An Analytic Framework for Crisis Situations: Better Responses From a Better Understanding of the Situation

Crisis management research is developing a solid line of research that examines the communicative responses of organizations in crisis. As we begin to address crisis responses, it is essential to develop an understanding of how to make the most effective use of these symbolic resources. Analyzing the crisis situation is an important step toward understanding the effective use of crisis responses. If we accept that the situation influences communicative choices, the crisis situation should influence the selection of crisis responses. This article reports the results of a study that tested a system of crisis situation analysis based on crisis responsibility. The article develops a rationale for the crisis responsibility base and reports the results of the study. The end product is an analytic system that provides a rough guide to the type of crisis responses the crisis manager should be employing.