Contingency Theory

Background

The contingency theory in public relations had its genesis as an extension of concepts central to the excellence theory of public relations, which was developed by James E. Grunig and colleagues. Excellence theory was developed as a normative theory that proposed the most ethical and excellent practice of public relations employed two-way symmetrical communication between an organization and its publics. Contingency theorists, led by Cameron, began to examine the positive (i.e., how public relations is practiced rather than how it should ideally be practiced) theoretical value of two-way symmetry, which they called pure accommodation.

Rather than proposing a single-best approach to public relations practice, contingency theory argued that public relations strategies are nuanced. Such nuance was developed around more than 80 variables that were based on internal (e.g., organizational culture, organization's past experiences with the contending public, characteristics of the dominant coalition) and external (e.g., threats of litigation, degree of support for the organization, size and credibility of the contending public) forces that might be at play in an organization's public relations decision making. These variables were further classified as situational and predisposing. Predisposing variables are those that exist prior to an interaction with a public and thereby predispose the organization to react in a certain way. Predisposing variables include items like organizational culture, the organization's size, and individual characteristics of people involved. Situational variables are situation specific and include items like the urgency of the situation, the characteristics of the contending public, and potential or clear threats.

These variables, contingency theory posits, affect whether an organization accommodates a public or advocates solely the perspective of the organization. These stances run along a continuum with pure accommodation (i.e., capitulation to a public's demand) at one end and pure advocacy (i.e., unyielding support for the organization's position regardless of public pressure) at the other end. Contingency theory argues that the interplay of variables determines where on the continuum an organization positions itself in response to a public's expectation in each situation.

Key Concepts