looking for similar themes in the primary qualitative and quantitative data, where the themes aretreated as codes.Overall, from the findings of this research, it can be concluded that governments can usedigital crisis communication during acrisis to reduce uncertaintyby acknowledgingthe importance of trust, transparency and reputation, quick responses to the quickly changing situation, the use of multiple communication channels and the spread of misinformation.

This case study investigated the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada's crisis communication tactics employed in response to the Hepatitis C outbreak springing from the clinic in 2008. The research sought to evaluate the success of the clinic's crisis PR strategy, as it followed the advice of its lawyers and declined to take responsibility for the patients' exposure or offer an apology. The aim of this study is to illuminate public relations alternatives to apology in instances of corporate transgressions resulting in major harm, to salvage reputation and preserve company viability. Content analysis was used to extract public opinion from reader feedback comments on online news stories regarding the clinic. Benoit's (1995) Image Restoration theory and Coombs and Holladay's (2002) Situational Crisis Communication theory were used to develop the content analysis instrument and evaluate the clinic's crisis communication strategies. Agenda-setting theory was also explored between the news stories and the reader feedback. Analysis yielded overwhelmingly negative public response to the clinic's communications, and revealed some possible reasons for the negativity. A list of five crisis communications "best practices" was developed from these discoveries, highlighting five public relations principles to consider when the lawyers say apology is not an option: 1. Have a rapid initial response; 2. Maintain consistent message strategy, especially when employing Situational Crisis Communication tactis; 3. Compensate victims; 4. Give 'em a "pound of flesh," and 5. Get the situation squared away quickly. Evidence showed agenda-setting effects for the public influencing the "tone" of reporting (positive, neutral or negative), and both the news outlet and the public contributed to determining focal issues of the crisis. This finding underscores the importance of following "best practices" guidelines to devise effective communication strategies for shaping reputation in times of crisis.

Syfte: Organisationer är beroende av en ledare i krissituationer, men hur behöver ledarskapet anpassas till den rådande organisationskulturen? Tidigare forskning har presenterat en modell Crisis Response Leadership Matrix (CRLM) för att matcha rätt ledare för given organisationskultur. Syftet med denna studie är att genom empiriska observationer utveckla CRLM modellens spektrum. Specifika forskningsfrågorna är: (1) Utifrån svenska ledares erfarenheter och upplevelser av krishantering, hur anpassades ledarskapet till organisationskulturen, typ av kris och vilken krisfas organisationen befann sig i? (2) Utifrån svenska ledares erfarenheter och upplevelser av krishantering, i vilken utsträckning stämmer CRLM överens med deras erfarenheter? Metod: Studien har genomförts via ostrukturerade intervjuer med sju respondenter vilka har gedigen erfarenhet av krishantering inom olika organisationer. Respondenterna har skattat sin organisationskultur med OCAI. Intervjudata har presenterats efter informanternas enskilda historier med en berättelse-metod, därefter har analys gjorts genom modellering. Resultat och slutsats: Undersökningen tyder genom respondenternas erfarenheter och upplevelser av krishantering att ledarskapet behöver anpassas genom krisens olika faser, och även till rådande organisationskultur. Resultatet visade att den tidigare presenterade CRLM stämde till stor del överens med respondenternas erfarenheter. Vidare har vi kunnat identifiera ledarskapsstilar och ledarkompetenser för att utveckla CRLM i krisens olika faser för en given organisationskultur. Utvecklingen var de identifierade ledarskapsstilarna empowering och demokratisk samt ledarkompetenserna image och synlighet, upprätthålla en effektiv organisationskultur, skapa organisatoriska förmågor och skapa förtroende. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien har utvecklat tidigare CRLM med större spektrum vilket gör den mer tillämpningsbar för organisationer. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: CRLM behöver undersökas mer empiriskt och framför allt för interna kriser samt inom marknad och adhoktrati kulturer, vilket var en begränsning med denna studie. / Aim: Organizations depend on a leader in crisis situations, but how does leadership need to be adapted to the prevailing organizational culture? Previous research has presented a model Crisis Response Leadership Matrix (CRLM) to match the right leader for a given organizational culture. The purpose of this study is to develop the spectrum of the CRLM model through empirical observations. Specific research questions are: (1) Based on Swedish leaders’ experiences of crisis management, how did the leadership adapt to the organizational culture, type of crisis and the phase of the crisis? (2) Based on Swedish leaders' experiences of crisis management, to what extent does CRLM correspond with those experiences?  Method: The study has conducted unstructured interviews with seven respondents who have solid experience of crisis management within various organizations. Respondents have rated their organizational culture with (OCAI). Interview data have been presented according to the informants' individual stories with a storytelling method, after which analysis has been done through modeling.  Result and Conclusions: The study indicates through the respondents' experiences of crisis management that leadership needs to be adapted through the different phases of the crisis, and to the prevailing organizational culture. The previously presented CRLM was in line with the respondents' experiences. Furthermore, we have been able to identify leadership styles and leadership competencies to develop CRLM in the different phases of the crisis for a given organizational culture. The development was the identified leadership styles empowering and democratic as well as the leadership competencies image and visibility, maintaining an effective organizational culture, creating organizational abilities, and creating trust. Contribution of the thesis: The study has developed previous CRLMs with a wider spectrum, which makes it more applicable to organizations. Suggestions for future research: CRLM needs to be investigated more empirically and especially for internal crises as well as within market and adhocracy cultures, which was a limitation of this study.

Date: 02.06.2021 Level: Bachelor thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr  Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University  Authors: Naomi Akafare Akelmu                      Mihaela Dafinova Mihaylova                          (90/08/18)                                                  (98/01/17) Title: Exploring budgeting as an underlying guidance tool for the management of externally induced crises Tutor: Leanne Johnstone Keywords: crisis management, sensemaking, strategy, strategizing, organizational learning, budgeting Research question: How can budgeting assist crisis management during the Covid-19 pandemic, using the aviation industry as an empirical context? Purpose: Drawing upon the contingencies of managing externally induced crises and thus, the inherent lack of a single effective approach, this research attempts to uncover the role of budgeting in assisting crisis management practices, by marrying management and accounting literature. Method: Using the crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic in the aviation industry as an empirical context, a mixed-method research design was employed, with both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Primary data was collected through interviews with managers for a thematic analysis, and secondary data from interim financial reports was used for statistical accounting analysis. Conclusion: The alternative budgeting process provides possibilities for forecasting and reference during crisis management and thus, managers can receive practical guidance on their performance. That, in turn, minimizes the complexities (uncertainty, threats and time pressure) of crises and reduces crisis’ impact on organizations. Key contribution: Employing alternative budgeting methods in managing externally induced crises increases the measurability of reactions through budgeting’s functions, by quantifying the sensemaking process, strategizing process, and organizational learning, which are discovered to occur simultaneously during crisis management.

Abstract  Background: Circumstances deemed immoral conduct within the influencer marketing industry provoke eloquent sentiments and originated the phenomenon referred to as cancel culture. In spite of the industry's expansion and influencer marketing growth in revenue, there is presently a scarcity of academic research on influencer strategies that manage the cancel culture within social media. Additionally, how crisis management corresponds to the cancel culture is equally inadequately to address.    Problem: The dearth of research elucidated an identified knowledge gap pertaining to the strategies employed by influencers when faced with rejection by followers and society. Customers are more frequently holding influencers accountable for their actions, ultimately damaging brands’ reputations and wrecking careers.     Purpose: The research aims to provide knowledge on the unexplored horizon of how influencers modify strategies on social media when committing personal transgression that harms the public image. Analyzing consumers' causes for canceling emerge influencers' comprehension of implementing suitable prevention strategies and recovery maneuvers.    Method: The research is based on a qualitative inquiry and incorporates a deductive methodology, along with a multiple case study leveraging an interpretivism paradigm. In order to gather primary data, six semi-structured interviews were performed among influencers and consumers located in Sweden.    Conclusion: The outcome demonstrates the origin of consumers’ initiative that erodes the phenomena cancel culture based on three components; the domino effect, follower engagement, and source criticism. The data illustrated altering strategies are covered by the three crisis management fundamentals; pre-crisis, response, and post-crisis. Ultimately, the three strategies adopted to tackle the cancel culture within influencer marketing were; change in communication, lessen privacy, and third-party appliance.

The severe and far-reaching impact of the crisis in the past few years has promptedcompanies to rethink the inadequacies of the crisis response. Although the previous literatureregarded threat rigidity and innovation to response challenges. The study on utilisingsustainability to withdraw a crisis and how a corporation can develop a framework fornavigating its operation during the crisis is still limited. Additionally, sustainability has beengaining particular attention after the pandemic crisis which led to several environmental,social, and economic consequences.This thesis research aims to analyse a business case study with secondary data and conductsemi-structured interviews with a supervisor, specialist, and director from Intercos Group, onhow sustainability can be a possible approach to overcome a crisis within a corporation whilealso enhancing a business’s performance.The findings showed that implementing the triple-bottom-line framework, which aligns withthe principles of Sustainable Development, has been influential in guiding the corporation’spractices. Three highly effective approaches – transparency, market-oriented qualityapproach, and sustainable value optimization - derived from the three -dimensional elementsselected for this research transparency, values and markets which showed that it caneffectively address crises. By adopting these approaches, corporations can enhance internaland external communication, foster transparent and open dialogues, create additional valuefor stakeholders, and uncover new business opportunities during critical times. This enablescorporations to become more resilient, reliable, and innovative in their crisis responsestrategies. Our research enriches the previous content on corporate sustainability and providesnew ideas for creating sustainable corporate development strategies. At the same time, wehave devoted our efforts to advancing the practical application of the triple bottom lineframework in sustainable enterprise development during times of crisis.

Kriser är ett ofta nämnt begrepp i media, inom organisationer och i dagligt tal bland människor. Begreppet har speciellt brukats flitigt under de senaste åren till följd av Covid-19 pandemin och Rysslands invasion av Ukraina vilket väckt forskarna i den här studiens nyfikenhet för begreppet. Hur man kan hantera en oförutsägbara extern kris som företagsledare i en organisation är inget som de flesta ledarna är bekanta eller bekväma med. Krishantering är en mycket större och viktigare del än vad många tror av det dagliga arbetet för en företagsledare för att organisationen ska överleva och gå starka ur den turbulenta verkligheten som företaget ställs inför. Syftet med studien är att skapa förståelse för hur en företagsledare kan agera och arbeta för att minska effekterna av oväntade kriser, samt vad ledaren kan göra för att hitta möjligheter i snabbt förändrande förhållanden. En kvalitativ metod har tillämpats i studien där fem semistrukturerade intervjuer har verkställts löpande under forskningen med fem olika individer i ledande befattningar i svenska tillverkningsföretag. Forskarna har nyttjat en induktiv ansats, där teorin baseras på utfallet av det empiriska materialet. Studien visade att kriser skapar erfarenheter för ledarna, vilket förbereder ledarna bättre på liknande framtida utmaningar. Kriser innebär även förändring vilket kan resultera i möjligheter när det sker en omställning på marknader.

This thesis presents a study combined of a quantitative content analysis and a discourse analysis and aims to investigate women’s representation in news articles about the 2018 wildfires. The representation is examined in two ways, to what extent and how women were represented. To structure the examination the theory symbolic annihilation is used. Symbolic annihilation includes three different aspects of women’s representation in media; absence, condemnation and trivialization. Each one of these aspects is scrutinized on whether they occur in the news articles about the 2018 wildfires. The results show that all except one of these aspects is materialized in the news articles. Women are represented to a lesser extent than men and often in gender-based roles, but contrary to the theory they are also represented in traditionally male roles without being condemned for it. Furthermore, this thesis also aims to explain the results of the representation of women in the news articles. To achieve this the theory poststructuralistic feminism is used. More specifically to analyze the results using the theoretical ideas about discourse, subjectivity and gendered power structures. The analyze show that the gendered power structures that exist in our society affects the crisis discourse and therefore also the representation of women in it. Why women were represented in traditionally male roles was explained by subjectivity and the individual’s power to change discourses.

This dissertation comprises three papers introducing strategies, models, and frameworks to guide pandemic response. The first paper uses a novel mathematical model to analyze the coordination between government and humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in response to pandemics. This is a vital form of public-private partnership between governments as the primary source for the humanitarian supplies required during a crisis and aid organizations. This coordination involves the equitable distribution of personal protective equipment, including face masks and face shields among health workers, patients, and the public in hospitals. Considering social costs such as deprivation and equity costs in the model, in addition to the other important classic cost terms, enables managers to organize the best possible response when such outbreaks happen. The second paper introduces a decision support framework designed to assist healthcare managers, and clinical informatics specialists in analyzing and selecting the most appropriate consensus algorithm for their organization's blockchain-based health platforms, with a specific focus on managing pandemic-related information. Blockchain technology holds great potential in addressing pandemics by enhancing security and transparency in various aspects of pandemic tracking and mitigation while promoting public engagements by facilitating real-time exchange of electronic health information. By improving information sharing and coordination among healthcare organizations, it offers more effective response efforts and helps reduce the spread of viruses. However, the performance of consensus algorithms, which are a crucial component of blockchain architecture, can vary, posing a challenge in selecting the appropriate algorithm. To address this, the framework incorporates two techniques: data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the ranking distribution technique. DEA enables the analysis of efficiency without relying solely on expert judgment, providing a more objective assessment. The ranking distribution technique enhances differentiation among algorithms, providing decision-makers with a robust basis for selecting the most suitable blockchain architecture and its associated properties. The third paper focuses on the challenges of disseminating guidance-related information to the public during a pandemic, specifically the role of opinion leaders as reliable sources of information. The study determines the practical characteristics of pandemic opinion leaders on public attitudes using surveys and identifies domain-sensitive pandemic opinion leaders on Twitter based on the discovered characteristics using social network analysis and text mining. The framework's results show that pandemic opinion leaders are active in eight different domains on the Twitter platform. Results also demonstrate that trust is the most influential characteristic of pandemic opinion leaders, while expertise, uniqueness, innovation, and reputation also play important roles. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation presents a collection of three research papers that offer insights and practical techniques and strategies to effectively tackle the challenges posed by pandemics through enhanced information sharing, public engagement, and robust public-private partnerships. The first paper introduces a novel mathematical model that thoroughly examines the collaboration between governments and humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) during crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. The model's primary focus is on the equitable distribution of vital supplies, including face masks and shields, to healthcare workers as well as the public. By incorporating considerations of social costs, fairness, and other critical factors, this model aids managers in organizing the most efficient response to initial impacts of outbreaks within a short-term planning horizon. Our primary objective is to ensure the prompt and equitable delivery of essential supplies to individuals in need, achieved primarily through establishing strong public-private partnerships. The second paper proposes a decision support framework for healthcare managers, IT analysts, and clinical informatics specialists to help them effectively analyze consensus algorithms, as the most important layer of blockchain architecture. The framework further helps them select the most suitable algorithm for their organization's blockchain-based health platforms, aligning with specific policies, needs, requirements, and goals in managing pandemic-related information. Blockchain technology offers potential in tracking medical supplies, identifying virus hotspots, and verifying protective equipment authenticity to manage pandemics. By enhancing information sharing and coordination among healthcare organizations, blockchain can minimize virus spread and improve overall response efforts. The proposed framework reduces reliance on expert judgment and addresses data uncertainty when selecting proper algorithms for blockchain-based information management systems in mitigating the effects of pandemics. The third paper delves into the intricate challenges associated with effectively disseminating guidance-related information to the public during a pandemic, placing particular emphasis on the pivotal role played by opinion leaders (OLs) as reliable sources. This study thoroughly examines the distinctive characteristics of pandemic OLs and their profound influence on public attitudes. By employing surveys, social network analysis, and text mining techniques on Twitter data, the research successfully identifies OLs within distinct pandemic-related domains. The study's significant findings provide insights into the dynamic role assumed by pandemic OLs on Twitter and their consequential impact on public perception and behavior across various domains. Ultimately, the dissertation findings strive to support decision-makers and public health officials in their efforts to effectively manage pandemics and protect public health. The research emphasizes facilitation of seamless, rapid, and dependable information sharing across various planning horizons.

This master thesis investigates the potential downsides of transparency in crisis communication. Reputation and transparency studies focus primarily on external perspectives and academia lacks observations from internal perspectives. Crises like data breaches cause exponentially more damage each year and threaten intangible assets like reputation.  The authors conducted a quantitative survey research in which social media users were presented with background information about a fictional social media company, information about their relations with the company, and a short newspaper article investigating a data breach before being presented with the vignette, a press release. Participants were asked to rate the reputation of the company in several steps. In total 457 responses were collected.  The findings support the positive correlation between transparent crisis responses and reputation recovery. No evidence of negative consequences on internal reputation due to transparency was found. Crisis responses, even if not entirely transparent, can still positively affect reputation if perceived as appropriate. The research contributes insights into the impact of transparency on reputation and highlights its value as a key element in crisis communication and reputation management strategies, particularly for organizations in the social media industry facing data breaches.