2023 chapter book

Dealing with Employees in Crises: Examining Contingent Organization–Public Relationships (COPR) for Internal Communication

By: Y. Cheng, P. Liu & C. Burnette

Source: Crossref
Added: March 27, 2023

This book chapter examined contingent organization-public relationships (COPR) (cf. Cheng, 2018) through the lens of employees. By analyzing the case of Activision Blizzard's organizational crisis, we proposed emphasizing employees as an important stakeholder group in the model of COPR. During the Activision Blizzard crisis, thousands of its employees showed their anger toward this issue and condemned the company's response to the allegations. To examine the dynamic changes in stances and relationships between the company and its employees, a qualitative content analysis of 129 newspaper reports, 22 official responses from Activision Blizzard, and 436 tweets were conducted over a five-month period. This chapter also explored the internal crisis communication strategies and relationship modes between Activision Blizzard and its employees. Implications of these findings were discussed as well.