An evaluation of the suitability of the four flows model in an approach to crisis management : a study of the University of Fort Hare

Abstract

It cannot be denied that communication plays a central role in organisation. This study conceptualises why insufficient organisational communication can incubate crisis and how faulty organisational communication systems may lead to recurrent crises. If the absence of communication can incubate crises such as student protests, questions arise whether organisational communication theory can be used as a guide to an organisations’ communication system to prevent organisational crisis from occurring. McPhee and Zaug (2000) argue that communication constitutes organisation by conceptualising the four flows model of organisational communication. Specifically, this study explored the suitability of the four flows model in a proactive approach to managing crises. The purpose of this study was to interpret the case of managing student protests at the University of Fort Hare so as to evaluate the suitability of the four flows model as an proactive approach to organisational crisis management.