COMM11110: Conflict

According to Wilcox et.al 2014 'Successful public relations professional serve is more than communication technicians carrying out tactics of organising events, news etc'. They also control the conflict and weathering the problems are predictable by all companies at the same time. Therefore, by recognising what stages the conflict is positioned at,  it will assist the public relation practitioner to develop appropriate strategies. Below, is the four conflict management life cycle that was established on how businesses can manage in an event of a conflict: ( Wilcox et.al 2014)

1. The Proactive Phase: this involves doing things and taking steps to prevent a conflict from happening in the first place. The first step to this is environmental scanning, or constant reading, listening, and watching for issues that could potentially threaten the organization. Issues tracking happens when an issue is focused on, and the media and social media is monitored more heavily. Issues management happens when the organization makes plans to handle the possible threatening issue. This phase is all about preparing for the worst and being ready should a crisis occur.
2. The Strategic Phase: This involves recognising that an issue has emerged and requires immediate attention by the public relations professional. Three strategies take place here. One is risk communication, where the danger or risk is relayed to the audience and people involved to prevent further damage. The next is conflict positioning, which allows the organization to position itself favorably on an issue, so that the damage to the organization can be reduced. When the worst happens, and the issue elevates into a crisis, a crisis management plan is needed to help deal with the situation and help preserve the organization's image and operations.
3. The Reactive Phase: This phase is reached when an issue or crisis happens, and begins impacting the organization. This is when crisis management is needed, and crisis communication takes place to where the issue and the public are in main focus.
4. Recovery Phase: This section occurs during the aftermath of the crisis, and calls for such things as reputation management and image restoration, both of which help get the organization back on track and in good standing with the public. Although, these efforts may not always work, and some organisations may have to continuously work around their negative public image if it does not cause permanent, irreversable damage.

Overall, Public relations is used to reduce conflict, so long term relationships with the public are protected.

References:
1. Wilcox, Cameron, Reber and Shin (2013). Think Public Relations (2nd). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, United States of America: Pearson Education Inc.