W. Timothy Coombs, Ph.D., Texas A&M University  

Most risk assessment and crisis management plans have a
strong operational focus. Although we must never dismiss the importance of operational crises, managers are facing more reputational crises with the rise of social media.

A key communicative difference between operational and reputational crises is the option of refuting a crisis. Denial is very damaging during an operational crisis. Stakeholders know the problem exists because they may see the smoke coming from a facility or own the dangerous product. Reputational concerns, however, can be a matter of interpretation. Stakeholders may disagree on whether or not an organizational practice is responsible or not. Managers must decide if they will change or defend the practice in question. Read more.  
Hongmei Shen, Ph.D., San Diego State University 

It goes without saying that effective employee communication is important to an excellent organization. Without an engaged, trusting, and caring workforce, organizations' external goals could suffer. The question is: How do organizations build this trusting and caring workforce?

Organizations must establish mechanisms and procedures to ensure regular honest and open conversations with their employees. Managers should consider gathering feedback from employees about their non-work passions; solicit suggestions for improving the organization's performance and share insights about industry trends and developments. Read more.
Tom Watson, Ph.D., Bournemouth University

There is no doubt that North America, especially the U.S., has exerted greater influence on the development of PR around the world than any other region. It is also the largest single region in the world for the education and employment of practitioners. However, there are many other forms of PR  being practiced that emerged from other cultures not connected with the U.S. These have challenged the primacy of North American models and practices.

"National Perspectives on the Development of Public Relations: Other Voices," examines the challenges to the dominance that North America portrays in the development of PR. It is hoped that this volume will play an important role in reshaping the history of North American PR to portray more accurately antecedents, evolution, failures, successes and the width of participation. Read more.
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