EMS 4305, EMS Public Information and Community Relations 1 .docx

EMS 4305, EMS Public Information and Community Relations
1
UNIT III STUDY GUIDE
Organizational Response to Crisis,
Part I
Unit Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
1. Discuss the importance of having a media relations policy.
1.1 Describe the process of an organization develops legitimacy
and the
steps to and importance of maintain legitimacy after a crisis.
1.2 Explain the process of discourse of renewal and discuss the
impact
of its use in the outcome of crises.
1.3 Explain the elements of sense making and its benefits when
used as
a response to a crisis.
3. Discuss the significance of how information is relayed and
interpreted in
the media.

3.1 Describe the process of organizational learning and explain
the
strengths and weaknesses.
3.2 Discuss the characteristics of the Situational Crisis
Communication
Theory (SCCT) and explain the benefits of its use as an
organization’s response to crisis.
3.3 Explain the elements of sense making and its benefits when
used
as a response to a crisis.
4. Differentiate among the types of media and information each
may
request.
4.1 Discuss the characteristics of the Situational Crisis
Communication
Theory (SCCT) and explain the benefits of its use as an
organization’s response to crisis.
4.2 Describe the process of organizational learning and explain
the
strengths and weaknesses.
4.3 Describe the process of an organization develops legitimacy
and
the steps to and importance of maintain legitimacy after a crisis.
Unit Lesson
Introduction

Often the effectiveness of an organization’s response to a crisis
is not known
until after the response has occurred and the crisis is over. A
good review of the
response is important in gaining feedback and in making
organizational changes
to ensure that similar events in the future do not cause
significant issues.
Organizational Learning
When an organization reviews their response, gathers feedback
from those
involved, and then develops changes based on the feedback
received, the
organization has learned. When an organization recognizes and
learns from
their “failures,” they can both minimize the impact of future
incidents, and also
prevent future crises from occurring. The learning process is
reliant on an
organization’s movement through three stages.
Reading
Assignment
See information below
Key Terms
1. Legitimacy
2. Organizational

learning
2
The first stage of organizational learning is experience.
Experience may be
either direct or indirect. Direct experience means that the crisis
occurs to the
organization, forcing them to confront the event (Sellnow &
Seeger, 2013). They
are able to receive feedback from their own personnel to learn
and prevent
future events from occurring. An organization does not have to
directly
experience the crisis, though, in order to learn from it. This is
when indirect
experience occurs. Indirect experience occurs when
organization A observes
organization B experience a crisis. Through their observations,
organization A is
able to review how they would respond to the same crisis and
make changes to
prevent that crisis from occurring to their organization.
The second stage of organizational learning is meaningful
change. Meaningful
change is when errors in response are not only recognized by
the organization,
but shared with all involved. These errors help the organization

develop
recommendations for changes in procedure to assist in better
response from the
organization. Meaningful change also creates a change in the
overall
organizational attitude to ensure that the changes are
implemented by all
involved. Part of meaningful change is the potential for
structural change. When
organizational response is found to have been inadequate, there
will be change
in the leadership structure - normally through
promotion/demotion or hiring/firing.
This not only changes the structure of the organization, but also
shows that the
leadership is being held accountable for the failures in response.
Additionally,
attitudinal change is important in ensuring meaningful change.
Attitudinal change
focuses more on ensuring that the people in the organization
embrace the
structural and policy changes and become champions for the
cause. This will
ensure that they have a buy-in to crisis response in the future.
The third stage of organizational learning is healing. Healing
allows those
involved in the crisis to move past it and focus on the future. As
part of healing,
organizations look for an explanation for why the crisis
occurred. By looking for
an explanation, organizations are able to review their processes
and better
understand their role in the crisis. Healing also involves
forgetting. In order to
move on, organizations must, to an extent, forget the trauma

associated with the
crisis in order to move forward. However, in that same breath,
the organization
must remember the incident. Instead of remembering it through
the emotional
response, members of the organization must reframe their
memories to develop
a “lessons learned” approach to the memories.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Organizational Learning
Organizations MUST change in order to survive. Change is
based on learning
from failures and applying those lessons to prevent failures in
the future. Change
as a result of organizational learning requires support of all
those involved.
Sensemaking
By its nature, a crisis is a shock to all of those impacted and
causes a
momentary delay in response as responders recover from the
initial shock. In
order to clarify the impacts of the crisis and develop a response,
some
researchers believe that a retrospective view is used to respond.
This occurs in
three stages: enactment (action), selection (interpretation), and
retention
(learning). Within sensemaking a crisis is also referred to as a
cosmology
episode. That is, an organization experiences a momentary
collapse of all logical
expectations. Once this has occurred the organization utilizes
sensemaking to

assist the rebuilding process.
3
Enactment
The first stage of sensemaking is enactment. This stage is built
on the premise
that people will act in response to an event and those actions
will have
consequences, both positive and negative. These consequences
shape the
environment that organization must work in. In sensemaking,
response is based
both on the management of the impacts, as well as a constant
analysis of the
impact of the behaviors and the consequences of the behaviors.
Selection
Selection is the process in sensemaking that involves crisis
managers
interpreting the data, determining what lessons there are, and
deciding what
should be done next. Selection is a time to determine whether
actions have had
positive or negative consequences, and either continue with the
actions or
develop a plan for changes, based on the analysis.

Retention
When enactment and selection are complete, retention can
begin. This stage is
marked by the development of cause maps (Sellnow & Seeger,
2013). These
maps are the new path that is engrained into the organizational
memory to
support new practices. These new practices assist in developing
new response
plans and interactions during the next event.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Sensemaking:
Sensemaking puts a significant focus on the importance of
human perception of
the response to a crisis. Recognizing that the way a crisis is
interpreted by those
who are experiencing it, sensemaking allows for the
development of responses
based on human perception and reaction to the crisis. One
weakness is that any
recommendations that arise through the process of sensemaking
are generic, as
the development of a step-by-step solution would go against the
nature of the
theory. So, even with the recommendations, additional work
would need to be
done to ensure proper enactment of the recommendations.
Organizational Legitimacy
In order for an organization to succeed and continue to thrive in
society, the
people who utilize or interact with the organization must view

them as a
legitimate source of information, product, or service. In order to
have legitimacy,
an organization must show that their activities, products, or
services fall within
social norms and are congruent with what they advertise. When
an organization
loses legitimacy they will often struggle to survive. The loss of
legitimacy is
viewed as a crisis for the organization. As an example, consider
the 2011 story
of the for-pay fire service in Tennessee that watched a house
fire burn because
the homeowners had not paid their subscription fee. The social
expectation is
that a fire department will fight fires. Because the expected
behavior did not
occur, a legitimacy gap formed.
4
Legitimacy Gaps
Legitimacy gaps occur when an organization fails to meet the
standards and
expectations set by society. When this occurs, communication
becomes a major
component in combating the crisis. The first communication
that needs to occur

is with the public that the organization serves. This
communication serves as an
explanation for the behavior. In the example regarding the
organizational gap
created with the fee-for-service fire service, the communication
released by the
organization may focus on a reminder of the explanation of the
organization
policies, expectations for fee payment and any options or
alternatives that are
available. Secondary to providing an explanation, the
organization must also
communicate potential solutions for the problem. In this
scenario, potential
solutions may be offering payment plans for those who aren’t
financially able to
pay the subscription, or developing mutual aid to assist with
fires when the fee
has not been paid. These communications show the public that
the organization
is willing to change and may assist in rebuilding the
organization’s legitimacy.
Actional Legitimacy
There are instances where a crisis only threatens a portion of
the legitimacy an
organization has earned. This is referred to as actional
legitimacy. Actional
legitimacy is best described as an event where the policies or
strategies of the
organization threaten their reputation (Sellnow & Seeger, 2013).
For instance,
the policy to close a fire station due to staffing shortage may
hurt the legitimacy
of that fire department in that portion of the community. In

order to rebuild the
actional legitimacy the organization must acknowledge the
problem, discuss the
development of a solution, take steps that are visible to the
public served, and
maintain an ongoing commitment to ensure the problem does
not happen again
(Sellnow & Seeger, 2013). This acknowledgement of the
problem and continued
review of the organization’s actions assist in maintaining a
positive image with
the public.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Organizational Legitimacy
The use of organizational legitimacy to describe crisis response
recognizes the
importance of social impacts and organizational behaviors. The
impact that
society plays on an organization’s ability to recover from a
crisis is a major factor
in this theory. However, when major organizations that society
relies on, such as
oil companies or even fire departments, suffer gaps in
organizational legitimacy,
they may not necessarily suffer a decrease in use, as they are
needed for
society to function. The theory of organizational legitimacy
does not necessarily
account for these types of organizations.
Situational Crisis Communication Theory
Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) is another
process that
recognizes the importance of the public perception and approval

of an
organization as it responds to, and recovers from a crisis.
However, unlike the
organizational legitimacy theory, SCCT develops a step-by-step
process for
responding to the crisis to maintain the organization’s
reputation. Researchers
believe that SCCT relies on the attribution theory to assist in
developing
strategies. The attribution theory describes how we look at
people’s behaviors to
help explain the way they react (Sellnow & Seeger, 2013).
However, the SCCT
opens up the viewpoint to help explain how individual’s
behaviors can also
impact an organization.
5
Response Strategies
When crisis managers utilize SCCT for crisis response, they
deal with three
types of information. The first is instructing information.
Instructional information
provides information to the public on steps to take to protect
themselves. This is
the information that is shared immediately before, and
immediately after a crisis

occurs. The second type of information is adjusting information.
This information
provides an explanation of the what, when, where, why, and
how of the event
(Sellnow & Seeger, 2013). This information provides the public
with the ability to
begin to process the impacts and cope with the crisis.
Once this information is shared, an organization can develop
their response
strategies. The SCCT offer four possible strategies for an
organization’s
response to a crisis. An organization may use more than one of
these strategies
to help them respond to, and recover from the impacts of the
crisis.
The first strategy is the denial strategy. In this strategy an
organization attempts
to separate themselves from all references to the crisis. In the
second strategy,
diminishment, an organization attempts to lessen their
responsibility by proving
that they had limited to no control over the development of the
crisis. The third
strategy is rebuilding. When using this strategy, an organization
works to repair
and improve their reputation. The final strategy is bolstering.
The bolstering
strategy provides an opportunity for the organization to not only
rebuild their
reputation, but also to create a positive connection between the
organization and
their stakeholders.
Evaluating Reputational Threat

Before they respond, an organization must believe that the crisis
poses a threat
to their reputation. Scholars believe that there are three factors
that assist in the
full assessment of the potential threats. These factors are crisis
type, crisis
history, and prior reputation. There are three crisis types to
consider. The
organization is either a victim of the crisis, responsible for the
crisis through an
accident, or responsible as the result of intentional actions. If
the organization is
the victim, then they may need to take less action in response to
the crisis to
maintain their reputation. The second two factors are: crisis
history and prior
reputation. An organization that has a history of other crises
and/or has a poor
reputation may require a more significant response to the crisis.
Selecting a Crisis Response Strategy
Once the assessment of threat is complete, SCCT provides
thirteen
recommendations on developing a response to the crisis. Each
of these
recommendations is based on the potential threat to the
organization’s
reputation. The recommendations are:
1. Provide instructing information to all victims or potential
victims.
2. Provide adjusting information to victims, ensuring that
concern is

expressed.
3. Use diminishment strategies for accidental crises (when there
is no
crises history).
4. Use diminishment strategies for victim crises when there is a
history or
unfavorable prior reputation.
5. Use rebuilding strategies for accidental crises when there is a
history or
unfavorable prior reputation.
6. Use rebuilding strategies for any preventable crisis.
6
7. Use denial strategies in rumor crises.
8. Use denial strategies in challenges when the challenge is
unwarranted.
9. Use corrective action in challenges when stakeholders are
likely to
support the challenge.
10. Use reinforcing strategies as supplements to other response
strategies.
11. Only use the victimage response when the organization is a
victim.
12. Do not mix denial strategies with either diminishment or

rebuilding
strategies.
13. Diminishment and rebuilding strategies can be used in
combination with
one another (Sellnow & Seeger, 2013).
Strengths and Weaknesses of SCCT
The SCCT provides an opportunity for quantitative analysis of
the crisis. Unlike
other theories, SCCT provides flexibility for applilcation in a
variety of crises.
However, the SCCT is best utilized when the crisis impacts an
organization’s
reputation.
Discourse of Renewal
An organization that practices the discourse of renewal is
looking to move itself
to a higher status through a process that allows an organization
to reconnect to
its core values. An organization is able to reevaluate their
principles and adjust
their core values or reaffirm their core values based on their
analysis of the
response to the crisis. However, in order for the discourse of
renewal process to
be successful the organization must publicly dedicate
themselves to the renewal
process immediately after a crisis. As part of the discourse of
renewal, an
organization must focus of four objectives: learning, ethical
communication,

prospective versus retrospective vision, and effective
organizational rhetoric.
Learning
Learning is an integral part of the discourse renewal theory. In
order for renewal
to take place, an organization must be willing to determine what
changes need
to be made. They must learn what changes need to be made and
be willing to
make the changes.
Ethical Communication
An organization must provide an open line of communication
with those they
serve. This communication must be honest and follow the ethics
of society in
order for the organization to maintain the support of the
community they serve.
Prospective versus Retrospective Vision
An organization that follows the discourse of renewal theory
must ensure that
the communications they release focus on the future and not on
the crisis or who
is to blame for the crisis. This type of communication puts the
focus on the
recovery and supports the renewal of the values of the
organization.
Effective Organizational Rhetoric
Organizational leaders must emulate the behaviors that they

want the
stakeholders to display. These behaviors support the rebuilding
of the
organization and the refocus of the course values of the
organization. It shows
that the leaders of the organization can show they truly believe
the things they
say.
7
Strengths and Weaknesses of Discourse of Renewal
The discourse of renewal theory is not only practical, but also
puts a focus on
ethics as the core of crisis planning and decision making while
an organization
recovers from a crisis. Not only does this theory allow an
organization to recover,
but also to come back stronger with a reaffirmation of the ethics
and standards
at the core of the organization. However, this theory is not of
benefit to
organizations where leadership is based on lies and deceit, as
these
organizations will be unable to truly admit their faults and
refocus to strong core
standards.

Conclusion
Organizations must respond appropriately to recover from a
crisis. Their
response will often be based on the way in which they want to
be viewed by the
public they serve to ensure that they will not only survive the
crisis, but continue
to grow and thrive after it, as well as prevent and/or survive any
future crisis.
Reference
Sellnow, T. L., & Seeger, M. W. (2013). Theorizing crisis
communication.
London, England: Wiley-Blackwell.
Reading Assignment
Chapter 4: Theories of Communication and Crisis Outcomes.
Click on the following link to access the article on a Tennessee
Fire Chief
attacked because he allowed a house to burn:
http://www.firehouse.com/. 1) use
the search box; 2) enter the following term: “South Fulton fire
chief was
assaulted.” Please read the article posted on October 4th, 2010.
Click here to access the PDF of the article.

Click on the following link to access the article on how a
Tennessee Fire
Department watched a house burn again:
http://www.firehouse.com/. 1) use the
search box; 2) enter the following term; “South Fulton Fire
Department refused.”
Please read the article posted on October 6th, 2010.
Click here to access the PDF of the article.
http://www.firehouse.com/
https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/CSU_Content/Courses/Busi
ness/EMS/EMS4305/13A/UnitIII_TennesseeChiefAttacked.pdf
http://www.firehouse.com/
https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/CSU_Content/Courses/Busi
ness/EMS/EMS4305/13A/UnitIII_DepartmentWatchesHouseBur
n.pdf
1) The concept of flexibility in the law is best illustrated by:
2) The school of jurisprudence that believes that free market
forces should determine the outcome to lawsuits is:
3) Which of the following is true about litigating commercial
disputes?
4) A ___________ is a court appointed party who conducts a
private trial and renders a judgement.
5) ________ is a form of alternative dispute resolution that is
often used when the parties involved do not want to face one
another.
6) Which form of alternative dispute resolution occurs when the
parties choose an impartial third party to hear and decide their
dispute?
7) The Double Diamond Dude Ranch is located in Montana and
maintains a web site on the Internet Before the Internet, the

ranch relied exclusively on word-of-mouth advertising The web
site simply provides some general information and lists the
ranch's phone number for reservations, but reservations cannot
be made online The ranch has no other connections or presence
outside of Montana Bob lives in Ohio and learned of the ranch
through its web site Bob then spent a week as a paying guest at
the ranch, but was injured when he fell off a horse Can Bob sue
the dude ranch in Ohio state court?
8) What is the result of the "effects on interstate commerce"
test?
9) If there is an area of interstate commerce that the federal
government has not chosen to regulate, the states can:
10) The legal effect of the presence of a superceding event is
that:
11) If a plaintiff voluntarily enters into or participates into a
risk activity that results in injury, what is the most likely
defense that he or she may use to a defendant's claim that the
plaintiff assumed the risk?
12) The tort of palming off involves:
13) Based on the law of product liability, which of the
following is correct?
14) Sean has a 6 year old car which he bought 2 years ago from
its original owner Eight months ago he received a recall notice
about a safety problem with the brakes He never responded to
the notice Yesterday Sean was driving when the brakes failed
and caused him to strike and injure a pedestrian Which of the
following is true in lawsuits against the car's manufacturer?
15) Little Bobby, five years old, finds his brothers Extendo
Sword, which is a toy sword about a foot long which spring out
to about five feet long when a button on the handle is pushed
His mother tells him to put it down because he will hurt
someone if he's not careful Bobby pushes the button when the
sword is pointed toward his face and, just as all properly
functioning Extendo Swords do, the sword shoots out Bobby is
injured and, under products liability, sues the toy store which
sold the toy Bobby will most likely:

16) Under federal rules regulating food and drugs, which of the
following is true?
17) Which of the following statements best describes the
procedures under the Clean Air Act?
18) Mary applied for a permit with a federal administrative
agency to operate a business within the boundaries of a popular
national forest The agency grants a limited number of these
permits that allow operation of the business during the busy
tourist season The agency has turned down Mary's application
even though she received a permit in the prior year, paid the
related fees on time, and violated none of the permit's
conditions The agency granted a permit to a different applicant
who had never run this type of business previously If Mary
appeals the decision to a court, what standard of review will it
most likely use?
19) What is the most basic or common remedy available for
breach of a contract?
20) The circumstances where an offer cannot be withdrawn
under promissory estoppel is also known as:
21) Which of the following is correct regarding a counteroffer?
22) A contract for the sale of land:
23) What does the parol evidence rule do?
24) John is president and sole shareholder of Photo, Inc Photo,
Inc wishes to borrow money, but to do so, the bank requires
John to orally guarantee to repay the loan if Photo, Inc cannot
John's guaranty to repay is:
25) Licensing of informational rights can best be described as:
26) Which of the following best describes how e-mail contracts
are viewed under the law?
27) Under the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act,
tender of performance is:
28) William was a factory worker at the Spruce Industries plant
When it was learned he was a homosexual, he was fired This
action is:
29) Which is true about the two kinds of discrimination that are
actionable under Title VII?

30) Which of the following is true about sexual harassment in
the workplace?
31) Minimum wage, hours of employment, and child labor are
regulated by the:
32) Which of the following is true about the provisions of the
Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) as
they related to health insurance?
33) Which of the following statutes provides that it is legal for
employees to organize a union?
34) Edward's Warehouse stores a variety of generic goods for
several distributors in Anytown Which of the following
describes Edward's liability for the bailed goods should
something happen to them?
35) A bailment is:
36) Which of the following would be classified as tangible
personal property?
37) What was accomplished by the Visual Artists Rights Act?
38) Which of the following is true about misappropriation of
trade secrets?
39) A doctrine that says a patent may not be granted if the
invention was used by the public for more than a certain period
of time prior to the filing of the patent application is known as;
40) How does an easement appurtenant differ from an easement
in gross?
41) Sam sells property to Betty and delivers Betty a deed that
says "This property is conveyed to Betty so long as she never
operates a bar on the premises." If she operates a bar on the
premises, Sam Seller may take possession of the property. The
type of interest that Betty Buyer has acquired is a:
42) Which of the following is true about misappropriation of
trade secrets?
43) If a corporation is properly incorporated in one state and
wants to do business in second state, the corporation:
44) Limited partners can lose their limited liability by
Breaching the fiduciary duty to the limited partnership.:
45) If an LLC fails to follow formalities such as keeping

minutes of meetings, then which of the following is true?
46) The Sarbanes-Oxley Act provides for the establishment of
the _____________ to over see audits of public companies. This
will be done to protect the interests of shareholders and
investors.
47) The Sarbane-Oxley Act of 2002 was enacted in order to:
48) According to Sarbanes-Oxley, this person or people should
sign the Federal income tax return of a corporation:
49) Which of the following is likely to be a breach of a
corporate officer's/director's duty of care?
50) In what ways may officers and directors protect themselves
from liability for actions taken as an officer or director?
51) There are no accountants on the board of the Oriole
Corporation The board routinely relies on a Certified Public
Accountant (CPA) to explain the financial situation of the
corporation The board does not do an independent analysis of
the CPA's report In these circumstances, the board is:
ANSWERS:
1.
Tennessee Chief Attacked Over House
Allowed to Burn
Firehouse.com News
Created: October 4, 2010
Reprinted with permission
The South Fulton fire chief was assaulted by a man after crews
were unable to respond to a house fire last
week due to an unpaid rural fire subscription fee.
The South Fulton fire chief was assaulted by a man after crews

were unable to respond to a
house fire last week due to an unpaid rural fire subscription fee,
according to The Messenger.
Fire Chief David Wilds was transported and treated at an area
hospital following the incident that
occurred at approximately 5:45 p.m. on Sept. 29 at the city's
fire station in the South Fulton
Municipal Building.
His alleged attacker -- 44-year-old Timothy A. Cranick -- was
arrested and charged with felony
aggravated assault, according to the report.
South Fulton Police Chief Andy Crocker told the newspaper that
Cranick is a family member of
the resident whose property was burned. He entered the station
looking for Wilds, and when he
identified himself he allegedly struck him.
The fire chief was knocked down and was rendered virtually
defenseless. The man was pulled
off Wilds by other firefighters who restrained him until
additional help arrived.

South Fulton City Manager Jeff Vowell told the newspaper that
Wilds was "doing OK" the day
after the incident and was back at the fire station.
The fire that provoked the attacked occurred at approximately
2:30 p.m. that same day at Gene
Cranick's property on Buddy Jones Road.
Vowell said that since the property owner was not a paying
member of the rural fire subscription
service, the call was declined and the city's fire department
could not respond.
"I have no problem with the way any of my people handled the
situation. They did what they
were supposed to do," he told the newspaper. "It's a regrettable
situation any time something like
this happens."
The partment did respond to a request to protect the property of
the adjacent property owner,
who is a member of the rural fire subscription service.
South Fulton's annual fee is $75, according to the report.

Tennessee Fire Department Watches
House Burn, Again
Firehouse.com News
Created: December 6, 2011
Reprinted with permission
The South Fulton Fire Department refused to put out a house
fire last year due to an unpaid fire
subscription fee, and it appears that policy has not changed.
The South Fulton Fire Department made national news last year
after they refused to put out a
house fire due to an unpaid fire subscription fee, and it appears
that policy has not changed.
Homeowner Vicky Bell watched her home burn to the ground on
Monday while firefighters
stood behind her looking on, according to WPSD-TV.
While the city provides fire service free of charge to its
residents, it requires an annual $75 fee

for homeowners who live in unincorporated areas of Obion
County -- which doesn't have its own
fire department.
"In an emergency, the first thing you think of, 'Call 911,' " Bell
said. "911 said they were in fact
dispatched and they showed that they were on the scene. You
could look out my mom's trailer
and see the trucks sitting at a distance."
The city's mayor told the news station that the fire department
can't survive without the fees and
if they make exceptions to the rule, homeowners would not pay
the fee.
"There's no way to go to every fire and keep up the manpower,
the equipment, and just [sic] the
funding for the fire department," Mayor David Crocker said,
adding that after last year's fire,
everyone should be aware of the city's policy.
Bell admitted that she was aware of the fee, but never thought it
would happen to them.

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