A Polish Public Relations Crisis ... the Need for a Clear and Consistent Message Is Poorly Understood Inside Many Companies

Beginning of article

Companies in the West mostly take it for granted that they have to share information about themselves if they want to survive and flourish. But in 'transition' economies like Poland, where democratic institutions and free market conventions are still relatively new, communication strategies tend to be poorly executed or even nonexistent. In part, businesses lack the technical know how; more fundamentally the very idea of visibility and transparency remains culturally obscure.

Multinational companies in Poland have, not surprisingly, introduced standard public relations and crisis management procedures of the kind found elsewhere. PR managers in such businesses undergo regular training and are instructed in the art of communicating with the media. But many local organisations in …