Crisis Management by Apology: Corporate Response to Allegations of Wrongdoing

261 Pages·2006·2.64 MB·English

by  Hearit K.M.

Crisis Management
by Apology
Corporate Response to Allegations
of Wrongdoing
LEA’s COMMUNICATION SERIES
nings Bryant/Dolf Zillmann, General Editors
Selected titles in Public Relations (JamesGrunig, Advisory Editor) include:
Austin/Pinkleton • Strategic Public Relations Management: Planning and
Managing Effective Communication Programs
Dozier/Grunig/Grunig• Manager’s Guide to Excellence in Public Relations and
Communication Management
Fearn-Banks• Crisis Communications: A Casebook Approach, Second Edition
Grunig/Grunig/Dozier • Excellent Public Relations and Effective Organizations:
A Study of Communication Management in Three Countries
Lamb/McKee• Applied Public Relations: Cases in Stakeholder Management
Ledingham/Bruning• Public Relations as Relationship Management: A
Relational Approach to the Study and Practice of Public Relations
Mickey •DeconstructingPublic Relations: Public Relations Criticism
Millar/Heath • Responding to Crisis: A Rhetorical Approach to Crisis
Communication
Spicer• Organizational Public Relations: A Political Perspective
For a complete list of titles in LEA’s Communication Series, please contact
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers at www.erlbaum.com.
Crisis Management
by Apology
Corporate Response to Allegations
of Wrongdoing
Keith Michael Hearit
Western Michigan University
LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS
2006 Mahwah, New Jersey London
Copyright © 2006 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinany
form,byphotostat,microform,retrievalsystem,oranyothermeans,
without prior written permission of the publisher.
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers
10 Industrial Avenue
Mahwah, New Jersey 07430
www.erlbaum.com
Cover design by Kathryn Houghtaling Lacey
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hearit, Keith Michael.
Crisismanagementbyapology:corporateresponsetoallegationsof
wrongdoing / Keith Michael Hearit.
p. cm—(LEA's communication series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN0-8058-3788-4(c:alk.paper)—ISBN0-8058-3789-2(alk.paper)
1. Corporateimage. 2. Crisismanagement. 3. Apologizing. 4. Cor-
porations—Publicrelations. 5. Businesscommunication. I. Title.
II. Series.
HD59.2.H43 2005
659.2—dc22 20050740114
CIP
BookspublishedbyLawrenceErlbaumAssociatesareprintedonacid-
free paper, and their bindings are chosen for strength and durability.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface vii
About the Author/About the Contributor viii
1 Introduction 1
2 Apologia, Social Drama, and Public Ritual 19
3 Legality and Liability 40
4 Apologetic Ethics (written with Sandra L. Borden) 58
5 Apologia and Individuals: Politicians, Sports Figures, 79
and Media Celebrities
6 Apologia and Organizations: Retail, Manufacturing, 121
and Not-for-Profits
7 Institutional Apologies: Institutional, Religious, and 165
Governmental
8 Conclusions: Corporate Apologia, Ideology, and Ethical 204
Responses to Criticism
References 219
Author Index 241
Subject Index 247
v
This page intentionally left blank
Preface
Whetheritisapresidentwhomustapologizetothenation,acompanythat
hasdevelopedaproductthathascausedagrievousharm,oracelebritytrying
torepairadamagedimage,apologiaandapologiesarefrequentlyinthenews.
Thestudyofapologeticcrisismanagement,particularlyfromtheperspec-
tivetakenhere,isonethatviewsmostcrisestobeself-generated.Thisbook
hasgrownoutofadesiretoaccountforthemanywaysindividuals,organiza-
tions,andinstitutionstryto“saveface”astheyseektoextricatethemselves
fromdifficultstraights.Althoughthistexttriesnottofeatureonlycorpora-
tionsandtheircrisismanagement,itdoesnotethatthehegemoniceffectof
for-profitcorporationsoncrisisdiscourseisnothingshortofdramatic.
Theguidingassumptiontakenhereisthatcrisisresearchersarewiseto
payparticularlycloseattentiontothelanguageusedbythosewhowouldex-
tricatethemselvesfromtheirwrongdoing—totrytouncoverthelexiconof
thelie.Asaresult,thisbooktakesanunabashedlyrhetoricalapproachto
thestudyofcrisismanagement,andspecificallyexaminesthatgenreofcri-
seswherebyindividualsandorganizationsarebelievedtobeguiltyofanof-
fenseandhavetoenterintothepublicconfessionalinordertorepairtheir
damaged reputations.
Theneedforcloseattentiontothenatureoflanguageusedbyapologists
isevidenteveninthetwomajortermsofthisstudy:apologiaandapology.Ap-
ologiareferstotheactofgivingadefense,whereasapologytypicallymeans
theofferingofameaculpa.Yet,evenhere,theconfusionastothedifference
betweenapologiaeandapologieshastremendousrhetoricalbenefitforan
apologist.Discerningpartiesthatfacecriticismoftencapitalizeonthisam-
biguitybyofferinganapologiathatsoundslikeanapology:Auditorsarethen
placated by therhetor’sapparent act of contrition.
Twoothercommentsareneeded.First,thereferencesatthebeginningof
eachchaptertoScripturearebydesign,andarerootedinKennethBurke’s
writings,especiallyhisbookTheRhetoricofReligion(1970),inthatreligious
terminologyoffersahelpfulentranceintothecommonlanguageandscripts
that human actors use as a vehicle to situate their actions. Second, when
possible,thisbookusesTheNewYorkTimesasaprimarysourceforpublic
vii
viii PREFACE
statements on the part of apologists. This is intentional for two reasons.
First, the Times is the United States’ “newspaperof record.” As such, it is
viewed as a highly credible if not authoritative source (although one not
without imperfections).Second,the Timesalso has beenshown tohave a
significanteffectonsubsequentbroadcastandnewspapercoverage(Batulis,
1976;Beniger&Westney,1981;Charles,Shore,&Todd,1979).Assuch,
this book has emphasizedthe public statementsof apologistsin the Times
withtheideathattheyarethestatementslikelytobemediatedbyjournal-
ists throughout the nation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
IwouldberemissifIdidnotthankthemanypeoplewhoplayedaroleinthe
publicationofthisbook.Inparticular,Iwishtothankthosewhohelpedin
the collection of data and research materials: Jennifer Brown, Candace
Dixon,andespeciallyLaurenTeal.TomycolleagueSandraBorden,Iespe-
ciallythankyouforyourhelpindevelopingtheroleofethicsintheapolo-
getic exchange as well as your participation in writing chapter 4. To my
departmentchair,SteveRhodes,thanksforallyoursupportandencourage-
ment.Finally,Iwouldliketosayanoteofthankstoanumberoffriendsfor
their encouragement at critical times in the writing of this book: Dan
Darnley,foryourconfidentassurancethatthisprojectwouldbecompleted;
JoeandRudy,foraquietplacetowrite;andMattSeeger,whoseinterestand
encouragementinthisprojectwereimmeasurable.Finally,Iwishtothank
my editor, Linda Bathgate, for her indefatigable support, copyeditor Gale
Miller, as well as senior production editor Providence Rao and the entire
LEAstafffortheirworkinbringingthisbooktopublication.
Last,Iwouldliketothankmyfamily,towhomIdedicatethiswork.With-
out your support, this project would never have reached completion. You
are the reason why I go to work and come home every day.
—KeithHearit
November 2004
About the Author
KeithMichaelHearitisanassociateprofessorofcommunicationanddirec-
tor of undergraduate studies at Western Michigan University. Professor
Hearitteachescoursesinorganizationalcommunication,publicrelations,
corporateadvocacy,andcrisismanagement.Hisresearchfocusesonnon-
commercial forms of external organizational communication by corpora-
tions, particularly in those instances when companies are accused of
wrongdoing.HehaspublishedarticlesintheHandbookofPublicRelations,
Communication Studies, and Public Relations Review, as well as contributed
chaptersinanumberofeditedbooks.HearitisactiveintheNationalCom-
municationAssociation,AssociationforJournalismandMassCommuni-
cationEducation,andtheCentralStatesCommunicationAssociation.He
receivedhisdoctoraldegreeinPublicAffairsandIssueManagementfrom
PurdueUniversity.
About the Contributor
Sandra L. Borden is an associate professor of communication at Western
Michigan University, where she also is codirector of the Center for the
StudyofEthicsinSociety.Borden’sresearchinmediaethicshasbeenpub-
lishedinCommunicationMonographs,TheJournalofMassMediaEthics,the
JournalofCommunicationInquiry,TheInternationalJournalofAppliedPhilos-
ophy,andSouthernCommunicationJournal.Shealsoisacontributortotwo
editedbooksonjournalismandprofessionalethics.Bordenisactiveinthe
AssociationforEducationinJournalismandMassCommunicationandthe
AssociationforPracticalandProfessionalEthics.Borden,aformernewspa-
perjournalist,hasaPhDinmasscommunicationsfromIndianaUniversity
andaMAinjournalismfromTheOhioStateUniversity.
ix