Managing Conflict Strategically: A Public Relations Perspective to
Conceptualize Conflict in a Public Health Crisis

Abstract
By Glen Cameron

Taking China’s SARS crisis as an example, this study applies theories from public relations and dispute resolution to analyze social conflicts involved in public health crisis and to evaluate the role of strategic conflict management in the crisis. The analysis confirms the assumptions and models of conflict theory and the contingency theory variables that influence the organization’s conflict strategy and stance. Nevertheless, the study finds that a third party, the media and an informed public, play a key role in the evolution of a high-profile public health crisis. A conceptual model is proposed to depict the three-party relations in managing public health conflicts, which lays a foundation for next-step study of conflicts in public health crisis.