Chapter 10 on issues management interested me on several
levels. One, on page 185, Cornelissen offers a position importance matrix. I’m
bothered that positions can be ceremoniously positioned on a matrix as if
problems are currently in one quadrant or another. Most problems are messier
than that; they often occupy all quadrants or at least two at a time. I think
that thinking about positions in this way enables corporations to ignore
certain problems. For example, insurance companies that look for ways to not cover
some medical expenses. The problem of nonpayment would fit more on the
“problematic” quadrant for the client and more on the “low priority” for
corporations. Problems do not fit nicely into quadrants; they only do for
corporations that force them to fit.
Two, the case study about the Framing of the Bonus Payments
bothered me as well. I did like that Cornellissen asked a discussion question
that focuses on how the reader would frame the issue, but the reader has very
little agency in how that issue is represented. A better question, I think,
would be how can the banks better frame the issue in ways that the public would
better sympathize? To suggest that they’d lose talent if they didn’t pay
outrageous bonuses is ridiculous. There are way too many talented people in
industry for them to worry about that. Plus, some of the CEOs have performed
horribly as CEOs yet they still receive a huge bonus.
Three, I was bothered by the use of language concerning
PACs. Calling them political action committees uses positive connotations
(action) to describe their purpose, which is to sway political parties to vote
or create legislation that benefits them. But the language used to describe any
group that doesn’t agree with them has negative connotations (anti-corporate activism
or radical activism). This phenomenon is, of course, reflected throughout
society, but is especially prominent now given the current presidential race,
which is on my mind a lot these days.
The chapter on crisis communication reminded me of a public
relations class I took in college. We watched a film about crisis communication
and it showed a clip of a hospital administrator being asked about layoffs. A
reporter asked a question about whether the hospital was operating at a loss
and that’s why they’re laying off people. The administrator mistakenly said no,
we’re operating at a profit. When she realized what she said, she just turned
around and walked back into the hospital. This is why companies have to plan
for a crisis, especially what communication to use.