Inside the black box: understanding top PR managers’ DEI rollback decisions through the circuit of culture (2026)
Weiting Tao, Dongya Wang, Hui Shi, Cen April Yue, Jeongwon Yang
This study is investigating how organizations make and communicate decisions to scale back, rename or eliminate DEI initiatives amid shifting political and regulatory pressures. The project aims to look beyond public statements and uncover who is involved in these decisions, what role communication leaders play and how organizations balance competing stakeholder expectations.