Public relations (PR)/organizational communication (OC) is inherently conflictual. Professionals tread the line between organizations and their publics (stakeholders), often encountering situations with competing interests and divergent perspectives. However, understanding of conflict itself can vary considerably from one country to the next. Türkiye, South Africa, and Uruguay present distinct PR/OC histories situated within diverse socio-political, economic, and cultural contexts. National and cultural contexts shape how PR professionals perceive the meaning of conflict, the appropriate role of the profession in its management, and the preferred pathways toward resolution. This study delves into these nuances, examining how PR/OC professionals in Türkiye, South Africa, and Uruguay approach conflict management within their national frameworks. Through the lens of contingency theory, which emphasizes the importance of adapting strategies to particular situations, this study explores the diverse approaches employed by these professionals, ultimately contributing to a richer understanding of the culturally contingent nature of conflict management in the discipline.

Conflict situations emerge when organizations encounter incompatible interests or opposing viewpoints with publics, potentially leading to confrontational interactions. Cameron et al. (2008:37) posit that PR/OC practitioners must develop communication strategies and processes to shape the trajectory of conflicts. These strategies should prioritize the organization's interests while also addressing the public's concerns. The contingency theory of strategic conflict management provides a valuable framework for understanding the rationale behind this approach.

Emerging in the 1990s as a comprehensive framework, contingency theory has since become a cornerstone of the field through its application in crisis communication and scientific research (Pang et al., 2023). According to the theory, organizations and publics exhibit a "stance" when they engage in communicative interactions. As a result of this stance, positions are aligned along two dimensions: pure advocacy, associated with concerns for self, and pure compliance, associated with concerns for others (Shin et al., 2005). In this approach, rather than describing the practice in rigid models, communication can be studied on a continuum where organizations take a variety of stances depending on the situation for a particular category of the public at a particular time (Pang et al., 2010). To sum up, PR/OC functions as guardians, proactively identifying and evaluating potential threats that could escalate into conflict situations. Subsequently, they establish a strategic position for the organization and orchestrate communication efforts in alignment with that stance.

Within the theoretical framework of the contingency theory of strategic conflict management, this study explores how the inherently conflictual nature of public relations, potentially influenced by national and cultural understandings of conflict, shapes the diverse approaches employed by public relations professionals in Türkiye, South Africa, and Uruguay.