Abstract Title: The core of successful crisis communication? A study of external transparency in preventative crisis communication through a company perspective. Authors: Caroline Ehrning & Frida Kempe. Aim: This study examines how four companies proactively work with external transparency within preventing crisis communication. Research problem: There are gaps in the research of preventative crisis communication, not at the least in correlation with transparency. Method/material: We have conducted qualitative interviews with people who all hold leadership positions in the communications departments at four companies. Theoretical framework: In this study the following theoretical framework have been used; transparency theory, issues management, reputation management and communication effect theory. Main results: Three of the four companies use external transparency to prevent crises, but the way they apply transparency differ. The majority of the work is directed towards media, because of its power. Further can be noted that all companies, except but one, could identify potential improvements in their work with external transparency as a tool to prevent the dimension of the crisis. Social importance: We hope to contribute to the research about how transparency is, and can, be used in the preventative crisis communication. Number of pages: 48 Course: Media and communication studies C. Department: Department of informatics. University: Uppsala University. Period: HT 2015. Tutor: Therese Monstad.

Syftet med denna studie var att ur ett public relations-perspektiv studera polisens kriskommunikationsretorik i samband med kritik från allmänheten. Denna uppsats har utgått från två fall; fallet i arresten och kvinnoregistret. I uppsatsen har en kvalitativ textanalys använts på sammanlagt 14 texter från polisens egna kanaler. Den teori som använts för att urskilja vilka försvarsstrategier som polisen använt i materialet är image restoration theory. Dessutom har ett public relations-perspektiv använts för att förstå varför försvarsstrategierna använts samt för att belysa ett annat relevant public relationsbegrepp, nämligen öppenhet. Resultatet av analysen blev bland annat att polisen i båda fallen var konsekventa med sin information och att de använt en strategi mer än andra i respektive fall. En slutsats som dras är att allmänhetens förtroende är mycket viktigt för polisen. En annan slutsats som dras är att öppenhet anses vara viktigt, inte bara av tidigare forskning, utan också av polisen själv. / The purpose of this study was by using a public relations perspective study the Swedish police’s crisis communication when criticism from the multitude has occurred. This thesis point of departure has been two cases; fallet i arresten and kvinnoregistret. A qualitative textual analysis has been made on 14 articles from the police homepage and Facebook. The theory that has been used to distinguish what image repair strategies that the police has used is image restoration theory. A public relations perspective has also been applied to produce an understanding for why the image repair strategies has been used, as well as to provide the thesis with another concept important to public relations; openness. The result of the analysis has been among other things that the police in both of the cases were consistent with their information and that they primarily has used one of the image repair strategies. A conclusion is that the multitudes confidence in the police is very important for the police. Another conclusion is that openness is considered important, not only to previous researchers but by the police itself.

<p><strong>Title:</strong> Crisis communication strategy and brand – A case study of Swedish Red Cross</p><p>through dialog analysis</p><p><strong>Author: </strong>Anneli Saarela</p><p><strong>Presented:</strong> 01.06.2010</p><p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The study addresses the subjects of crisis communication and organisational brand, in relation to stakeholders and brand reputation. The purpose of this essay is to study the dialog regarding the crisis of remunerations with the Swedish Red Cross and how the organisation responds to the criticism. An identification and analysis of the discourse regarding the brand are also included in the study. Part of the empirical material will also be used in relation to Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). This to find which strategy is most accurate to the one which the Swedish Red Cross seemingly has implemented.</p><p><strong>Methodology: </strong>The study uses dialog analysis to gather the empirical material. The dialog of interest for this study consists of four different written texts. These texts are analysed with the help of concepts such as: <em>content, context, intertextuality, recontextualisation and relation</em>. Further, through these concepts the study uses a series of initial questions to start the analysis with regard to the concepts.</p><p><strong>Theoretical perspectives: </strong>The theoretical base for this essay consists of relevant theories to crisis management and branding. These are Situational Crisis Communication Theory, crisis communication and rhetoric as well as ideas regarding identity, stakeholders and reputation. I have used these as tools in my analysis as well as to understand the concept regarding crisis and the effects on an organisation, the brand and stakeholder relationships.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The results show that the texts in the dialog are influenced by earlier texts to a great extent. Interesting enough the stakeholders hold the board members responsible and not the whole organisation itself. This may be because the reporting has been mainly focused on the individuals and their remunerations in the earlier stages of the crisis. In regards to rebuilding the trust and organisational brand the analysis show that the organisation should make changes regarding the members of the board, as it is those who are strongly attributed to the crisis by the interest groups. The analysis in relation to SCCT show that the Swedish Red Cross chose a strategy involving less responsibility than SCCT would have proposed. Although regarding the bolstering strategies the organisation did as SCCT would suggest and put emphasis on the earlier work the organisation has done and took advantage of its strong reputation.</p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>SCCT, crisis communication, brand, organisation, stakeholder</p>

Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka Sverigedemokraternas kriskommunikativa försvar efter kritiken som uppkom mot partiet i samband med högerextremisten Anders Behring Breiviks massmord på Utöya 2011. I detta har jag ur ett narrativt perspektiv undersökt partiledaren Jimmie Åkessons förklaring till krisen och hur denna samspelar med partiets interna berättelse. Den första delen av resultaten visar att Åkesson strukturerar ett narrativ där uppkomsten av krisen för Sverigedemokraterna förklaras genom att det bedrivs en häxjakt på partiet. Den andra delen av resultaten visar att Åkesson genom dikotomisering använder den uppkomna krisen för att förstärka Sverigedemokraternas roll som antietablissemangsparti. I hans krisberättelse tillskrivs kritikerna och Breivik liknande egenskaper, vilket betyder att de står som en gemensam bov i narrativet. Detta i motsats till Sverigedemokraterna som i istället får rollen som en hjälte - demokratins beskyddare i Sverige. / This paper examines the communicative crisis defense of the Sweden democrats after the criticism that appeared after the mass murder by the right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik at Utöya in 2011. In this analysis a narrative examination is made of the party leader Åkessons explanation to why the crisis emerged and how his apology interacts with the party’s internal story. The first part of the results shows that Åkesson structures a narrative where the society’s witch hunt on the party stands as an explanation to why the crisis has emerged. The second part of the analysis shows that Åkesson uses the crisis to strengthen the role of the Sweden democrats as an anti-establishment party by using dichotomies. In his crisis narrative he attributes similar characteristics to his critics and Breivik. The consequence of this is that the two actors stand as a collective villain in the narrative. To the contrary, the Sweden democrats became a hero in the narrative - the protector of democracy in Sweden.

Facebook´s importance has grown significantly regarding crisis communication. A deficiency concerning what types of companies has been investigated earlier and how their crisis communication should be carried out on Facebook, has been identified. The aim of this study is to examine the crisis communication of a smaller company on Facebook and explore how this communication has been received by the company’s recipients. We apply an explorative approach on to a case study in order to answer the aim. The posts of the company and the comments of the Facebook users were coded and analyzed to see whether the crisis communication of the company had resulted in a positive, negative or neutral outcome. Based on this study it can be stated that no association between the communication of the company and the reactions of the Facebook users can be identified. This lack of association is due to more contributory factors than the ones investigated in this paper.

The value of a good reputation for organizations is increasing today as consumers and citizens become more aware of brands. If a crisis hits an organization, there is now more to lose than before concerning reputation. Therefore the organization’s communication strategies must be developed to sustain the organization’s reputation during and after a crisis. In the field of crisis communication there are two distinguished theories which concern what an organization with help from crisis communication should do to undergo a crisis without losing its reputation. These theories are image repair theory and situational crisis communication theory (SCCT). They both offer guidelines and course of actions for a preserved reputation, the latter with a list of scenarios of crises tied to every given strategy the theory proposes. The purpose of this study is to shine light on the application of the theories among communicators in both public and private organizations. This is investigated by focusing partly on how communicators reason about focusing on the organization’s reputation in crisis communication, partly on how they feel about implementing the strategies tied to scenarios image repair theory and situational crisis communication theory advocate. To examine the question at issue, we have performed a series of interviews where our group of respondents consists of ten communicators working in public and private organizations. With every respondent we have had a long talk and tried to dig deep into how crisis communication plans are designed as well as how crisis communication is practiced. The conclusion of this study is that the basic ideas that image repair theory and situational crisis communication theory are based upon are well implemented among Swedish communicators. However, the strategies recommended by the theories are completely rejected by the communicators. Instead they say that openness is the best way to a preserved reputation, not specific strategies tied to scenarios. The communicators think that such a course of action would do more harm than good for the reputation of the organization during a crisis. No crisis looks like another and therefore it is impossible to foresee how crisis communication should be designed. / Vikten av ett gott anseende ökar mer och mer idag när konsumenter och medborgare blir mer och mer varumärkesmedvetna. Detta medför att om en organisation drabbas av en kris finns det nu mer att förlora än tidigare vad gäller anseende. Därför måste också organisationens kommunikationsstrategier följa med i utvecklingen och vara kapabla att upprätthålla anseendet under och efter en kris. På området kriskommunikation finns det två framstående teorier som berör hur en organisation med hjälp av kriskommunikation ska göra för att genomgå en kris utan att förlora anseende. Dessa teorier är image repair theory och situational crisis communication theory (SCCT). De erbjuder båda riktlinjer och tillvägagångssätt för ett bevarat anseende, den senare med en lista över krisscenarion knutna till varje given strategi teorin förespråkar. Syftet för denna studie är att belysa hur tillämpningen av teorierna ser ut bland kommunikatörer i offentlig och privat verksamhet. Detta utreds dels genom att se på hur kommunikatörer resonerar kring att i kriskommunikation fokusera på organisationens anseende, dels på vad de tycker om att implementera de strategier knutna till scenarion image repair theory och situational crisis communication förespråkar. För att undersöka ovanstående frågeställning har vi använt oss av kvalitativ samtalsintervju, där vår respondentgrupp består av tio kommunikatörer inom offentlig och privat verksamhet som har kriskommunikation som ansvarsområde inom respektive organisation. Med varje respondent har vi haft långa samtal och försökt att gå på djupet med hur kriskommunikationsplaner utformas samt hur kriskommunikation i praktiken utövas. Slutsatsen för denna studie är att grundidéerna som image repair theory och situational crisis communication theory bygger på är väl implementerade bland svenska kommunikatörers arbetssätt. Men de strategier som förespråkas av teorierna ratas fullständigt av kommunikatörerna. I stället hävdar de att öppenhet är den bästa vägen till bevarat anseende, inte specifika strategier knutna till scenarion. Ett sådant tillvägagångssätt menar kommunikatörerna skulle göra mer skada än nytta för organisationens anseende under kris. Ingen kris är den andra lik och det är därför omöjligt att förutse hur kriskommunikation ska se ut.

Title: “SJ AB har kommenterat ditt inlägg”: En kvantiativ och kvalitativ studie om SJ AB:s kommunikation i sociala medier Writers: Fanny Fellman and Moa Grönroos Class, semester, year: Bachelor thesis, 15 HP, winter semester 2014 Number of words in the thesis: 13 566 Problem definition and purpose: Our purpose is to investigate how SJ communicate in social media in crisis. SJ AB is a Swedish train company with traffic across Sweden who may be affected by a variety of crises. Social media use has today grown and now uses just not the Internet for pleasure, but also to ask questions and get feedback. Social media leads us into a new communication scenery, which also applies to organizations to be present. Internet thus play a major role in the battle for the main communication arenas and may even have been one of the most important media to communicate through during a crisis - Internet helps to organize crises, whether you're talking about handling or solutions of crises. In that SJ has many followers in their social media, it puts them in a tight seat and forces them to act. Methods and material: The empirical data is collected through quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative and qualitative material has been collected through fifty posts from SJ's stakeholders in the organization's official pages on Facebook and Twitter. Our selection was due to the social networking SJ had the most activity and the selection of posts were posts that dealt with some form of crisis. Main results: What SJ is at the forefront with is to communicate with their stakeholders within short time. In the majority of posts you could see communication from the organization within an hour race. This suggests that SJ AB concentrates on answering its stakeholders quickly. What pervade their presence on both Facebook and Twitter is that they always, in any form, offers a solution and / or explanation of the situation. In contrast to vary the quality of the solution depending on the social medium terms and the type of crisis terms, and it results in SJ AB's attitude perceived as engaging but also passively. In many of the cases where they explain and offer a solution to the crisis shows they are also a good transparency by showing an openness to the interested about what happened and why. In the majority of the analyzed posts, SJ is confirming rather than taking distance to the crises and problems that stakeholders highlight of their consciousness. On the other hand, sometimes it occurs revulsion if it is felt justified, but then it’s explained closely. SJ strives to have an informal language when communicating via social media, and it's something that generally is consistently communicating on Facebook while on Twitter vary to a greater extent. In the communication via social media so not perceived stakeholder and SJ AB as unequal. The organization adapts to the stakeholder and try to engage in stakeholder's level, speaking not too formal but for dialogue as if it were in real life. Through dedication and simple language achieves SJ AB and stakeholder together with an understanding of the current crisis, and in this way they can together contribute to the crisis dissolves. Keywords: social media, crisis communications, crisis management, SJ AB, strategic communication, relationship building

Krishantering idag har vidgats i och med sociala mediers uppkomst som medför både möjligheter och hot. Möjligheterna som finns är att det är lättare än någonsin att interagera med en stor målgrupp och skapa sömlösa relationer. Å andra sidan skapar det snabb spridning av information vilket kan vara ett hot för en organisation. Kommer falska påståenden ut om ett företag så kan det skapa missnöje men det kan också snabbt bli en sanning som orsakar skada för företaget/varumärket eller organisationen. Syftet med denna studie är att få en bättre inblick i hur kommunerna använder sig av kriskommunikation med dagens kommunikationsteknologi vid en pågående kris. Kris studien undersöker vattenläckor. Kommunikationsteknologin kommer i denna studie avgränsas till sociala medier, mer specifikt Facebook. De tre kommuner som har undersökts är Gävle, Lidingö och Motala kommun. De teoretiska utgångspunkter studien använder sig av är kriskommunikation och strategisk kommunikation. Metoderna som har använts för studien är två kvalitativa, varav en innehållsanalys och intervjuer. Intervjuerna gjordes med de tre kommunikationscheferna i kommunerna för att få en bättre insikt i kommunernas sätt att arbeta med kriskommunikation.   Studiens undersökning kom fram till att kommunerna vill utveckla och använda sig mer av Facebook som en kommunikationskanal vid krissituationer för att nå invånarna i kommunen. / Crisis management today has expanded as to social media’s origination, bringing both opportunities and threats. The opportunities available are that it is easier than ever to interact with a large audience and to create seamless relations. However, threats can arise as it creates a rapid dissemination of information which can harm an organization. Moreover false statements being spread out about a company may cause dissatisfaction, additionally rumours can very fast become the truth that cause damage to the company/brand or the organisation. The purpose of this case study is to get a better insight into how three municipalities use their crisis communication with today's communication technology at hand. Communication technology will be defined in this study as social media, and more specifically Facebook. The three municipalities that have been investigated are Gävle, Lidingö and Motala municipality. The theoretical issues this paper is focusing on are crisis communication and strategic communication. Research within other areas is taken into account, as it is relevant for this study and its purpose. The empirical examination consists of a case study of how the three municipalities use their crisis communication. The methods used in this study are a quantitative content analysis of the three municipalities’ Facebook submissions regarding water leaks and a qualitative interview with the person being responsible for each municipality’s communication.   The study found that the municipalities want to develop and use more of Facebook as a communication channel in crisis situations to reach residents of the municipality.

The purpose of this study is to create an understanding for crisis communication in four different municipalities. The main question is how these municipalities have been working with crisis communication on the social media, Facebook and Twitter, during 2012-2017. The study is of the qualitative type and the method is based on interviews with communication managers and senior communication managers. In combination with interviews, a rhetorical analyze has been done of the municipalities’ crisis announcement, on Facebook and Twitter. The earlier research and theory which this study is based on, is related areas in crisis communication. Focus is also set on definitions of crisis and the results shows that Facebook has been the central part of the crisis communications to these specific municipalities compared to Twitter. In the analysis it also shows that none of the municipalities has been involved in big crisis during this period.

Idrottsskandaler blir ofta uppmärksammade i nyhetsmedier och aktörerna i krisen behöver därför uttala sig offentligt. Denna studie undersöker hur svenska sportorganisationer, Malmö FF, IF Björklöven, Gefle IF och Pixbo Wallenstam, hanterar en kris som uppstått från ett individuellt övertramp. Mer specifikt försöker studien att ta reda på hur och till vilken grad laget skyddar sin organisation, respektive den anklagade spelaren i den externa kommunikationen. För att kunna svara på de frågeställningar som studien utgår från har en retorisk textanalys genomförts, där användandet av ethos, pathos, logos och responsstrategier har analyserats. Hela denna uppsats genomsyras av Benoits (1997a) image repair theory, då en stor del av analysen handlar om vilka responsstrategier inom denna teori klubbarna använder för att skydda sin egen, respektive spelarens image under krisens händelseförlopp. Utöver image repair theory presenteras tidigare forskning som är väsentlig för forskningsområdet, för att kunna jämföra denna studie med tidigare resultat. Forskningen presenteras under flera kategorier: personligt varumärkesbyggande, fans, monopolstatus, tisdsanpassad krisrespons, organisationer i en individuell kris och retorik inom kriser. Analysen som genomförts tyder på att krishanteringen inom sportvärlden kan skilja sig från andra områden, när det kommer till konsekvenser för den anklagade/skyldige och stödet från organisationen till individen som krisen är grundad på. Vad som även uppmärksammas i denna studie är att en negativ krishistorik påverkar stödet från organisationen till individen. En klubb som varit inblandad i kriser tidigare behöver fokusera på att skydda laget, istället för spelaren. De slutsatser som dras är att strategierna bolstering och corrective action används mest när det kommer till att skydda laget, medan strategierna för att skydda spelaren skiljer sig mer från lag till lag. De strategier som är vanligt förekommande för att skydda spelaren är dock mortification, corrective action, attack the accuser, bolstering och victimization. Den sistnämnda är en strategi myntad av författarna av denna uppsats. Ethos används framförallt för att skydda laget, medan pathos framförallt används för att skydda spelaren. Vad som även bör nämnas är att studien tyder på att fokuset på att skydda laget eller individen påverkas av typ av kris och krishistorik. Denna undersökning bidrar till en kunskap kring hur en offentlig persons övertramp påverkar en organisation. Den belyser även skillnader i hur en organisation beskylls beroende på om det är en känd person eller inte som är anklagad, vilket kan kopplas till generella klyftor i det svenska samhället. / Sports scandals often get a lot of attention in media and the people involved in the crisistherefore need to make public statements. This study examines how Swedish sportsorganizations, Malmö FF, IF Björklöven, Gefle IF and Pixbo Wallenstam, handles a crisis thathas evolved out of a personal violation. More specifically this study tries to find out how and towhat extent the team protects the organization and the player in the external communication. Tobe able to answer the questions that the study is based on, a rhetorical analysis has been made,where the use of ethos, pathos, logos and response strategies was analyzed.Benoits (1997a) image repair theory is crucial throughout the study, because a big part of theanalysis examines which response strategies in this theory, the clubs uses to protect their ownand the players image during the events of the crisis. Beyond image repair theory earlier researchthat is relevant to the subject is presented, to be able to compare this study to earlier results. Theresearch is presented in categories: personal branding, fans, monopoly status, the timing of thecrisis response, organizations during an individual crisis and rhetoric in crisis.The analysis that is made indicates that crisis management in the world of sports can differfrom other areas, when it comes to consequences for the accused/guilty one, and the support tothe individual, who is the reason for the criss, from the organization. Something that also isbrought up in this study is that a negative history of crisis affects the support to the individualfrom the organization. A club that has been involved in crisis before need to focus on theprotection for the team, instead of the player.The conclusions are that the strategies bolstering and corrective action are being used mostfrequently when it comes to the protection of the team, while strategies to protect the playerdiffer from team to team. The strategies that are common when it comes to the protection of theplayer are mortification, corrective action, attack the accuser, bolstering and victimization . The lastmentioned strategy is coined by the authors of this study. Ethos is especially used to protect theteam, while pathos mostly is used to protect the player. Something else that should be mentionedis that the study indicates that the focus of the protection, the team or the player, is affected bywhat kind of crisis it is and the organizations history of crises.This study contributes to knowledge about how the violation of a public person affects anorganization. It also highlights differences in the public's response to the crisis, depending on ifthe accused is famous or not. This may be related to general gaps in the Swedish society.