Introduction

This study examines the new field of crisis management, a consultancy practice embedded within the wider public relations industry. Whereas public relations tends to focus on the construction of desired reputations, the specific task of crisis management is to preserve those reputations at times of challenge or adversity. In particular, crisis management refers quite pragmatically to perception management rather than to the other elements involved in the handling of a crisis. The manner in which crisis management consultants manage perceptions shapes their definitions of ‘crisis’ and ‘crisis management’. Crisis management is thus characterised as an issue in the regulation of adverse publicity: A crisis is an event which happens to an organisation which suddenly propels it into the limelight making it the target of unfavourable information and unwanted, potentially unfavourable media coverage (Michael Regester, in interview: July 7, 1997).