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When the media report negatively about an organisation, its employees are not only affected but also a source of information for outsiders who want to find out more about the situation. Because of their credibility, employees can support public relations managers to preserve or restore organisational reputation. In this research, we explore the role of organisational identification and internal corporate communication (ICC) in the event of negative media coverage for employees’ defensive and assertive impression management behaviours. Defensive strategies include excuses, justifications and the avoidance of threatening situations. Assertive strategies are more active and refer to behaviours which aim to establish a desirable identity; in the context of negative media coverage, this entails actively defending the organisation, explaining the situation and conveying the organisation’s official version of the event in order to bolster its reputation. Results from an online survey among employed persons reveal that employees’ identification with their work organisation positively influences their assertive as well as defensive reactions. ICC has a more differentiated influence on employees’ reactions: If ICC is evaluated well, employees’ assertive reactions increase; if evaluated poorly, employees exhibit more defensive reactions. These findings show that ICC can make a difference in winning employees as ambassadors for the organisation in critical situations.

This research aims to investigate how critical media coverage of an organisation affects its employees. The authors expect the effects to be similar to the way media coverage about an individual would affect this person, termed “reciprocal effects”.

Drawing on a framework for the analysis of reciprocal effects of mass media by Kepplinger and qualitative interviews among employees of 14 different organisations undergoing a crisis, the authors develop an employee-model of reciprocal effects for the context of organisational crises.

This qualitative research shows that employees are affected by media coverage on a critical issue about their employer. Mass media are an important source of information for employees in critical situations. The data indicate interpersonal conversations with colleagues are also important for obtaining information and coping with the situation. Employees show emotional reactions, such as helplessness or shame, and a tendency to defend their employer. The better employees feel informed by their organisation's internal communication, the better they know how to cope with the situation. The data indicate that the effects vary with the employees' level of organisational identification.

The findings imply that open and constant internal communication with employees during a crisis fosters reactions that stabilise the organisation in critical situations.

The study presented here is the first systematic analysis of the impact of media coverage of an organisation on its employees.

This concluding chapter provides key takeaways from the insights and recommendations that emerged from the EUPRERA2022 volume with a focus on crises and issues. Reflections are made with an emphasis on the understanding of sticky crisis, the embodiment of challenging, complex and recurring critical risks that threaten organisational well-being and stakeholder safety across sectors and cultures. A call for more interdisciplinary and international collaborations between academia and industry is made. Future directions of crisis, risk and disaster communication research that matter to practice are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to understand mobile device (MD) use in a festival context. Festivals offer a range of opportunities and activities to use a MD making this context ideal for understanding digital experiences during leisure. The guiding research question asked how do festival attendees use MDs at festivals. The Typology of Human Capability (THC) provided a framework to enhance the understanding of digital experiences at festivals.

This research involved six festival case studies where semi-structured interviews were conducted with attendees on-site. Interview questions focused on how festival attendees used MDs during the festival. Data were analyzed using directed content analysis guided by the THC.

On-site interviews with 168 attendees revealed that data support the THC dimensions and constructs (sensing, linking, organizing and performing). This typology advances the understanding of the range of digital customer experiences currently available at festivals.

The addition of context to the THC is recommended to enhance its utility in application. As a limited number of festivals were included, the specific findings may not apply to all festivals but the implications are relevant to a range of festivals.

Operational definitions of the THC constructs within the festival setting were identified and provide opportunities for developing digital experience offerings.

This study provided the first comprehensive examination of MD use in festival contexts and in so doing offered data in support of Korn and Pine’s (2011) THC. The findings reveal opportunities for modifying the THC to increase its applicability in a range of settings.

The size structure of the executive recruitment consultancy industry is similar to that found in other business service industries in that the industry is predominantly comprised of small firms. This paper considers the reasons for small firm size in the industry and looks at the implications this has for expansion into Europe. The size structure of the industry is mainly due to the nature of the outcome, the service provision process and the barriers to growth which are a result of the particular client‐consultant relationship. Increased globalization of markets has led to an increase in the amount of international work carried out by executive recruitment consultancies. The larger international consultancies with branches in most European countries are in a strong position to take advantage of this. For the small consultancies wishing to offer international services, the main method adopted is to enter or establish an international network. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and European Research Press Ltd.

This study explores the multi-phasic experience of festivals to understand the nature, purpose and degree of social media (SM) use before, during and after festival occurrence and how this may inform better engagement of attendees.

A census of tweets and posts from four festivals’ Twitter handles and Facebook accounts were coded and analyzed across three time points: one week prior, during and one week after the festival. They were coded on nature (e.g. conversational, promotional, informational), purpose (e.g. information-seeking, friendship/relationship) and presence of links, photos, etc. Tests for platform influences on usage were conducted.

In total, 1,169 tweets and 483 posts were captured. Two-thirds of SM activity occurred during the festivals, one-third pre-festival and minimal activity post festival. Temporal analyses found that while the purpose and nature of the message content varied across festival time points, this was often dependent on SM platform.

Festivals are not taking advantage of the multi-phase experience model and the utility of SM to maintain contact and encourage visitors to continue processing their experience after the festival. This lost opportunity has implications for re-patronizing behaviour and sponsor relationships.

Leung et al. (2013a) call for sector specific research to elucidate SM use in tourism. Festivals provide a unique environment of co-created experience. Findings suggest differential usage of SM across festival time frames and platforms that can be used to guide festival organizations’ SM communication to better engage its patrons.