Strategic Issues Management explores the strategic planning options that organizations can employ to address crucial public policy issues, engage in collaborative decision making, get the organization′s "house" in order, engage in tough defense and smart offense, and monitor opinion changes that affect public policy. In this fully updated Second Edition, authors Robert L. Heath and Michael J. Palenchar offer practical, actionable guidance that readers can apply to organizations from large Fortune 500 companies to nongovernmental organizations and start-up high tech companies. Features Includes a NEW chapter on brand equity, updated examples, theories and cases throughout, new information on activists and activism, and increased attention to the role that technology plays in issues management Explores ways public relations, risk communication, and crisis communication can be used to address crucial public policy options Advises managers on ways to lessen the chance of a crisis becoming an issue through an examination of crisis preparation and responses Addresses the topic of reputation management by exploring the connection between issues management and brand equity using examples from McDonald′s and Wal-Mart Challenges managers to engage in collaborative decision making with community leaders and residents to reduce the chance that undue fear will translate into unnecessary regulation or legislation Opens each chapter with case study vignettes and closes with summary questions and issues management challenges Strategic Issues Management is appropriate for courses in Corporate/Strategic Communications, Public Relations Management, Crisis/Risk Communication, Strategic Management, Public Relations Management, Organizational Communication, and Public Policy and Administration.

Table of Contents:
1. A Foundation of Community Vignette: British Petroleum--Enlightened Leader or Lightning Rod? Chapter Goals Historical Evolution 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 Conclusion SIM Challenge: CSR and Long-Term Planning Summary Questions 2. Historical Foundations Vignette: Westinghouse Versus Edison Chapter Goals 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 Conclusion SIM Challenge: Science or Sham? Summary Questions 3. Scouting the Terrain Vignette: The Greening of Nuclear Power Chapter Goals 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 Conclusion SIM Challenge: NAACP and Issues Monitoring Summary Questions 4. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Vignette: Wal-Mart’s Makeover? Chapter Goals 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 Conclusion SIM Challenge: Global Warming Summary Questions 5. Special Interest Activists as Foes or Allies Vignette: Fast Food--A Lightning Rod for Big Food Protest Chapter Goals Moral Outrage Power Resource Management Strain: Nexus of Issues, Risk, and Crisis Stages of Activism Incremental Erosion Fostering Mutual Interests Instead of Antagonism Conclusion SIM Challenge: Is Clean Energy an Oxymoron? Summary Questions 6. Issues Communication Vignettes: Activists Speak With Many Tools Chapter Goals The Issue of Issues Communication Narrative Theory 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 Conclusion SIM Challenge: Voice of a Trade Association Summary Questions 7. Obligations and Constraints on Issues Communication Vignette: Corporate Speech--Free, Free for Some, or Not at All? Chapter Goals Legislative, Judicial, and Regulatory Constraints on Issues Communication The Rationale for Organizations Speaking as Citizens Federal Constraint Conclusion SIM Challenge: Looking to the Future Summary Questions 8. Issues Management and Crisis Communication Vignette: It Takes Two to Tango Chapter Goals Crisis Management: The Search for Control Prevent a Crisis From Becoming an Issue Conclusion SIM Challenge: Can a Crisis Be Prevented From Exploding Into an Issue? Summary Questions 9. Issues Management and Risk Communication Vignette: Risk, Risk Everywhere Chapter Goals Community Right to Know The Difficulties of Risk Assessment Risk Management and Communication Approaches SIM′s Approach to Risk Communication Risk and Crisis Communication Working Together Conclusion SIM Challenge: Reality List Summary Questions 10. Brand Equity and Organizational Reputation Vignettes: Proactive Versus Reactive Chapter Goals Corporate Branding Brand Equity: Many Faces and Definitions Brand Attributes and Attitude Theory Logics of Brand Equity Brand Equity and Crisis Brand Equity and Risk SIM Challenge: Corporate Responsibility and Long-Term Planning A Brand Equity Case Study: Coors Boycott in the 1970s Summary Questions