Thesis (M.Sc.)--Saint Mary's University, 2009. / Includes abstract. Supervisor: Kevin Kelloway. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-75).

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2002. / Thesis advisor(s): David S. Yost, Tjarck Roessler. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 92 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-92).

Master Thesis within Business Administration Title: Decision-Makers behind Effective Crisis Management: An industry comparison of a crisis prepared approach among Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Author: Renée Löwhagen Tutor: Angelika Löfgren Date: May, 2015 Key words: Crises, Crisis Management, Crisis preparedness, SME, Managerial decision-making Abstract Problem. The world is in an era with technological advancements, shorter business cycles and a growing competition that requires constant organizational changes in order for or-ganizations to stay on track. Uncertainty in the business world is therefore higher than ev-er. With respect to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and their central role in the European economy, it is of high relevance of today’s researchers to adopt the perspec-tive of these businesses to take on a more crisis prepared approach. Purpose. The focus of this study is to investigate the perception of the concepts of crisis and crisis management among SMEs’ managers in different industries in Sweden. Moreover, this study intends to develop an understanding of the decision-making behind a crisis pre-pared approach of different industries of SMEs. Method. This research employs a multi-methodical qualitative research approach in which, in-depth interviews with owner-managers of SMEs and a crisis expert have been conduct-ed. Results. This study indicates that there may be a lack of insight regarding the core meaning of crises and crisis management among the SMEs’ managers studied. Crises and crisis management was found to be perceived in a similar way among all the managers in the study. Crises were perceived as involving the personnel and safety issues of the business-es. Crisis Management, was understood as the management of an already occurred crisis, rather than the preparation for potential crises. A deficiency was found among the busi-nesses regarding crisis preparations. This seemed to be related to resource restrictions and a general lack of research about this topic in the context of SMEs. The study indicates that SME managers do not always make formal decisions regarding crisis preparations. In the cases where the SME managers of the study had prepared plans and strategies for how to handle crises, these had emerged as a gradual process rather than from decisions taken in this matter.

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Destination image is an aspect of tourism that requires crisis management (CM) and marketing, because it is vulnerable to crises and media coverage. The literature review identified that potential terrorist attacks and political instability were particularly influential in changing travellers' intentions to visit and perceptions of different destinations. To date, there is no published academic research on the changing images of Indonesia as a result of the prolonged 1997 crises (pre the Bali bombings) and the 2002 and 2005 crises (post the Bali bombings). This study addresses this by examining Indonesia's images from the perspectives of the Indonesian tourist industry and UK residents. This study also addresses gaps identified in the following destination image research areas: image formation, image change and crisis management. The review of current literature revealed that there has been little shift towards a greater use of qualitative or mixed-methods approach for the study of destination image. This research uses a mixed-methods approach to address the limitations that the use of a single, purely quantitative or quantitative approach would impose. Results from the primary research reveal that the images of Indonesia, including the security image is more positive among visitors than non-visitors. The research results suggest that Bali has strong unique images and these have allowed its tourism to continue and survive pre- and post- the crisis period. Furthermore, the results revealed that Indonesia's image has become more complex since 1997, specific factors affected its image during crisis, the critical role of the media in the development of image and tourism demand and why certain crisis management strategies proposed in the tourism literature are not effective. This research contributes to the study of image dimensions, differences, change and formation factors and the use of mixed-methods within a crisis context. The research also contributes within the area of crisis management by suggesting modifications to the current crisis management framework, making it more adaptable in certain contexts and suggests the need for 'knowledge management' and a 'logical incrementalism' approach when developing the CM plan. The implication of the research findings is that mixed-methods approach is compatible and beneficial in destination image research with similar or complementary research objectives.

During the past five years the Red Cross has been involved in two different internal crises. All of them can be related to trustworthiness and brand image. Why would someone keep donating money to an organization that has been involved in fraud and suspicion of corruption? The purpose of this dissertation is to explore how non-governmental (NGO) and non-profit (NPO) organizations rebuild their brand image and trustworthiness after a crisis. We will look at the problem from both the organization’s and the public’s point of view. The dissertation is based on theories about brand image, trustworthiness and crisis management. For the theoretical framework a model was created from these different theories. This study is conducted as a qualitative case study with a realistic philosophy. The findings and analysis shows that the Red Cross has an elaborated crisis management with a good base that can be adapted to suit each situation. However, there are some miscommunications between the organization and the public. Therefore, we suggest three improvements that can be made: communicate directly to the public, investigate immediately when suspicions occur, communicate the internal functions to the public. The first conclusion is that their form of reactive crisis management is that they have a weak pre-emptive crisis management, which consists of diffuse guidelines. After the crisis, these guidelines are adapted to the crisis. The second conclusion is that the organizations brand image and trustworthiness was affected negatively directly after the crisis occurred. However, today both the brand image and the trustworthiness have become stronger than before the crisis. Recommendation for future research is that it can be conducted in another area and include the behavior aspects of the respondents. In addition, the crisis communication team could be investigated.

This study presents an overview of crisis communications and media relations in the U.S. nuclear industry. Literature suggests that there is a need for evaluating the current practice of crisis communications and media relations for the industry through research. Understanding if practitioners are equipped for effective crisis communications and media relations in the event of a crisis, provides useful benchmarks for future evaluation, as the way in which organizations communicate to stakeholder publics and the media will change given the recent complexities and innovations within technology. Without academic literature in this area, it allows for the continued practice of ineffective strategies regarding crisis communications and media relations within the highly technical nuclear industry. With the use of in-depth interviews of nuclear communication professionals and a content analysis of media coverage and online newsrooms, this study will seek to provide research findings for best practices in media relations during a crisis event and reveal some of the current communication strategies that are used by the nuclear industry communication practitioners. / Department of Journalism

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on April 14, 2008) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Wayne State University, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-156).