Planning for Crisis Communication Across Cultural and Transboundary Contexts

George, Amiso M.; Kwansah-Aidoo, Kwamena

doi:10.1002/9781119081708.ch18

Cited by 2 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…However, this study does not suggest that these response strategies are applicable to all non-western contexts as research is required for each individual setting due to their unique cultural factors. As such, this study rides against the tide of commentaries by researchers suggesting that Western-authored strategies cannot be transplanted into non-western contexts due to cultural variations (George & Kwansah-Aidoo, 2017). In other words, the Coombs (2006) clusters remain valid and can fit into contexts such as Botswana as demonstrated by this thesis, provided the corrective strategy is used as a dominant approach to assure the public that the organisations are managing the crisis and working to prevent its future occurrence.…”

Section: Significance Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 83%

“…As such, this research fills a gap in crisis communication by providing perspectives from Botswana. Sub-Saharan African countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Egypt have received academic attention (George & Pratt, 2012;George & Kwansah-Aidoo, 2017). However, some of these researchers only share the lessons learnt from these countries by evaluating the crises and marrying theory to practice without empirical research.…”

Section: Significance Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, public relations scholarship remains scant in Botswana. However, crisis communication scholarship is also negligible across the African continent, excluding more developed contexts like South Africa and Nigeria where most of it emerges in strategic communication and public relations (George, 2016;Wasserman & Hyde-Clarke, 2016;George & Kwansah-Aidoo, 2017).…”

Section: Crisis Communication Definedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, research does not explore how audiences organise themselves after the crisis . For instance, the crisis response strategies in crisis research, are assumed as globally applicable, notwithstanding the different cultures inherent in world contexts (George & Kwansah-Aidoo, 2017). Non-western cultural contexts, such as Botswana, might be different from the West, and could hinder the application of some of the strategies because people in different cultures perceive and respond to messages differently.…”

Section: Crisis Communication Definedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to these strides, crisis studies continue to grow in non-western contexts (Macliam & Baker, 2009;George & Kwansah-Aidoo, 2017). Audience studies reflecting global contexts are essential today because trade has become transboundary, and there are many transnational organisations which must understand the contexts in which they operate.…”

Section: Crisis Communication Definedmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Organisational crisis communication in Botswana: Investigating the crisis response strategies and the role of social media

Simon¹

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Post-millennial crises in the digital age have become more challenging and difficult for unprepared organisations and public relations (PR) practitioners to manage. As such, organisations in Botswana, including global conglomerates with operations in Sub-Saharan Africa, have not been spared from these emergencies. With social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube and Pinterest, to mention a few, spreading crisis information at lightning speed, organisational crises can become global and multicultural in nature, further threatening the organisation’s reputation. To manage such complex exigencies, PR practitioners must understand the factors influencing the types of their crisis messages and how to use Facebook to persuade their audience. Currently, the lack of crisis communication research in Botswana to guide practitioners on appropriate response strategies and how language is used on Facebook to persuade audiences has attracted academic interest. Botswana’s crisis communication ecosystem is still new and there is need for adjustments for PR practitioners to scale up to international standards. As such, this study investigates crisis communication in Botswana using the case studies of the Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) Fengyue Glass Manufacturing Project crisis of 2011, and the Botswana Railways (BR) passenger train derailment crisis of 2019. This research conducted a detailed content analysis of Facebook posts and identified themes and categories of how these organisations and their audiences communicated during these emergencies. To complement this quantitative data, selected Facebook posts were subjected to critical discourse analysis to establish how PR practitioners used language to dominate and persuade their audiences. Further explanations on how and why practitioners respond the way they do on Facebook were developed from semi-structured interviews with senior PR practitioners in Botswana. The study finds that crisis communication in Botswana is distinctive due to cultural factors. This thesis has developed a crisis information flow and relationship model (the Cross Cloverleaf Relationship Matrix) between Facebook and Botswana’s cultural offline communication platform, the kgotla system. The model helps to facilitate Facebook in a non-western setting where it is culturally resisted for its liberalism and promotion of Western values. Additionally, this thesis confirms Coombs (2006)’s cluster of crisis response strategies as valid and robust for non-western contexts, provided the corrective strategy is introduced as a cluster to accompany them.

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Section: Significance Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Significance Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Crisis Communication Definedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Crisis Communication Definedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Crisis Communication Definedmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Organisational crisis communication in Botswana: Investigating the crisis response strategies and the role of social media

Simon¹

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Social media and culture clash: Examining cultural influence on Facebook crisis communication in Botswana

Simon

2023

JCSA

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Multicultural crisis communication in Botswana has become complex due to the country’s various ethnicities and cultures. Facebook remains a dominant communication platform, but traditional media is also used to cover organisational exigencies. However, there is a lack of research guiding public relations (PR) practitioners in multicultural crisis communication in Botswana, and this study addresses this gap. Semi-structured interviews with 20 Botswana PR practitioners revealed that they use Facebook to manage crises, but do not engage in online dialogue with the public. Instead, they post status updates and switch to offline cultural communication platforms for face-to-face dialogue. This article proposes and introduces a Botswana-focused model, the Cross Cloverleaf Relationship Model (CCRM), that probably resonates with similar contexts in Sub-Saharan African countries. The model facilitates authentic crisis communication between Facebook and the kgotla system, Botswana's traditional and cultural communication platform. I suggest that multinational companies may find the kgotla system helpful during emergencies in Botswana.

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Planning for Crisis Communication Across Cultural and Transboundary Contexts

Cited by 2 publications

References 2 publications

Organisational crisis communication in Botswana: Investigating the crisis response strategies and the role of social media

Organisational crisis communication in Botswana: Investigating the crisis response strategies and the role of social media

Social media and culture clash: Examining cultural influence on Facebook crisis communication in Botswana

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