Contingency theory of strategic conflict management: Unearthing factors that influence ethical elocution in crisis communication

• Main Authors: PANG, Augustine, JIN, Yan, CAMERON, Glen T.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2010
• Subjects: Business and Corporate Communications; Organizational Communication
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6095; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/7094/viewcontent/27a53c_329a20c6c15d40f692a559eb60897ffd.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Despite the advances made offering a viable perspective in strategic conflict management, the contingency theory has not addressed a prevailing question: How can the theory inform organizations to communicate ethically with its publics, especially during crisis? The only guidance the theory offers is through its proscriptive variables, which prohibit either communication or more accommodative communication. However, given the exigency and dynamism of many situations along the life cycle of an issue, non-communicating may not be an alternative offered to organizations. This study aims to unearth a new set of factors called ethical variables that influence the organization’s stance by reviewing corporate social responsibility and conflict communication literature to propose drivers that influence ethical elocution in crisis communication. Responsibility is ethics manifested (Joyner & Payne, 2002). Six factors, some not addressed by the theory, were found, namely the role of public relations practitioners; role of dominant coalition; exposure of organizational business and to diversity of cultures; government influence and intervention; nature of crisis; and activism. Though the study is exploratory, it represents a major theoretical breakthrough in theory building with the aim of offering a practical approach – rather than a philosophical argument and persuasion – for practitioners to begin engaging in ethical elocation.