Chase Model of Issue Management

Issue Identification

The first stage of the Chase issue management model is issue identification. This stage seeks to identify trends, which might become issues. An issue conversely is a matter that is ripe for a public policy decision. Here a futurist research approach is taken toward issues that may affect an organization. Chase recommends that issues be classified according to their type (e.g., social, economic, political, technological), impact and response source (e.g., business system, industry, corporation, subsidiary, department), geography (e.g., international, national, regional, state, local), span of control (e.g., noncon-trollable, semicontrollable, controllable), and salience (e.g., immediacy, prominence). As such, since it is impossible to manage every issue, a company must develop a process by which it can monitor any and all related issues.

Issue Analysis

The second stage, issue analysis, involves the application of theory and research to analyze the identified trends and issues. Here social, economic, and political trends are analyzed in an effort to understand which will develop into issues. The use of quantitative (e.g., public opinion surveys, content analyses) and qualitative analysis (e.g., statements by opinion leaders) helps aid the process. The point of such analysis is to use this data to make judgments about issues and set priorities to aid in determining which issues warrant a response.

Issue Change Strategy Options

Issue change strategy options, the third stage of the model, describes an organization's choices about how it responds strategically, using communication as an organizational resource in order to manage an issue to public policy resolution. Chase reviews three issue stances typically taken by organizations: reactive, adaptive, and dynamic. The reactive approach is best characterized as stonewalling. An adaptive approach indicates an openness to change that seeks to offer accommodations as an organization seeks to participate in final public policy decision making. The third approach, and the one advocated by Chase, is a dynamic approach that shapes the resolution of a public policy issue by defining it in such a way that it realizes a resolution in terms that are favorable to the organization.

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