Crises increasingly lead firms to a communication dead-end : a case study: Altran Group | |
| Author | Gelebart, Erwan |
| Call Number | AIT Proj. no.SM-05-11 |
| Subject(s) | Crisis management Industrial management Communication in organizations Corporate image |
| Note | A project study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Since the seventies, corporate communication allows a firm to value its own image to please public opinion's expectations. If this practice benefits the firm by increasing its sales, it also represents a risk for every firm to become an easy target for media when a crisis occurs. A crisis always begins with an event that is broadcasted by media like TV, radio or else newspapers. A crisis is damaging for a firm as it is questioning it and its values, its corporate image and identity. Thus, a firm's corporate values finally play against this firm during a crisis. As a consequence, a firm hit by a crisis sees its image but also its credibility dropping dramatically. Of course, this decrease depends on factors such as the kind of crisis and its seriousness. But the most important factor influencing the gravity of a crisis is the popularity of the firm, how it is seen by public opinion. Thus the more a firm communicates on its values and on its identity, the more popular is this firm and the easier it is to question it. To overcome these crisis situations when a firm's values play against its own interests, firms tend to remain silent or to deny its involvement. But these strategies only increase a crisis and damage a firm's image all the more. Crisis communication is a new communication field recently developed to face this move. It determined that any good response to a crisis should be based on two major principles: transparency and responsibility. Linked to crisis communication itself, these principles now appeared to be also a new but fast-growing concept that is corporate citizenship. The importance this concept is taking lead firms to adopt these principles as corporate values. The problem is that when facing a new crisis, a firm that adopted these values may be stuck in a difficult position as it cannot use these to overcome the crisis. Moreover these values make crisis more frequent. |
| Year | 2005 |
| Type | Project |
| School | School of Management (SOM) |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Master of Business Administration (MBA) (Publication code=SM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Dimmitt, Nicholas J.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Donyaprueth Krairit;Swierczek, Fredric W.; |
| Degree | Project (M.B.A.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2005 |