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Article
Creating Order Out of Chaos? Development of a Measure of Perceived Effects of Communication on the Crisis Organizing Process
International Journal of Business Communication
  • Ryan Patrick Fuller, California State University, Sacramento
  • Andrew S. Pyle, Clemson University
  • Laura Riolli, California State University, Sacramento
  • Amy Mickel, California State University, Sacramento
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2020
Publisher
Sage
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2329488420979657
Abstract

Organizations are important sources of communication during natural-hazard crises. How members of an organization perceive these communications (e.g., creating confusion, causing disorder, providing clarity, and restoring order) influences response and recovery from such a crisis. Using Chaos Theory as a guiding framework, the authors developed a new instrument measuring the perceived effects of an organization’s communication on crisis-organizing processes. Three distinct studies were conducted to assess the reliability and validity of this new instrument: the “Perceived Effects of Communication on the Crisis-organizing Process (PEC-COP)” scale. This one-factor scale can be used by both scholars and practitioners to assess the effects of an organization’s communication on how people organize (i.e., react and respond) during a crisis. By gaining greater insight into how an organization’s communication is perceived, the organization can better prepare to communicate in ways that promote efficient and effective crisis-organizing processes throughout a natural-hazard crisis. Effective communication can create order out of chaos.

Comments

The published version of this article can be found here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2329488420979657

Citation Information
1. Fuller RP, Pyle A, Riolli L, Mickel A. Creating Order Out of Chaos? Development of a Measure of Perceived Effects of Communication on the Crisis Organizing Process. International Journal of Business Communication. 2022;59(2):174-192. doi:10.1177/2329488420979657