MORAL AND SPIRITUAL CONTENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN THE ANTI-CRISIS STRATEGY OF STATE-OWNED BANKS

Abstract. This article aims to examine the role of Public Relations (PR) in the anti-crisis strategy of state-owned banks by incorporating moral and spiritual values into crisis communication.

The method used is qualitative with a literature study approach, employing SCCT and ICM theories. The results of the study show that moral values such as honesty, transparency, and responsibility; play a role in enhancing organizational credibility. At the same time, spiritual values namely empathy, sincerity, and care contribute to strengthening the emotional aspect of communication. The integration of these two sets of values indicates that value-based crisis communication is effective in building public trust and restoring the organization's reputation.

Keywords: Public Relations, moral values, spiritual values, anti-crisis strategy, state-owned bank.

INTRODUCTION

Public trust and reputation come at a high price, especially in today's era when information moves so fast and transparently. This is where the crucial role of Public Relations (PR) is tested to continuously maintain the bridge of communication between organizations and the wider public. Managing a crisis is certainly no easy matter. According to Coombs (2015), a PR practitioner is not merely tasked with throwing out information during emergencies, but also holds control over public perception in order to preserve good relations with stakeholders.

Speaking of crisis, this problem can bring disaster to any organization, including the state-owned banking industry. The scale of risk is wide, ranging from cyber issues, operational disruptions, liquidity problems, to the blow of hoaxes that damage reputation. Regarding this, Fearn-Banks (2016) once reminded that a crisis is a major event that has massive destructive power against products, services, as well as the company's image. Its bad effects can spread everywhere. If a national bank wobbles, Mishkin (2011) mentions the threat of a domino effect that has the potential to collapse the stability of the country's financial system.

In critical situations, PR becomes the frontline to suppress negative public opinion. Citing the classic theory from Cutlip, Center, and Broom (2009), the PR management function centers on efforts to build healthy mutual relationships, which will determine the life or death of the organization.

To achieve that goal, the narrative built by PR must have soul in the form of moral and spiritual pillars. From the perspective of Fombrun and Van Riel (2004), moral values focus on honesty and transparency in order to boost credibility. Meanwhile, spiritual values move in the emotional realm through the forms of empathy, care, and genuine sincerity. Unfortunately, the reality on the ground shows that many organizations are actually negligent and only busy polishing their external image (image cosmetics). Rather than resolving the issue, this shortcut actually often becomes a boomerang that worsens the public trust crisis. Therefore, inserting moral and spiritual values into the PR anti-crisis strategy is a necessity that can no longer be negotiated.

METHODS

The matter of methodology in this scholarly review rests entirely on the excavation of material from library references deemed appropriate, for example books, journal reviews, up to official report files from relevant institutions. The researcher tends to use the qualitative path through a descriptive model applied across literature study. Meanwhile, for dissecting the data content, the analytical tool used is content analysis. Here, the focus is on diving into and capturing the conceptual essence within the text in order to trace how the actual role of the moral as well as spiritual aspects in the field of public relations work, as was once discussed by Krippendorff in 2018. The main target itself is emphasized on the anti-crisis strategy formulation of state-owned banks.

DISCUSSION

• Overview of Public Relations in the Vortex of Crisis Management

In principle, the most primary task burden of a public relations or PR practitioner is to weave as well as maintain mutual relations that are equally beneficial for both the institution and the wider public. This became the basic concept that was once underlined by Broom together with Sha in 2013. The true test for this position often emerges when the shock of crisis arrives suddenly. Based on Coombs (2007), a crisis almost always appears as a series of surprising events that are never expected by any management.

Referring to Fearn-Banks's account in 2016, crisis handling steps are commonly broken down into three crucial phases, starting from the pre-crisis period, the response action when the storm strikes, up to the reputation recovery phase post-crisis. Specifically in the banking realm, the matter of maintaining public trust is a life-or-death bet for the business. When reflecting on the argument from Mishkin in 2011, the matter of shock within a national bank can end up fatal because it risks spreading like a domino effect that destroys the joints of macro financial stability. Departing from there, if the people in the communications division move slowly or deliver the wrong message, that would actually trigger increasingly wild mass panic. Therefore, Ulmer, Sellnow, and Seeger in 2019 once saw that the strategic function of PR in the state bank industry must encompass the skill of managing issues, mapping risks, up to restructuring reputation through a path that is truly honest and open.

• Moral Values in Organizational Communication

The discourse regarding the fundamentals of organizational communication essentially cannot be separated from the philosophical anchor rooted in moral values and ethical commitments; a crucial premise that was once articulated in depth by Bowen (2010). When the storm of crisis strikes the banking sector—which notoriously leans on the commodity of trust—the urgency toward elementary values such as honesty, transparency, responsibility, up to public accountability will immediately shoot to the surface. Institutions that choose the path of empirical openness have historically proven far more immune in maintaining their legitimacy. This contrasts with entities that tend to take the option of opacity or covering up the reality of information in the public space (Seeger, Sellnow, & Ulmer, 2010).

If this dynamic is dissected using the lens of Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) by Coombs (2015), a clear common thread emerges: the calculation of an organization's response must run proportionally with the attribution of responsibility pinned by the public in the resolution of that crisis. On the other hand, Fombrun and Van Riel (2004) also expand this horizon of thought. Looking at that aspect, the good name or reputation of a company essentially does not grow instantly, but rather crystallizes through how the public assesses the consistency of the entity's ethical behavior over a long span of time (Fombrun & Van Riel, 2004). On that basis, moral values in crisis communication must not be reduced or underestimated as a seasonal tactical tool to suppress momentary public panic. Rather than merely becoming a firefighter, these ethical principles must be positioned from the outset as a form of long-term investment to maintain the dignity and reputation of the institution.

• Spiritual Values in Organizational Communication

The dimension of spirituality essentially shelters a set of subtle universal values—ranging from empathy, affective sincerity, existential care, up to deep ethical awareness. The organic interaction between an organization and its environmental ecosystem is greatly influenced by the internalization of those inner values (Ashmos & Duchon, 2000).

When shock strikes, the psychological dynamics of society also shift. Looking at the theoretical basis from Weick (1988), the public in critical conditions is no longer merely hunting for piles of factual data, but is busy seeking deep meaning (sense-making) behind the events that occur. Departing from that phenomenon, Mitroff and Denton (1999) throw out a crucial argument: corporations that dare to weave spiritual values into the veins of their communication will actually have far more solid resilience when struck by a storm, while also being more adept at locking in the emotional loyalty of stakeholders.

• Implementation of Moral and Spiritual Values in the Anti-Crisis Strategy

The design of crisis mitigation strategy orchestrated by the Public Relations division should no longer be run partially, but must marry the moral and spiritual dimensions completely. Authentic public trust, as put forward in the classic thinking of Grunig and Hunt (1984), must be reconstructed through communication channels that are not merely valid at the level of factual data, but also noble in terms of fundamental values.

The accentuation of this merging of values is manifested concretely through the penetration of three main pillars: honesty, empathy, and responsibility. On the front guard, the manifestation of honesty and transparency (as the representation of moral values) acts as the main shield in order to eliminate information asymmetry in the public space. This step is crucial to hold back wild speculation and rumors that often become the fuel of disorder when crisis is at its peak (Coombs, 2015).

Moving deeper, the pouring of an attitude of empathy and genuine care (as the representation of spiritual values) serves as an affective bridge connecting the corporation with directly impacted stakeholders. This emotional touch ensures that the communication pattern thrown outward is not perceived as a form of manipulative transactional calculation, but rather as a radiation of genuine care. As the closing, the commitment to responsibility as well as integrity (the complete moral-spiritual synergy) will strengthen the organization's position in the eyes of regulators, investors, up to the wider public (L'Etang, 2008). This is where the urgency of hybridizing the two values lies; crisis management steps far beyond the cosmetics of external image recovery, but rather touches the roots of fundamental public trust restoration.

• Development of the Conceptual Model

The theoretical construction in this study attempts to unravel the multivariate interlocking web between the continuity of Public Relations practice, the internalization of moral and spiritual values, the building of public trust, up to the design of anti-crisis strategy that culminates in the recovery of the organization's reputation. In the conceptual model offered, the pouring of moral values is positioned as a substantial pillar that boosts the quality and authenticity of communication content so as to radiate a credible impression in the eyes of the public.

Meanwhile, the dimension of spirituality holds more subtle control at the axiological level, namely dictating as well as enriching the architectural style of communication in distributing crisis messages so that they feel more humane. When the dialectic of this hybrid strategy is implemented consistently, simultaneously, and sustainably, then the reorientation of the institution's positive image is certain to be achieved again, which in turn will re-strengthen the foundation of public trust that had once wobbled.

• Theoretical and Practical Implications

Theoretically, this article provides a value-based perspective on crisis communication such as Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) (Coombs, 2015) and Apologia Theory (Benoit, 1997).

Practically:

1. State banks should incorporate moral values and spiritual values as an important part, not merely as a complement.
2. PR practitioners must be empathetic and ethical.
3. The success of PR in tackling crisis at the level of public trust and moral and spiritual values.
4. State banks need to conduct crisis communication in a humane manner by speaking honestly and acknowledging mistakes.

CONCLUSION

In the realm of the banking industry, the mandate carried by the Public Relations (PR) division moves far beyond merely the technical function of information dissemination; this role essentially holds crucial urgency in reconstructing as well as maintaining the foundation of public trust. When the storm of crisis strikes financial institutions, the internalization of moral values in the form of integrity, empirical openness, and public accountability must be placed as the main compass in navigating the direction of communication.

In alignment with those ethical pillars, the pouring of the dimension of spirituality that encompasses empathy, existential care, up to affective sincerity acts as an important element that transforms the corporation's interaction patterns to become far more humane and to have emotional depth. Regardless, public legitimacy and trust are the headwaters of an organization's survival. Therefore, the hybridization of moral and spiritual values into the architecture of the crisis communication strategy is no longer merely a formal complement, but a fundamental strategic imperative to be implemented.