1. A Foundation of Community
Vignette: British Petroleum--Enlightened Leader or Lightning Rod?
SIM: Strategic Issues Management Defined
SIM: Stakeholders/Stakeseekers
SIM: Bringing More Than Communication
SIM: Cornerstone of Strategic Business Planning
SIM: Advocacy, Dialogue, and Collaborative Decision Making
SIM Challenge: CSR and Long-Term Planning
2. Historical Foundations
Vignette: Westinghouse Versus Edison
Opinions Shape Operating Environments
Argument Structure in Public Policy Debate
Robber Barons and the Making of Mass Production Society
The Great Depression and the Redemption of Capitalism
Dissent Flowers in the 1960s
The Present and the Future
SIM Challenge: Science or Sham?
3. Scouting the Terrain
Vignette: The Greening of Nuclear Power
Things Go Bump in the Dark
Logics of Issues Monitoring
The Systematic Stages of Issues Monitoring
Creating an Issues Monitoring and Analysis Team
Issue Content: Basis for Issues Analysis
SIM Challenge: NAACP and Issues Monitoring
4. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Vignette: Wal-Mart’s Makeover?
Mutual Interests: The Basis of Corporate Responsibility
Standards of Corporate Responsibility: A Rhetorical Rationale
Changing Organizational Policies: Getting the House in Order
Corporate Responsibility Partnerships: Communicating Ethical Performance
SIM Challenge: Global Warming
5. Special Interest Activists as Foes or Allies
Vignette: Fast Food--A Lightning Rod for Big Food Protest
Power Resource Management
Strain: Nexus of Issues, Risk, and Crisis
Fostering Mutual Interests Instead of Antagonism
SIM Challenge: Is Clean Energy an Oxymoron?
6. Issues Communication
Vignettes: Activists Speak With Many Tools
The Issue of Issues Communication
The Good Organization Communicating Well
Images and Issues: Complements and Counterparts
Framing: Giving Issues Argumentative Context
Media Effects in a Multitiered Society
Communication Technology and Issues Communication
Issues Communication as Argument
SIM Challenge: Voice of a Trade Association
7. Obligations and Constraints on Issues Communication
Vignette: Corporate Speech--Free, Free for Some, or Not at All?
Legislative, Judicial, and Regulatory Constraints on Issues Communication
The Rationale for Organizations Speaking as Citizens
SIM Challenge: Looking to the Future
8. Issues Management and Crisis Communication
Vignette: It Takes Two to Tango
Crisis Management: The Search for Control
Prevent a Crisis From Becoming an Issue
SIM Challenge: Can a Crisis Be Prevented From Exploding Into an Issue?
9. Issues Management and Risk Communication
Vignette: Risk, Risk Everywhere
The Difficulties of Risk Assessment
Risk Management and Communication Approaches
SIM's Approach to Risk Communication
Risk and Crisis Communication Working Together
SIM Challenge: Reality List
10. Brand Equity and Organizational Reputation
Vignettes: Proactive Versus Reactive
Brand Equity: Many Faces and Definitions
Brand Attributes and Attitude Theory
SIM Challenge: Corporate Responsibility and Long-Term Planning
A Brand Equity Case Study: Coors Boycott in the 1970s