CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This chapter of this research presents a background to the study with the aim of situating into context, the place of the phenomenon under study. It presents the statement of problem which provides and understanding of why this study is being carried out. Also, this chapter will provide the research question, research objectives, and research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and delimitation as well as definition of some key terms.

1.1.BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Public relations have been practiced for thousands of years, but the existence of public relations as a science taught and practiced properly is not only to be achieved in the near future. Ac-cording to Grunig (2001) said public relations today is a complex profession practiced by hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Some public relations professionals are employed by a single organization. Others work for public relations firms that have many organizations as clients. Public relations people work for businesses, government agencies, professional and trade associations, non-profit charities, schools and universities, hospitals, hotels, and many more. They work for large and small organizations.

Many public relations people work entirely within their own country; others practice their profession on a global basis. However, that public relations have developed from an occupation to a profession in many countries of the world. That is, public relations have been something that people did to earn a salary; but it has not been a discipline for which they studied to prepare for the work. There was no formal education in public relations. There was no scholarly research that provided a body of knowledge that could be taught.

In defining and understanding the issues on PR and crisis management, it is important to establish a clear link on how the PR functions can be used to arrest the situation and the impact it has in the whole management process of the crisis. Heath (1997) supports the link to crisis management and highlights how managing issues can help prevent a crisis. He states (1997):

‘If a company is engaged in issues management before, during, and after a crisis (in other words, ongoing), it can mitigate – perhaps prevent – the crisis from becoming an issue by working quickly and responsibly to establish or re-establish the level of control desired by relevant stakeholders.’

As a starting point it is important to define the area. Cornelissen (2004) describes crisis management as a point of great difficulty or danger to an organisation possibly threatening its existence and continuity, requiring decisive change. Seymour and Moore (2000) use a snake metaphor to argue that crises come in two forms: The cobra – the ‘sudden’ crisis – this is a disaster that hits suddenly and takes the company completely by surprise and leaves it in a crisis situation. The python – the ‘slow-burning’ crisis or ‘crisis creep’ – a collection of issues that steal up on the company one by one and slowly crush it.

Lerbinger (1997) categorised eight types of crisis that he attributed to two causes: management failures or environmental forces. The eight categories are:

1. natural (for example, the Asian tsunami, which affected nations, governments, corporations, businesses and the lives and social infrastructure of millions)
2. Technological (Mercedes ‘A’ Class car had a design fault and ‘rolled over’)
3. Confrontation (Shell Oil whose petrol stations suffered a consumer boycott after the company wanted to sink an oil platform in the North Sea – the Brent Spar)
4. Malevolence (product tampering by a private citizen, like the Tylenol case detailed later, or direct action by animal rights campaigners, such as placing bombs under the cars of executives whose stores sell cosmetics tested on animals)
5. Skewed management values (Barings Bank went out of business after managers were accused of turning a blind eye to a ‘rogue’ trader who hid details of his massive financial losses in the currency markets)
6. Deception (examples include deceiving employees about the amount of money in pension funds after it has been used by executives to support the business, a UK case being that of Robert Maxwell and the Mirror Group of national newspapers)
7. Management misconduct (Enron is one of the most shocking examples of this with both illegal and unethical practices rife in the senior management of the practice)
8. Business and economic (the late 1990s boom/bust in numerous small IT/technology companies is an example of how economic cycles can impact an organisation).

However well a crisis is managed from an operational perspective, it is how an organisation communicates about the crisis that makes the real difference. There is evidence that good communication in a crisis situation can support or increase a company’s reputation. Poor management or a lack of communication skills can have a powerful negative effect on an organisation or company’s business.

Yarbrough et al. (1998) suggest a need to elaborate on “the efficacy and ethical implications” when an organization adopts a particular stance. Thus far, the only guidance is through the proscriptive variables, which prohibit either communication or more accommodative communication when the issue at hand violates the individual’s moral conviction or the organization’s fundamental principles. However, during crisis, non-communicating may not be an alternative offered to the organization.

• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 

Contact is the basis of public relations in crisis management. Achammara (2008) said that the role of public relations in crisis management is not to understand only through the process of contact, which represents the basis of the work of public relations. The contact is important in the subject of dealing with the crisis as an important part of crisis management. Crisis contact based on close ties with the masses in question is definitely the right to protect the reputation of the organization in crises and disasters. On the other hand, the contact on the equally important process in the context of treatment crisis; absence of weak, or cracked communication processes in crises already lead to an increased state of turmoil and exacerbate the losses among the masses related crisis. Others argue that crisis communication includes all the activities and roles of communication practiced during the various stages of the crisis, and falls within the framework of these activities that are all kinds of contact.

Regardless, consider the means used, and the implications. The public relations activities, as well as various communication activities and the roles played by organizations and institutions during the crisis, are within the scope of the disaster or crisis communication. Some scholars determine that the crisis communication process conducted by the public relations in the institution concerned at the time of the crisis is the context (Harrison, 2000). The administration successful public relations have three steps to resolve any crisis which are pre-crisis, during a crisis, and post a crisis.

From the above background, it’s obvious that crisis is a negative element that is highly unwelcomed. Crisis deaccelerate growth and brings instability in the polity, it brings about unhealthy competition, destruction of life and property. On the wake of the Anglophone crisis in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon, wanton instability has been caused in the proper functioning of municipal councils in the regions. Many organisations have been affected and many businesses have folded. Organisations and companies have faced individual crisis situations and have been involved in one way or the other in some crisis. 

On the background of these, this study seeks to shed light on the role of PR practitioners in municipal councils in Mezam and some public structures in guiding/directing their organization toward considering ethics when communicating with publics during a crisis; the influence of PR practitioner and the impact on determining the organization’s stance.

1.3.OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 

The main objective of this research is to appraise the role of municipal councils and public structure PR practitioners in crisis communication.

Specifically, the research objectives include:

1. To emphasise PR’s major role in crisis management within municipal council management in Mezam.
2. To identify the role and involvement of management in PR crisis communication.

• To educate and inform that PR is more than just building relationships.

1.4.RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The course of this research will be guided by the following research questions;

1) Do public relations strategies play a significant role in municipal council crisis management in Mezam?

2) What is the perception of management body on the role of PR in crisis communication?

3) To what extent PR practitioners, a major function in organisational management structure?