150318_SIM04-s24-LSPR-Draft.pdf

Master of Arts in Communication : Corporate Communication Studies

elearning.lspr.edu

Course : Strategic Issues Management (1503SIM04)

Session Topic : Analysing and Prioritising

Course: Strategic Issues Management

By Rudi Sukandar, Ph.D

LSPR eLearning Program

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Part 1 Assessing The Environment

Part 2 Issue Analysis Tools Part 3 Prioritising Issues

Content

Part1: Assessing The Environment


Assessing The Environment: Issue Life Cycle

Public

conce

rns

Source: Liebl (2000)

Assessing the environment Today

1. Issue analysis

2. Prioritising issues

Issue

Life

Cycle


Assessing The Environment: Public Issues

Examples of public issues

1. Climate change

2. Traffic congestion

3. Population growth

4. Aging population

5. Corruption

6. Recycling

7. Motor vehicle emissions

8. Smoking & tobacco

9. Terrorism

10. Pollution

11. Tobacco

12. Food standards

13. Food & product safety

14. Obesity

15. International trade

16. Health & safety

standards

17. Workplace issues


Assessing The Environment: Issue Analysis

Issue analysis requires an

understanding of:

1. The public policy process

2. Anticipated social, economic,

technological and political

changes

3. Each issue advocates

objectives

4. The quality of the argument

being made

(Heath & Palenchar, 2009, p. 110).

Robert L. Heath

Emeritus

Professor of

Communication

from Houston

University

Published many

award-winning

books

Michael J.

Palenchar, Ph.D.

Doctor of

Philosophy, Mass

Communication at

University of

Florida (2005)


Assessing The Environment: Public Motivation

Understanding public motivation

Q: What is a first key step in issue management?

A: Understanding what makes stakeholders or the

general public angry or motivated to act.

A persons understanding of a situation is affected by,

the way in which information is presented and

the broader social context.


Assessing The Environment: Public Motivation (cont.)

Sources of anger or motivation

1. Reality

Where people are affected by a firms actions.

2. Expectation

Where people anticipate an action will affect them.

3. Ideology

Where they believe a firms action is morally or ethically wrong.

4. Impotence

They feel picked on, usually by another party they perceive to be more

powerful.

5. Power and manipulation

Where anger is used for manipulating a situation to gain a position of

power.

(Watson, Osborne-Brown & Longhurst, 2002)

Part2: Issue Analysis Tools


Analysis: Element

14 Elements that raise an issues visibility 1. How specific or ambiguous 2. Extent of temporal relevance (topical timing) 3. Prominence of industry 4. Extent of social significance 5. Degree of complexity 6. Slow news day/politics 7. Visibility of consequences (of action or

inaction) 8. Emotionality of issue 9. Whether an issue champion 10. Organisational mishandling/managerial

bungling 11. Industry/firm under previous scrutiny/suspicion 12. Timing 13. Luck 14. Three Vs victims, visuals and villains (Mahon,

2005)

John F. Mahon

Chair, International Business

Policy &Strategy

Professor of Management

Univ. of Maine

2001 Present


Analysis: Tools

Issue Analysis Tools 1. Issue characterisation May be broad agreement on the problem, but different

departments may see it differently, from their own perspective.

Describing the issue in writing forces members to agree on the core nature of the issue and the potential threat posed.

2. Strategic objective Initial, Updated and Final


Analysis: Tools (cont.)

3. Force field analysis. List, discuss and evaluate the forces for and against the

change. Both types can be positive and negative. Need to think outside the immediate issue. For instance, a new product arising from a new technology

may driven by forces not specific to that product alone.

4. Stakeholder assessment 5. Scenario mapping 6. Key player assessment 7. SWOT analysis (Oliver & Donnelly, 2007).


Analysis: BASF

Sample BASF issue analysis

Part3: Prioritising Issues


Prioritising Issues: Issues

A. An issue cant be considered in isolation.

Issues priority setting takes the information

received through monitoring,

using analysis to determine issues that

comprise opportunities or threats

to the firms business plan (Heath &

Palenchar, 2009, p. 113).

B. The organisation has the resources to deal only

with a small number of issues at a time.

Therefore it must prioritise the various issues it

faces.

C. The quality of an issue depends on its

legitimacy, the extent to which it is recognised

as a public concern (Coombs, 2002).

W. Timothy Coombs Ph.D

Professor, Advertising-Public

Relations,

Univ. of Central Florida


Prioritising Issues: Deciding relative importance of emerging issues

10 Key questions,

1. Can corporate action change the outcome?

2. In the light of this analysis, are our present corporate

policies and practices correct?

3. Do we have the resources and will to do something on this

at present?

4. How can we evaluate the effectiveness of our actions?

5. Will the issue affect the bottom line?


Prioritising Issues: Deciding relative importance of emerging issues (cont.)

What

6. Is the probability and time scale of this issue impacting on

us?

7. Will be the cost to influence this?

8. Are the financial or policy benefits to us of doing that?

9. Can we learn from this for the benefit of our organisation?

10.Can we learn from this situation to ensure future

competitiveness?

(Harris, 2011, p. 101)


Urgency

Potential Impact

Low Significant Major

Low 5, 10 1 8

Significant 4 6 2

Critical 9 3 7

Prioritising Issues: Matrix


Prioritising Issues: Matrix (cont.)

Examples of issues facing the organisation

1. Government tariff review

2. Changes to environmental regulation

3. Implementation of new IT management system

4. Change management progress - retrenchments

5. Establishment of new manufacturing plant

6. Employee wage negotiations

7. Transport costs

8. Raw material costs

9. Competition from low-cost rivals

10.Use of old technology


Prioritising Issues: Issues Evaluation (cont.)

No Factor Score

1. Validity/importance of the cause 6

2. Momentum of issue 8

3. Extent of media interest 8

4. Strength of coalition of supporters/advocates 6

5. Strength of emotional appeal to opponents 5

6. Degree of isolation of the issue, i.e. is the organisation alone on this

issue ? 7

7. Extent of organisational exposure, i.e. possible cost 8

8. Urgency in dealing with the issue 8

9. Validity/importance of the cause 6

10. Momentum of issue 8

Total Score 70

Each issue is,

1. individually evaluated

2. given a score out of 10


References

1. Bigelow, B., Fahey, L., & Mahon, J. (1993). A typology of issue evolution. Business

& Society, 32(1), pp. 18-29.

2. Carroll, A., & Buchholtz, A. (2012). Business & Society, ethics, sustainability, and

stakeholder management. (8th ed.). Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage

Learning.

3. Coombs, W.T. (2002). Assessing online issue threats: issue contagions and their

effect on issue prioritisation. Journal of Public Affairs, 2(4), pp. 215-119.

4. Galloway, C., & K. Kwansah-Aidoo. (2005). Public Relations Issues and Crisis

Management. Southbank, Victoria: Thomson Social Science Press.

5. Harris, P. (2011). The management of public affairs in the United Kingdom. In P.

Harris & C. Fleisher (Eds.). The Handbook of Public Affairs, pp. 86-104. London:

SAGE Publications.

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

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

Publications.

7. Jaques, T. (2007). Issue or problem? Managing the difference and averting

crises. Journal of Business Strategy, 28(6), pp. 25-28.


References

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

Review, 5(2), pp. 3-23.

9. Liebl, F. (2000). The shock of the new: creation and management of issues and

trends. Munich.

10. Liebl, F. (2003). Trend: paradox - about the status quo in trend management.

Thexis, 20(1), pp. 2-9

11. Mahon, J. (2005). Issues management: moving into the 21st century. Presentation.

12. 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.

13. Watson, T., Osborne-Brown, S., & Longhurst, M. (2002). Issues negotiation

investing in stakeholders. Corporate Communication: An International Journal,

7(1), pp. 54-61.


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150318_SIM04-s24-LSPR-Draft.pdf