Theory Of The Field : Image Repair Theory

A case study is “a method of analysis and a specific research design for examining a problem” (University of Southern California, 2010). It can be used to analyze a person, place, event, or other subjects in order to help discover mitigating issues, misconceptions, failures, trends, or recommendations (USC, 2010). Case studies will be used to gain a better understanding of situations and topics to help others make better policies, procedures, and decisions (USC, 2010).

It is an understatement that there is confusion among students, teachers and researchers about the definition of case study research. In this essay, I use the

Crisis communication is the most important aspect of external and internal organization communication. This type of communication ranges from image restoration campaigns to employee turnover. In the articles that I have analyzed, I discovered many examples of crisis communications and its importance. I will discuss the Bridgestone-Firestone Corporation's image restoration campaign and explain Benoit's theory of image restoration. Also, I will discuss how crisis communications fits into public relations models. Two examples for discussion will be how supervisors should convey bad-news to their employees, and group communication within employee turnover. My last example for this discussion will be Bill Clinton's image repair discourse.

Justin’s situation expresses to the reader that the real world isn’t easy and how case studies don’t really prepare you, as they should in the end. Justin has learned that in order to evaluate new markets, putting to use these frameworks is necessary but he has also learned that there is more to it then just applying these methods.

Case studies are one of the first types of research to be used in the qualitative methodology and repeating the study several times will lead to the increased reliability of the study (Starman, 2013). This methodology is appropriate because it will allow for data collection results to be generalized based on the theoretical propositions and not the population (Harrison et al. 2017).

“Case studies are stories. It presents a realistic, complex, and contextually rich situations and often involve a dilemma, conflict, or problem that one or more of the characters in the case must negotiate”,

“A crisis occurs when a stressful life event overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope effectively in the face of a perceived challenge or threat” (Arnold & Boggs, 2011, pg. 415). When people are in a crisis situation they tend to forget their normal coping measures. When people train on crisis situations, they tend to perform better during a crisis event. “A favorable outcome depends on the person’s interpretation of the crisis, perception of coping ability, resources, and level of social support” (Arnold & Boggs, 2011, pg. 416).

For individuals participating in CIT training, it is important to verify if the situation they are responding to is a crisis. In the article, “The Seven-Stage Crisis Intervention Model: A Road Map to Goal Attainment, Problem Solving, and Crisis Resolution”, Ottens and Roberts define “crisis” as:

A company’s communication strategies during a time of crises play a vital role in maintaining its reputation. Failing to communicate

A case study is a simple tool researchers can use to gather data.  Within the textbook, a case study is described as a detailed analysis of a selected individual over a span of time (Newman, 2011, sec. 3.2).  Case studies can be quite useful because they are simple, easy to conduct, and require less involvement to achieve a result.  Oftentimes, the researcher will observe an individual and record data over a specific amount of time.

After the crisis emerged, the company needs to establish a crisis communication team first. The team must consist of directors from various departments and high-level executives, especially CEO and crisis management experts. In this team, it is crucial to have a leader who could mobilize resources, make a decision and be responsible for all decisions. Everyone in the team is responsible for a unique issue.

Now, case studies are considered to be more of an in-depth study that uses many approaches and data sources of a solo case. Percy, Kostere, & Kostere, (2015, p. 19) stated that when we do a single case study, we do not mean a case study of one person, but instead we mean a study of a solo research/topic questions. From time to time there is a quantity of cases that are reported and studied together. The cases in a

On the positive side, case studies obtain useful information about individuals and small groups. On the negative side, they tend to

In order to explore individual meanings, definitions, examples and attitudes about organizational politics other authors used a purely qualitative methodology (Buchanan, 1999; Buchanan and Badham, 1999). This research uses a case study as the research strategy that allows researchers to concentrate „on a single phenomenon or entity (the case), from which the researcher uncovers the interaction of significant factors characteristic of the phenomenon. The case study focuses on holistic description and explanation”. Merriam (1998:29). Moreover, one review found that case studies to be the most popular qualitative research strategy primarily due to its potential to generate novel and groundbreaking theoretical insights (Piekkari, Welch & Paavilainen, 2009).

According to Lillibridge and Klukken (1978), crisis is an event or situation that cause " 地n upset in equilibrium at the failure of one's traditional problem-solving approach which results in disorganization, hopelessness, sadness, confusion, and panic" (62). In the face of crisis, there is an urgent need to swing to action and communication is the only vehicle that can convey this message to everyone concerned. When crisis occur, communication challenges becomes worsened because the