Strategic Management of Public Relations

Strategic Management of Public Relations The Integrative Framework Jeong-Nam Kim

Concepts Relevant to the Strategic Management of Public Relations 1. Organizational Effectiveness Dozier, Grunig, & Grunig, Ch. 6, 9 2. Systems Theory (Explains how public relations contributes to effectiveness) Open & Closed Systems Environments Inputs, Throughputs, Outputs Structures (Vertical and Horizontal) 3. The Role of Public Relations to the Strategic Management of Organizations Dozier, Grunig, & Grunig, Ch. 6, Ch.2. Grunig, J. E. (2011). Public relations and strategic management: Institutionalizing organization-public relationships in contemporary society. Central European Journal of Communication, 41(6), 11-31. 4. Strategic Public Relations (Excellence Public Relations Theory) Dozier, Grunig, & Grunig, Ch. 14 5. The Behavioral Molecule 6. Environmental Scanning Dozier, Grunig, & Grunig, Ch. 14 7. Issues Management 8. Crisis Public Relations

KEY WORDS IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Public Relations as formulated in our theory and programs of education as a behavioral, strategic management paradigm. (vs. symbolic, interpretive paradigm) Ch. 1. Defining and clarifying public relations. In J. E., Ferrari, M. A., & França, F. (2009). Relações públicas: Teoria, contexto e relacionamentos (Public relations: Theory, context, and relationships) São Paulo, Brazil: Difusao Editora (Look at the reading for January 12) Strategic Management? The process of management in the pursuit of the accomplishment of organizational mission coincident with managing the relationship of the organization to its environment. Steps 1) Determine organizational mission 2) Develop organizational profile 3) Assess organizational environment 4) Match the organizational profile with environmental opportunities & threats 5) Identify best options 6) Choose long-term goals 7) Choose short-term objectives 8) Implement 9) Evaluate

Some Key Terms STRATEGY: 1) Long-term thinking and planning 2) Decide what are (more) important to set priorities among the goals. STRATEGIC PLANNING: e.g., Brian Lamb School of Communication We build a strategic planning and curricular set up for professional master program in Strategic Communication Management at Indianapolis campus. Thus, we work on what the key goals are and how they can be achieved, what the necessary works are: In doing so, we conducted a benchmark study of other competing universities: their job placement, program structures, focus of training programs. STRATEGIC DECISION-MAKING: e.g., Closing plant; merger & acquisition, lay-off pilots in many airliners. Planning committee or dominant coalition members make such decisions. But, often those decisions made have negative consequences on people and these people tend to become active or even angry publics. These then become public relations problems. If PR managers are invited and included earlier in the dominant coalition and their decision-making process, they can add more strategic inputs to the resulting policies and decisions (becoming strategic and less reactive).

ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS For many years, organizational scholars have debated around the question of what makes an organization more effective. To show that public relations has value to the organization, we must be able to show that effective communication programs and functions contribute to organizational effectiveness.

Strategic Public Relations Public relations plays a key role in strategic management when communication programs help manage relationships with key publics that affect organizational mission, goals, and objectives. Public relations should help dominant coalition assess the external/internal environment and respond appropriate to it. Specifically, public relations should 1) identify who are critical individuals/groups in and around the organization, 2) learn the critical segment s need/wants in relation with organizational decision/action/policy, 3) incorporate such strategic inputs (information) to decision-making process, and 4) manage communication programs to increase understanding between management and strategic publics. All of such efforts will result in quality and type of relationships between organization and its strategic publics. * Strategic Public Relations (strategic behavioral management function) Tactical/Functional Public Relations (strategic message creation function)

INVOLVEMENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN STRATEGIC MANAGMENT An organization that practices public relations strategically develops programs to communicate with the various strategic publics, both external and internal, that provide the greatest threats and opportunities for the organization.

VALUE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS TO AN ORGANIZATION Public relations contributes to organizational effectiveness when it helps reconcile the organization s goals with the expectations of its strategic publics. Goal Achievement = to survive -type goals (strategic threats) + to prosper -type goals (strategic opportunities) from organizational (internal and external) environments. Strategic Public Relations uses communication as a coping mechanism (tool) to adapt to threats/opportunities of environment. Ex) * Environmental Scanning, * Negotiation/Conflict Management, *Information Campaigns, etc. As a result, its hosting organization becomes more strategic and adaptive to its environment. Public relations contributes to effectiveness by building quality, long-term relationships with strategic publics. This contribution also has monetary value to the organization.

EFFECTIVENESS AT THE SOCIETAL LEVEL Organizations have an impact beyond their own bottom line (because of the existence of other interpenetrating systems). They also affect other individuals, publics, and organizations in society. As a result, organizations cannot be said to be effective unless they also are socially responsible; and public relations can be said to have value when it contributes to the social responsibility of organizations.

THE VALUE OF GOOD RELATIONSHIPS WITH STRATEGIC PUBLICS An upward shift in the demand curve? A reduction in marketing costs? An increase in marketing costs for competitors? A decrease in turnover among employees or customers? A buffer against fallout from crises?

THE COST OF POOR RELATIONSHIPS WITH STRATEGIC PUBLICS Strikes or sick-outs? (Employees) Legal battles? (Court & government interventions) Excessive regulation? Adverse publicity? (Almost every negative publicity is brought by activist publics) Conflicts with determined, hostile activist groups?

EMPOWERMENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN THE DOMINANT COALITION OR A DIRECT REPORTING RELATIONSHIP TO SENIOR MANAGMENT In effective organizations, the senior public relations person is a part of or has access to the group of senior managers with the greatest power in the organization.

(T 0 =2004; T 1 =2005)

THE PROCESS OF STRATEGIC MANAGMENT Is more important than any specific plans that result You can manage your process, but not outcomes. Involves planning that produces results in the form of a set of decisions about mission and environment both task or economic environment and social or institutional environment. Public relations is responsible for the (social) institutional environment; whereas marketing is more for economic (task) environment.

STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS AT THE FUNCTIONAL LEVEL Develop formal objectives in the form of relationship indicators. Plan communication programs to accomplish objectives. Implement the program. Evaluate program effectiveness with short-term communication objectives and relationship indicators and the management of conflict.

Strategic Management of Public Relations

STAKEHOLDER STAGE The behavior of an organization or of a stakeholder has consequences on the other. Implications Scan the environment to identify those consequences. Use ongoing communication to build stable and long-term relationships that manages conflict that may occur in the relationships.

PUBLICS STAGE Some stakeholders recognize a consequence as a problem and organize to do something about it. Implications Do research to identify and segment those publics. Use communication to involve those publics in the organization s decision process, thus can manage conflicts before communication campaigns become necessary.

ISSUES STAGE Public organize and create issues out of management s decisions. Implications Public relations must anticipate these issues and manage the organization s s response to them. Focus group research is particularly useful at this stage to understand the issues. Communication programs usually include the mass media but also should include interpersonal communication with activist publics to try to resolve the issue through negotiation.

ISSUES MANAGEMENT Is one link between public relations and strategic management. Involves scanning the environment looking for potential issues. Results in identifying publics who are likely to make issues out of managerial decisions. Leads to developing relationships with those publics 1) Identify potential issues 2) Build relationships with those would-be issue makers. But, it at best avoids threats. What about strategic opportunities? Conceptually, just half of strategic management of public relations.

ISSUES MANAGEMENT AND CRISIS Most crises are merely issues. Most crises are caused by management decisions (so, it could be preventable). Some crises are inevitable, if not commonplace (natural disasters). Crisis planning is more important than the plan that results. Surviving the crisis may depend on the relationships already in place.

PRINCIPLES OF CRISIS COMMUNICATION THE RELATIONSHIP PRINCIPLE : Organizations can withstand both issues and crises better if they have established good, long-term relationships with publics who are at risk from decisions and behaviors of the organization. THE ACCOUNTABILITY PRINCIPLE : Organizations should accept responsibility for a crisis even if it was not their fault. THE DISCLOSURE PRINCIPLE : At the time of a crisis, the organization involved must disclose all that it knows about the crisis or problem involved. THE SYMMETRIC COMMUNICATION PRINCIPLE : At the time of a crisis, an organization must consider the public interest to be at least as important as its own interest.