At the annual communication conference KOM’19 which took place on 9 May in Copenhagen, and to which almost 300 people had found their way, Professor Finn Frandsen and Professor Winni Johansen from Department of Management, Aarhus BSS, won this year’s KOM-pris for their ”world-class research” in organisational crises, crisis management and crisis communication. The KOM-pris is awarded by The Danish Union of Journalists (Dansk Journalistforbund) and Kforum. It is a grand honorary prize awarded to people who ”by an exceptional effort have brought into focus and strengthened the development of the field of communication both nationally and globally.”

The jury's comments on the reason for awarding the prize to this year's winners include: "Professor Winni Johansen and Professor Finn Frandsen have been working to put crisis communication on the map for decades. They are both passionate enthusiasts who have dedicated their careers to promoting and understanding strategic communication. Efforts ranging from scientific articles to broad dissemination to, not least, establishing an academically strong master's degree programme in corporate communication. For this reason, the two academic beacons are winning this year's award for their huge effort in the communication field."

And the jury continues: "At a time when the crises seem to be queuing up – both the major global crises, the climate crisis probably being the most pressing, and the smaller local crises such as the current reputation crisis of the Danish communications industry – you need heroes. And with their tireless efforts for the theoretical development and practical application of the subject, with their professional foundation and personal integrity, the recipients of the KOM-pris 2019 are two of our professional and personal heroes: Winni Johansen and Finn Frandsen! A huge congratulations and respect from us."(K-Forum, 9 May 2019)

Finn Frandsen and Winni Johansen are proud to receive the award, and they hope that the prize will contribute to putting even greater emphasis on the need to strengthen the ability of Danish private and public organisations to deal with crises, so that we avoid more major crises and corporate scandals. They also point to the need to make crisis avoidance, crisis management and crisis communication a compulsory course at all degree programmes at institutions of higher education in Denmark, and not least at business schools. This would undoubtedly reduce the number of crises and scandals with serious consequences.

The overall motivation for the awarding of this year's KOM-pris can be found at the Kforum website: www.kommunikationsforum.dk.

Contact
Professor Finn Frandsen: ff@mgmt.au.dk
Professor Winni Johansen: wj@mgmt.au.dk