Strategic Issues Management

Introduction

Week 1

This unit covers the specialist area of

issues management

from a public relations perspective.

Essential…

Above all,

management of an organisation must be

competent and ethical.

Otherwise,

the handling of issues and crises

will expose management’s failings to the world

and could destroy the organisation.

Today

• The context – all organisations depend on good relationships

with internal and external stakeholders.

• Organisations constantly have to deal with a range of

challenges in their operating environment to be successful.

• Effective issue management helps overcome these

challenges by focusing on effective stakeholder relations

management.

• Corporate planning is strengthened by good issue

management.

The details of this unit’s content and assignments will be

provided following this lecture.

Interaction with operating environment

The Organisation

Values & lifestyle

Internal environment

Public (govt) policy

formulation

Special-interest groups

Role of Stakeholder

groups

Attitudes towards business

Information age

Ethical standards

Continuum of challenges

Concern risk problem issue crisis

This unit is about issues, which are located on a continuum of

organisational challenges caused by stakeholder attitudes and

actions. The strategy dealing with these challenges should be

an integrated process.

More discussion on this in later weeks.

Issues and crises

Issues are messy; they don’t progress predictably in a straight line. They

are usually the outcome of trends, which are detectable changes likely to

affect the operating environment (Jones & Chase, 1979).

Issues and crises are closely related, but crises are not necessarily a failure

of issue management.

Ignoring an issue doesn’t necessarily lead to a crisis – some issues and

potential issues fade away without action by management.

A crisis can be an event that creates an issue or keeps an issue alive or

gives it strength (Heath, 1997, cited in Jaques, 2009).

What is an issue?

An emerging issue is a condition or event, either internal or external to

the organisation, which, if it continues, will significantly affect the

functioning or performance of the organisation or its future interests. (Regester & Larkin, 2008, p. 44).

Issues are around us every day

Again, What is an issue?

It…

• Usually causes two or more strongly held/opposing views

• Involves emotions

• Concerns that any decision will impact people’s lives

• Might become a crisis when not effectively handled

Some levels of Issue

• Latent - in the process of being formed

• Emerging - begins to appear in journals, specialty media sources, alternative media; adopted by interest groups and opinion leaders become aware

• Hot - in current debate

• Fallout - waiting to be rekindled (sparks of a past fire ready to re-ignite)

More pressure on organisations

Organisations are under more public scrutiny than every

before, especially due to social media. Headlines are more

sensationalised. But most cases are merely issues, not

anything worse.

PR disaster!

Media disaster!

PR blunder!

PR catastrophe!

PR mess!

PR blow!

PR bungle!

PR stumble!

For example…

This trivial example in 2013 occurred because a nervous US Congressman

fumbled for a drink of water while making an important speech.

Nevertheless, many genuine issues are around

Here are the business issues reported in the Asian

Wall Street Journal in just one day in October 2013.

• Apple cuts orders for iPhone 5C

• Ireland moves to block tax shelter for international co’s

• Laos aircraft crashes at Mekong River

• Glaxo’s ex-China chief assists in bribery probe

• A shakeout for Wal-Mart’s China stores

• Danone cuts forecasts after baby-formula recall

• Yahoo: profit stuck, for now

• Mattel plants face scrutiny in China

• JP Morgan fined $100m for reckless trading

What about issues caused by social media?

Types of issues

• Negative comments

• Rogue tweets

• Campaign-gone-wrong

• Any other categories of social media issues?

• Specific examples?

Issues and issue management

Two ways to view issue management:

1. As a structural framework – a public policy approach

2. As its application in practice – a set of processes

This leads to three different ways to define issues:

• Controversy or dispute (an issue is a contestable difference of opinion)

• Gap in expectations (gap between organisational actions and the

expectations of stakeholders – the ‘legitimacy gap’)

• Impact (event, trend or condition creating, or has potential to create, a

major impact)

(Jaques, 2009)

Any issue can form when constituencies and organisations have different

expectations and behaviours.

This is called the legitimacy gap. Addressed through public policy or

through firms voluntarily making changes after engaging with

constituencies who want a change, or the firm persuading

constituencies to its point of view (Coombs & Holladay, 2010, p. 196-197).

Legitimacy involves sufficient people accept the issue as a public concern.

Power and influence are central in issue management, and therefore strong

need for an ethical approach (Coombs & Holladay, 2010, p. 210).

An issue always involves some degree of conflict (Hainsworth, 1990, cited in

Oliver & Donnelly, 2007).

Issue management

Issue management is a form of risk management. It reduces the risk of

the organisation being worse off than if it hadn’t dealt properly with

the issues. We will talk about risk communication later in this unit.

Issues management was formed in response to activist action to shape

public policy (ie government) in the 1970s, but now extends to

general matters in public.

The term issue management actually gives the wrong impression.

Organisations can’t actually manage issues; public issues are too big

to control – management can just try to shape and influence them,

ideally to best mutual advantage with stakeholders (Arnold & Ewing,

2012, p. 344).

Issue management

IM is the function of strategically aligning the corporation with the operating

environment, allowing continued survival and development of

relationships with members of that environment (Bowen, 2002).

IM is about identifying risk and opportunity before your key audiences can (Palese & Crane, 2002).

IM originally intended to help firms compete with governments and NGOs

in the development of public policy. But govts and NGOs themselves

now use IM techniques to promote and implement those very policies.

The focus of issue management

Issue management is about strategic issues – the trends, events and

developments that meet three criteria:

1. They would affect the organisation’s business performance

2. The organisation would have to systematically mobilise resources to

deal with them.

3. The organisation may reasonably expect to exert some influence over

the outcome.

(Mahon, n.d. cited in Harrison 2011, p. 780)

Planning strengthened by IM

Corporate planning is strengthened by issue management when IM:

1. Anticipates, analyses and prioritises issues

2. Helps develop a position on vital issues

3. Identifies stakeholders and key players

4. Identifies desired behaviours of stakeholders and influential persons

These functions support achievement of the organisational mission.

Communication professionals are empowered

when they are involved in these functions.

(Heath & Palenchar, 2009, p. 31)

References

Arnold, J., & Ewing, R. (2012). Issues management methods for reputational

management. In C. Caywood (Ed.). The Handbook of Strategic Public Relations and

Integrated Marketing Communications (2nd ed., pp. 335-352). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Bowen, S. (2002). Elite executives in issues management: the role of ethical paradigms

in decision making. Journal of Public Affairs, 2(4), pp. 270-283.

Coombs, W., & Holladay, S. (2010). PR Strategy and Application: managing influence.

Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Heath, R., & Palenchar, M. (2009). Strategic Issues Management: organizations and

public policy challenges (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.

Jaques, T. (2009). Issues and crisis management: quicksand in the definitional

landscape. Public Relations Review, 35(3), pp. 280-286.

Jones, B., & Chase, W. (1979). Managing public policy issues. Public Relations Review,

5(2), pp. 3-23.

Harrison, K. (2011). Strategic Public Relations. Melbourne, Australia: Palgrave

Macmillan.

Oliver, G., & Donnelly P. (2007). Effective use of a Strategic Issue Management System

(SIMS): combining tools and approach. Journal of Public Affairs, 7(4), pp. 399-406.

Palese, M., & Crane, T. (2002). Building an integrated issue management process as a

source of sustainable competitive advantage. Journal of Public Affairs, 2(4), pp. 284-292.

Regester, M., & Larkin, J. (2008). Risk Issues and Crisis Management in Public

Relations (4th ed.) London: Kogan Page.