What is an Attack?
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| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The paper is focused on the notion of an attack on organizational image regarding customers, or, more generally, stakeholders, dissatisfaction with some actions of organizations. An attack on an organizational image is structured and has at least two components: the description of an action and a claim of an organization’s responsibility. But in most cases, it seems to be hard to determine for what actions exactly should the organization be blamed. Furthermore, there are usually more types of responsibility in play (e.g., legal, moral, social). This plurality of actions and liabilities is due to the involvement of many parties in the given crises. Concerned parties might differ in their concerns and aims regarding the organization’s actions and reactions to crises. The main goal of this paper is to present an approach to the description of an attack on an organizational image or character based on the revision of Toulmin’s model of argument. This description can capture multiple possible situations and types of responsibility used in different attacks by different parties in cases of crisis. Thus, it allows a better understanding of communication strategies in crises regarding topical choice in the given crisis discourse and furthermore better planning of actions in these situations for organizations under attack. |