Examining the Use of Strategic Communication for Organization Image During Crisis. A Study of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA)

Abstract

Crises are occurring more often in all organizations, and when they occur, they are leaving a waken of financial, operational, and reputational damage. Organizations have ow tailored strategic communications in the direction of protecting and improving their reputation during crisis. The general objective of this study was to explore the role communication plays in effective crisis management within a development Agency especially when we talk about reputation of the organisation. The targeted population consisted of two development agencies in Ghana: United Nations Development Programme (UNFPA) and United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA). The conceptual framework for this study was Coombs’ situational crisis communication theory, Attribution theory and the Image Restoration theory. The study used the qualitative approach specifically semi structured interview to collect data which were coded and analyzed. Findings revealed that most of the development organizations sampled have an existing communications management plan in pace to proactively manage crisis when it arises. Data analyzed also revealed that, for strategic communication to have an impact of the reputation of the organisation during crisis, the crisis management approach must be tackled holistically and not solely fixated on reputation protection. The research findings revealed that cultural diversity plays a very significant role when addressing crisis in development agencies hence communication management plans must have the flexibility to be well adjusted to fit the cultural context of the organizations. This study recommends among several recommendations that future studies can focus more on the integration of social media into crisis management plan to enhance corporate image.