Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master in Technology: Public Relations Management, Durban University of Technology, 2010. / The National Plan for Higher Education (2001) provides a framework for achieving the vision of
a single co-ordinated higher education system. In order to meet the goals of this plan, various
technikons and universities had to merge. Pityana (2004: 4-5) points out that, in addition to
opportunities, various challenges have also emerged from these mergers. One such challenge is
that higher education institutions may find themselves in tensions with their partners which may
result in disagreements that could lead to crisis situations. Marconi (2005: 262) argues that, in
crisis situations, the pace of the conflict accelerates dramatically. This means that the affected
parties have to react very quickly or risk having their ability to protect their interests
substantially reduced, hence the need for a crisis communication plan. Implicit in this plan is the
importance of communication. McCusker (2006: 108) maintains that, often in crisis a situation,
communication gets distorted. As a result, rumours often supplant real facts. Thus, clear
communication needs to be pre-planned and increased during a crisis. This dissertation,
therefore, sets out to investigate the role of communication during the planning and
management of crises at higher education institutions in KwaZulu-Natal. It reports on
preliminary results of in-depth interviews conducted at higher education institutions in KwaZulu-
Natal and offers recommendations so that crises planning and management may be improved
upon. / National Research Foundation
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:dut/oai:localhost:10321/526 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Hussain, Sameera Banu |
| Contributors | Rawjee, Veena P., Raap, Peter John |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 120 p |
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