STAKEHOLDER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT

In an organizational crisis, typically multiple stakeholder groups are affected and involved - to a varying extent. Stakeholders' needs and demands have to be balanced and prioritized wherever applicable. Professional crisis management and crisis communication may help creating support for and trust in companies by the complete range of its stakeholders. This research paper works out key success factors for stakeholder relationship management in the context of crisis management. Thereby it considers how professional stakeholder relationship management before, during, and after a crisis helps overcoming the crisis and reducing its impact. The results base on in-depth literature review. An introduction of the fundamental concepts of stakeholder management and crisis management serves as a basis for their consolidation. Practical implication of the paper is to introduce the stakeholder and stakeholder relationship specifications towards crisis management in general and crisis communication in specific. The findings will be converted into instructions for setting up a crisis management plan and corresponding training plan.