Communication Management and Trust: Their Role in Building Resilience to “Surprises” Such as Natural Disasters, Pandemic Flu, and Terrorism

Authors

P. H. Longstaff, Syracuse University
Sung-Un Yang, Syracuse University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2008

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Ecology and Society

Volume

13

Issue

1

Publisher

Resilience Alliance

First Page

3

Last Page

3

Abstract

In times of public danger such as natural disasters and health emergencies, a country’s communication systems will be some of its most important assets because access to information will make individuals and groups more resilient. Communication by those charged with dealing with the situation is often critical. We analyzed reports from a wide variety of crisis incidents and found a direct correlation between trust and an organization’s preparedness and internal coordination of crisis communication and the effectiveness of its leadership. Thus, trust is one of the most important variables in effective communication management in times of “surprise.”

Comments

Originally published by Resilience Alliance. Publisher's PDF and HTML fulltext available through Ecology and Society.

Recommended Citation

Longstaff, P. H., and S. Yang. 2008. Communication management and trust: their role in building resilience to “surprises” such as natural disasters, pandemic flu, and terrorism. Ecology and Society 13(1): 3.