comparison of rhetorical strategies used to handle corporate crisis situations in the United States and in Taiwan

Communication is a key element of all business activities during any crisis situation. A company without a crisis management plan can suffer serious difficulties during and after a crisis. A good crisis communication plan cannot solve a crisis, but it can reduce the damage including helping to maintain a positive corporate identity and keeping the normal operation of a company. Four themes (caring, responsibility, honesty, and quick response) relative to crisis communication were examined in the 1987 and 1982 coverage of the Honda Water-Logged Car Crisis and the Tylenol Capsule Poisonings respectively. An investigation of these themes suggests how the media, represented by news magazines in the two countries, reported differences in corporate implementation of the principles of effective crisis communication based in part on cultural factors.