What is an Attack?

ONDRÁČEK, Tomáš. What is an Attack? In International Scientific Conference of Business Economics Management and Marketing – ISCOBEMM 2019. 2019.

Basic information

• Original name: What is an Attack?
• Authors: ONDRÁČEK, Tomáš (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: International Scientific Conference of Business Economics Management and Marketing – ISCOBEMM 2019, 2019.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Presentations at conferences
• Field of Study: 50204 Business and management
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14560/19:00110613
• Organization unit: Faculty of Economics and Administration
• Keywords in English: attack; crisis management; Toulmin’s model of argument; stakeholders dissatisfaction; image management

Abstract

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.