Applying Public relations theory to different areas of public relation practice

 

PART A

 

1. What evidence of James Grunig’s four models of public relations practice is demonstrated in the campaigns?

 

The campaigns have demonstrated such evidences integrating to public relations theory and practice as reflected in Grunig's four models of public relations practice, there is the potential applicability of these models to internal communication systems in organizations as there are issues; historical parallels between the development of organizational theory and the development of the four models of public relations practice within issues of managerial bias inherent in existing organizational communication research and consulting practices, as well as some of the public relations models and lines of future inquiry of common interest to the public relations researcher and the organizational communications researcher as a function of the models. ( and , 2000 )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The evidence that public relations involves research planning and development and that there can also be evidence of media programs as mentioned as well as promotions as it comprises the total aspect of public relations packaging as it the relationship cycle does involve press releases through certain agents and there is assimilation of public information models as reflected in communication strategies as well as some glimpse on shareholder launching is evident and that communication is the most crucial part in every public relation activities as there is evident of two-way asymmetric and symmetric communication since, there is understanding of diverse parties involved like for instance, between the public relations consultants and the subject matter of the relations event respectively.  ( and , 2000 ) As the public relations theory exists within the modern episteme and reflects the ontological and epistemological assumptions of modernity. This means that those theorizing public relations tend to take for granted an anthropocentrism which privileges the human and the social in a dualism which marginalizes the non-human and the non-social as there offers a more coherent way of describing or narrating a complex world constructed from human and non-human elements in forms of various public relations communication application and handling. ( and , 2000 )  Thus, public relations should be viewed though the lens of actor-network theory or that the modern episteme should be replaced by the modern episteme, for instance, other actors which have been ignored must be included in descriptions or explanations of communication scenarios and public relations struggles.

 

 

 

For instance, the conflict between client and advertising agency is a well documented struggle ( and , 1998), with disagreement about who should resource and be responsible for effectiveness research, be it at the developmental, confirmatory or evaluative stages of producing and running a campaign. Where there is no disagreement is the issue of the need for developing techniques to objectively assess the effectiveness of advertising. The same issues are prevalent in public relations (., 1996; ., 1998), with leading PR practitioners acknowledging the need for PR to defend more robustly its output and contributions through evaluation and combines competitive PR marketplace, growing complexity of technology between marketing communications disciplines, plus the desire to become more professional, to place greater responsibility in the hands of PR consultancy decision-makers to organize their businesses on a commercial relations basis. In the readings, there is exploration of the development of the marketing public relations as there are concept examining the arguments advanced concerning  such emergence and legitimacy to be a separate marketing or PR discipline as it should be incorporated into the marketing discipline as there is a sense of incorporating it in promotional mix. Public relations is essentially about an organisation’s reputation: about the way many different types of people perceive an organisation. It also concerns the control of information through effective communication. (, 2000 )

 

 

 

 

 

Communication is a two-way asymmetric process of receiving information and acting on it as well as sending it, both internally and externally. It is not sufficient simply to take one approach and hope it will reach some people. It is important to identify and use the right means of communication to reach each market segment. It is also necessary to communicate effectively with fund holders: innovations and image changes should impress them as possible. In lieu to Grunig’s practice, the evidence in using media such as found in advertising campaigns. Sending out press releases is a much cheaper alternative and can be just as effective. It is worth finding out which media like e-mail releases and to use the Internet to send them. (, 2000 )

 

2. Why was the role of the consultant so important in each campaign and do you think that an in-house practitioner could have managed the campaigns more effectively?

 

Public relations are an unavoidable function in any organization. As  (1984 ) notes that organization has no choice whether to 'have' public relations organizations are communicating with audiences that are of importance to them. The decision is not whether to have public relations but whether these relations will be handled in a planned, organized manner or allowed to be accidental, haphazard and possibly inconsistent. No industry probably agonizes more over how to make its clients comprehend what they are buying than the public relations business like public relations consultancy (, 1992;  and , 2000). This is most especially pronounced in public relations consultancy.

 

Although the term client relationship management or customer relationship management has only been used more recently, the principles on which it has been based have existed much longer. Client relationships development and management builds especially on the principles of relationship marketing. Unfortunately, many public relations practitioners devote the majority of their time to the operational aspects of their services and tend to ignore the need to document and analyze the overall public relations campaign in concrete terms that a vice president of marketing, for instance, could relate to his overall marketing performance. True, the agency's responsibility is to do its very best for the client. However, companies have to realize that they have responsibilities as well (, 1997). Communication is the key to a mutually profitable relationship. Company management has to be willing to tell the agency its specific needs and desires. Without knowing management’s expectations, it's impossible to meet the goals. To create an effective campaign, the agency has to know everything about the product or service how it works, its benefits and features, its shortcomings, its channels of distribution, as well as products and features offered by the competition. It's impossible for the agency to learn this information by mind reading or through osmosis (, 1997). Furthermore, in examining the public relations function. The symmetrical public relations function attempts to achieve mutually satisfying relations between an organisation and its publics, in contrast with asymmetrical public relations, which is used by organisations wishing to synchronise their behaviour.

 

 

 

 

In essence, organisations using asymmetrical models seek environmental domination whereas organisations utilising the symmetrical model seek cooperation with their environments (., 1992) whereby:

-          press agentry/publicity is a highly intuitive model of public relations practice, the sole purpose of which is to promote an individual, an organisation, or a product, therefore encouraging a one-way flow of information to the public

-          the public information model emphasises the dissemination of accurate information to the general population and is based on one-way flow of communication from an organisation to its publics

-          the two-way asymmetrical model communication focuses on a two-way flow of communication, with organisations sending messages to publics and then receiving feedback from those publics

-          the two-way symmetrical model concentrates focuses on achieving mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.

The role of public relations consultants are imperative and critical in every campaign activities as it is one of the main factor for achieving success and effective public relationship as the consultants will provide the synthesis to the campaign processes and its framework for laying out important details to the general public and that public relations consultants are the overall in-charge of every public relations aspects and reviews and monitors the public relations planning and how it can be implemented and put into actual grounds understanding the strategic needs of the PR process from clients and analyses the whole PR research expenditure as well. It is acknowledged that in order for public relations consultants to be good in handling management function then, there is a need for the two-way asymmetrical and two-way symmetrical models to dominate in their PR planning mechanisms (., 1992).  and  (1992) argue that for excellent public relations to be achieved, the principal public relations consultants should take part in management decision making and the need to function as a member of the dominant coalition for example, the group within an organisation with the power to make and enforce decisions about the direction of the organisation, its tasks, its objectives and functions (,  and , 1984). Thus,  (1989) characterized asymmetric presuppositions as dominant mindset in current public relations, which defines public relations as the manipulation of public behavior for the benefit of the manipulated publics as well as the sponsoring organizations (). These asymmetric presuppositions have suggested attitude and behavior change, means of persuasive communication, diffusion of innovations and the effects of media campaigns as relevant problems for public relations research (, 1989, ). Professional associations Public Relations Consultants’ Association (PRCA) representing consultancy (agency) practitioners and the Institute of Public Relations (IPR) traditionally representing individual in-house practitioners have a vital role in the development of the industry. Professional credibility depends on the IPR and PRCA requiring those who wish membership meet acceptable standards of practice, as well as developing initiatives to promote professional standards to the rest of the industry. ( and , 1982; , 1984)

 

 

 

 

PR has a variety of applications: by heightening a company's public profile it can open up recruitment opportunities, improve staff retention and motivation, attract investors to an area or company, raise a company's share value, dispel myths about a company and attract new clients. PR officers therefore publicise their clients and their causes through a variety of mediums including television, radio, print media and trade journals. They gain access to these avenues by developing relationships with journalists and issuing press releases to them in a usable format and Holly has attended numerous networking events, trade shows press launches and written many press releases.  (, 1984) Most consultancies have a strong core competence in media relations preparing editorial material for broadcast, web and print outlets and managing relationships between clients and their key media; and nearly all are expert at event management staging meetings, writing speeches and presentations and maximising the impact of a corporate event or a client’s participation in a public occasion. Then, in-house practitioners cannot do the campaigns  management effectively on their own without the ample touch of PR consultancies as the latter provides a more precise guidelines on what to do, what are the things to consider for realizing appropriate PR relations like for example, in Red Cross Organization, it is crucial for the organization to have applicable and reasonable public relations ads and campaigns that are to be supported by factual figures and information in order to easily get the attention of its frequent partners and be able to spread proper knowledge awareness to the general public, to the whole society because they have selected right in-house practitioners as amicably guided by the PR consultants respectively.

 

 

Good public relations consultants will be able to master a brief rapidly, design a communication programme to achieve the stated business result, create original materials to attract attention and change opinion and report on the degree of change which has been achieved. Most consultancies seek to improve margins by offering services which are visibly better and able to command a premium in the marketplace. Consultancies are designed elastically, so are ready and able to provide many-handed support, at a moment’s notice, in times of emergency or peak demand because they exist outside the corporate structure, consultants can offer observations and advice which are objective and objective. The issues raised do not mean to imply that communication has no effect but indicate that it is dangerous to make assumptions about communication outcomes and suggest that greater understanding of communication theory is desirable among PR practitioners. Practitioners who follow the press agentry model use one-way communication to provide only positive publicity to audiences, while hiding negative information ( and , 1992, ). Practitioners who follow the two-way asymmetrical model use feedback from relevant publics to design persuasive messages to manipulate the behavior of the publics ( and , 1992, ). To those who practice the two-way symmetrical model use two-way communication to achieve mutual understanding with publics. This model is used to negotiate a mutually acceptable resolution to conflicting interests. This model is considered the ideal model ( and , 1992, ). Practitioners who use the personal influence model establish personal relationships with key individuals in the media, government, or political and activist groups ( and ., ).

 

 

Thus, practices occur that would be considered unethical in most countries ( and ., ). Practitioners in organizations practicing the press agentry and public information models of public relations will engage in few activities that define the public relations manager role. Practitioners in organizations practicing the two-way asymmetric and two-way symmetric models of public relations are more likely to play the public relations manager role. This is especially true of associations and scientific organizations. ( and ., )

 

PART B

 

What are the key differences in in-house public relations practice compared to those of a public relations consultant?

 

Consultancy level

 and  (1994) broadly defined the concept of consultancy as the a process in which a consultant provides a service to a client for the purpose of meeting the client’s needs. As  and  (1998) provided a description of public relations agencies as contrasted to management consultancies, advertising and corporate design agencies by describing PR as agencies which offer services predominantly in corporate image-building to various external constituencies.

 

 

. (1996) presented an overview of trends in the public relations sector and how public relations consultancies were dealing with these key issues of intensifying and diversifying competition, specialisation of PR activity and client bases, quality, recruitment and control of PR personnel, PR’s involvement in strategic thinking and the evaluation of PR effectiveness.

Practitioner level

. (1997) defined public relations practitioners as, “individuals who help others establish and maintain effective relationships with third parties”. Practitioner roles are the most empirically researched in public relations (., 1999). In 1982, Broom’s research identified four types of public relations roles: expert prescriber; communication facilitator; problem-solving process facilitator and communication technician (, 1982;  and , 1978;  and , 1979).  (1992) later concluded these four roles could be reduced to two: the manager and the technician. The manager and technician typologies were confirmed in subsequent research ( and , 1993). Although some studies (., 1989) found somewhat different roles or even challenged the traditional dichotomy of roles ( and , 1996), they are generally agreed in the public relations literature. The manager role is attributed to practitioners who are involved in policy decisions while the technician role refers to practitioners dealing with the technical aspects of communications (, 1992). The managers plan and direct communication programmes while the technicians execute these decisions by writing, editing and contacting the media ( and , 1994).

 

 

 

's research has added many new theories to the body of knowledge that already exists as public relations practitioners are better able to serve the organizational and public interest by using the best model or models listed below.

 

 

Grunig's Four models of Public Relations
Model Name	Type of Communication	Model Characteristics
Press agentry/publicity model	One-way communication	Uses persuasion and manipulation to influence audience to behave as the organization desires
Public Information model	One-way communication	Uses press releases and other one-way communication techniques to distribute organizational information. Public relations practitioner is often referred to as the "journalist in residence.
One-way asymmetrical model	One-way communication	Uses persuasion and manipulation to influence audience to behave as the organization desires. Does not use research to find out how it public(s> feel about the organization.
Two-way symmetrical model	Two-way communication	Uses communication to negotiate with publics, resolve conflict, and promote mutual understanding and respect between the organization and its public(s).

 

 

Source of the above table:

 

 

 

 

 

 

In-house public relations practitioners are not oblivious to the zero-sum worldview: For instance, the former corporate communications director of Union Carbide characterized public affairs as win-lose situation a zero-sum game in which no one wins except at the expense of the other (, 1984, ). Public relations practitioners who specialize in conflict resolution use the zero-sum terminology of game theory to describe the same focus on persuasion: The 'win-lose' bargaining situation, a common negotiation mode in business-to-business transactions ( and , 1983). According to  and  (1986), a practitioner enacts all four roles to varying degrees, giving rise to his or her role profile, but within this profile one role, the dominant role, is enacted more frequently than the others. Following subsequent empirical research, this typology was reduced to two role types, public relations manager, (incorporating expert prescriber, problem solving facilitator and communications facilitator) and public relations technician. There is well-documented research stream that has demonstrated not only that public relations practitioners play different roles in different organisational environments, but that the enactment of these roles is affected by a number of factors linked to both the organisation and the individual (, 1983). Individual public relations roles are inherently derived from perceptions of what constitutes public relations, an idea which is acknowledged by . (1985), discussing public relations effectiveness: a public relations office will only be as useful to management as management wants it to be.

 

 

If management thinks of the public relations operation in a small way, then it will occupy a small place in the scheme of things and its contribution will be small. If management thinks it is important, then it will occupy a prominent place, and its contribution will be significant (., 1985, ).  While practitioner roles are the micro-level of organisational analysis and necessitate a focus on individuals, it is also important to consider the organisation as a whole, or macro-level, within which the practitioner operates. A role may, in fact, be based on a behavioural context, defined by an organisation’s structure and environment. According to  and  (1978), roles describe particular actions linked with given positions. They develop this concept by relating it to an “office”, or particular space in the organisational system; associated with each office is a set of activities or expected behaviours. Public relations is generally seen as a staff function, a key consideration given that line management set the ground rules, determine policy and make final decisions.  (1992) argues that for excellent public relations to be achieved, the principal practitioner in an organisation should take part in management decision making. However, a staff role, rather than line role, means that practitioners are often excluded from this process. In other words, they do not become part of the “dominant coalition”, defined as the group with the power to make and enforce decisions about the direction of the organisation, its tasks, its objectives, and functions.

 

 

 

 

 

For example, local government officers work in a departmental structure under the guidance of the chief executive; however, officers are bound by law to remain “apolitical” in their capacity as administrators of local government. From a theoretical, and indeed traditional perspective, policy and resource allocation are the exclusive concerns of members with officers merely implementing political decisions. However, officers, particularly the management team, do not simply implement decisions. A highly paid professional officer is not a mere servant who is paid to do what he/she is told but must constantly interpret policy and help in the policy formulation by giving members policy options and advice. Officers thus play a prominent role in the management of local authorities. The factor which differentiates local authorities from other public and private sector institutions is that they are political organisations. Public relations practitioners, as with all other officers, are required to remain politically neutral during the execution of their work. However, the nature of their work means that they are also subject to specific legislation, in whole or part, appears to be designed to affect public support for a political party as the role of the public relations practitioner is finely balanced. By rather than simply discussing received roles as described by practitioners, the constraints and conditions which determine role performance were also investigated. Given the governmental structure with regard to the local authority public relations practitioner, this necessitates focusing on two key elements, top officers and councillors, who in effect act as management of a local authority. In in-house public relations practitioner level, PR implies that practitioners master technical skills while understanding why to employ them. Indeed, previous research indicates the existence of a PR manager role ( and , 1982; , 1984).

 

PR in in-house and consultancies tend to recruit from other professions, such as journalism, law and business, and these entrants would subsequently be trained in PR by apprenticeship ( and , 1982; , 1984). In-house Public relations practioners operate across a wider range than any other business or professional service  and this can make it hard to determine exactly what they do, what they can be expected to do, and what they should be paid. The services they provide to client organisations are diverse: financial communications and investor relations: corporate communications, which may include Corporate Social Responsibility, issues and crisis management and liaison with stakeholder groups; public affairs product support, including retailer relations, launches promotions; communications and change management. (,  and , 1985).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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