Model of Crisis Corporate Communications Management Dependingon the Type of Conflict Situation at the Root of the Crisis

The object of the study is crisis corporate communications, a special direction of PR and organizational practice that manages the stakeholdersʼ attitude and the companyʼs reputation during and after a crisis. Relevance of the topic, on the one hand, is associated with the urgent scientific and practical need for algorithmizing of crisis communications and, on the other hand, with the growing value for modern companies of the skills to respond promptly and effectively to various challenges under the pressure of multiple crises. The study aims to analyze the theoretical basis and practical cases (crises of various origins and scales with the participation of McDonaldʼs in Ukraine in 2007–2011). Based on this analysis, we seek to develop a model of crisis corporate communications management that accounts for the causes of the crisis, establishes a sequence of management decisions, and determines the types of reactions to crisis signals depending on the nature of the conflict and the level of coverage of crisis information. Research methods include a critical review of the main concepts, models, and techniques described in the scientific literature, as well as a case study as a descriptive qualitative research method, which is based on the “problem – solution” approach and helps to format each of the analyzed cases based on causes and consequences. The main conclusions indicate that the proposed model provides the understanding of the logic and universal sequence actions during crisis communications and can be the ground for forming crisis response algorithms. The model is based on three matrices. The first helps to link the origin and likely impact of the crisis with the type of organization’s response. The second establishes the sequence of managerial decision-making when choosing a response to crisis signals. The third determines the types of response to crisis signals depending on the type of conflict underlying the crisis and the level of coverage of the public and media with crisis information