Multicultural Environments and their Challenges to Crisis Communication

Abstract

In a global business environment, cultural understanding is an essential tool for successful communication and relationship building between organizations and audiences. However, the power of cultural values to modify individuals' ways of thinking and communicating is not well understood in terms of crisis communication management. Therefore, this study applied Sue's (1991, 2001) theory of cultural competence to examine the effect of cultural values on crisis communication planning, using three methodological approaches. First, grounded theory analysis was applied to qualitative interviews with 25 communication professionals concerning cultural influences on crisis. Second, a national online survey (N=172) assessed communication practitioners' attitudes toward, and knowledge about, other cultures, and their skills to respond to diverse cultures. Third, media portrayals of corporate crises were examined with semantic network analysis of news articles from the New York Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal between January 1, 2007 and December, 31, 2008, to identify whether cultural aspects were mentioned. These approaches yielded five main findings. First, PR practitioners had difficulties in defining multiculturalism, often equating cultural diversity with communicating with Latinos. Second, interviewees saw cultural differences as just one aspect of diversity, emphasizing that age, religion, and education differences also affect corporate discourse. Third, although professionals considered culture a key element of crisis management, they did not feel prepared to handle the challenges of a multicultural crisis, nor did they report that they used culturally adjusted crisis strategies often. Fourth, regression analyses conducted on the survey data showed that skills to manage multicultural situations and openness to diverse knowledge significantly predict the relevance professionals attributed to culture when designing crisis communication strategies. Fifth, media accounts of crises did not mention cultural elements in the three newspapers investigated. By integrating cultural competence and crisis management frameworks, this study provides the foundation for an in-depth understanding of crises, where scholars can pair crisis strategies with audiences' cultural expectations. Instructors can incorporate this framework to their courses, preparing PR students to new demands of the profession. Finally, training initiatives focused on increasing levels of cultural competence can make organizations ready to the challenges of a global market.