Abstract
Chartered Accountancy as a profession in South Africa has faced significant public criticism following highly-publicised purported misdemeanours of chartered accountants involved in unethical business activity. This has led to a reputational damage of the chartered accountancy profession in South Africa. To rebuild this reputation, SAICA, as the manager of the profession, implemented various strategies to manage the reputation of chartered accountancy profession. The aim of this research was to assess the strategies implemented by SAICA to manage the reputation of the chartered accountancy profession from July 2017 to December 2019. Strategic communication is the umbrella paradigmatic approach to this research. Specifically, both Image Repair Theory and Situational Crisis Communication Theory have guided the study. Focus was placed on the strategic communication concepts of corporate reputation, reputation management, situational crisis communication theory, and media relations in order to assess the strategies that were implemented by SAICA. The qualitative research methodology was employed. Data was collected through semi-structured virtual interviews with SAICA members and journalists. The findings have demonstrated that reputation management is not absolute...
M.A. (Strategic Communication)