This doctoral dissertation analyses crisis communication, one of the most complex segments of public relations, which implies an organisation's communication during a crisis, whose main goal is to prevent and neutralise damage to reputation and business operations caused by the crisis. The paper investigates the entire cycle of crisis communication management through the analysis of pre-crisis, crisis and postcrisis communication, and particularly analyses the possibility of reactive strategies of communicating and methods by which they can contribute to the quicker and faster containment of negative consequences and lead to the end of the crisis. The initial hypothesis of the paper, that the possibilities of reactive strategies are significantly greater than those used in Croatian companies and that their success in crisis communication is actually proportional to the degree of their use, are confirmed through an analysis of the level of proactive communication, the readiness to assume risk, as well as various factors that affect the selection of specific communication strategies. By placing public relations experts from companies in hypothetical crisis situations, the paper investigated in which way they and their companies would react in crisis situations, and through in-depth interviews with journalists following these companies, the paper enabled a comparison of the stated communication tendencies in the company and experiences concerning communication with representatives of the media. The results of the theoretical and empirical research unquestionably confirm that Croatian companies do not make use of the possibilities of strategic communication during a crisis, and among several options choose those that are most passive and entail the least amount of risk. The conducted analysis has shown that companies with a public relations department that is more professional and functional, with greater influence on strategic decisions, communicate better and more proactively, and in this manner reduce the intensity of the consequences of the crisis that the company will undergo. Furthermore, the research demonstrated that representatives of the media experience communication from Croatian companies during a crisis as being significantly more reactive and passive than do the individuals responsible for managing communication. It can be concluded that communication in Croatian companies during a crisis is predominantly reactive and passive, and that that companies evidently do not use the possibilities of strategic communication, which suggests the necessity of adjustments to their approach to crisis communication. These findings open the possibility for further investigation into this phenomenon, which will lead to determining the motive, reason and cause of the reactive and passive approach to communication.