Definition of Public Relations - Essay Example

Public Relations’ might be confused with advertising, marketing, promotion, publicity, and sales but in reality these terms refer to different but similar activities. In today’s business world, PR has emerged as an important function that contributes to the success of all organisations whether they are profit organizations such as companies, the travel and tourism industry, trade and professional associations; or non profit organizations, such as governments, educational institutions, or labour unions. History The formal practice of what is today called public relations (PR) is less than a 100 years old. The words ‘Public’ and ‘relations’ were first put together by Thomas Jefferson in 1807. The term is believed to have first appeared in print in the book “year Book of Railway Literature’ in 1897. The most significant period in development of PR tactics was before the Industrial Revolution in 1450 caused by Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. But the first theorist of Public Relations was Bernays who referred to himself as the ‘PR counsel’ and specialized in ‘mass psychology’ which focused on how the opinions how large number of people can influence the society effectively. One of the earliest examples of Public Relations was reflected in Bernays handling of his first client in 1929 which was a tobacco industry. Bernays carried out a huge plan to persuade women to take up smoking and equate the act as a women’s right in an otherwise male-dominated society. PR was one of the fastest growing fields between 1998 and 2008[1]. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics in 1998, public relations specialists held approximately 122,000 jobs[1]. However there are several reasons why PR has become more important in recent time. Saffir[2] explains that one of the reasons is because public opinion is becoming more powerful, and therefore, those who are able to deal in public opinion will gain more support and power in achieving their objectives. Public relations definition: In spite of the importance of its roles in many fields, PR suffers from an identity crisis as until now, the existence of a ubiquitous definition of the PR is uncertain. When we mention PR most people think about certain channels of communication: particularly editorial publicity, sponsorships, and 'launch events' for new products. PR practitioners suffer from serving as intermediary between the organizations represented and the organizations public.. Many researchers have wrestled with a definition that seems suitable and internationally acceptable. A crude definition of Public Relations was coined by Bernays who said it was an ‘applied social science’ which used insights from sociology, psychology and other fields to scientifically manipulate and manage the behavior and thinking of an illogical and ‘herdlike’ public. Though theoretically, PR reached an accepted definition of itself in terms of fundamental purposes. Moreover, PR has been defined as a role of an essential function of management. That role evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies of an individual or organization and plans a program of action[4]. In 1982 the Public Relation Society of America (PRSA) defined PR as a management function that established and maintained mutually beneficial relationship between organizations and the municipal, which includes counselling at the highest level and the involvement of strategic planning for the organizations[4, 5]. In general, Public relations (PR) is nothing but the art and science of administering communication between an organization and its core publics in order to build, control and sustain an accurate image. Public relations help an organization and its public adapt mutually to each other. Reputation is not something that can be managed directly, but it is an omnipresent attribute and the global result of a firm’s or individual’s behaviour. The main responsibility of Public relations is to assess public attitude and opinion, to formulate and implement an organization's procedures and policies to sustain good communication with its public, to coordinate communication programs, to develop a superior rapport and good-will with the help of a two way communication process and finally to foster a positive relationship between the organization and its public. PR identifies itself through numerous activities such as audience targeting such as in the case of the Virginia Company which in 1620 provided 50 acres of land free to anyone who settled in Virginia. Next are the press conferences where there is a direct communication between the media and the organization in their efforts to reach out to the public. Then there are press releases which are written statements by the companies and ‘optimized press releases’ which are suited for the internet. According to Scott Cutlip, public relations process can be described in four steps the first of which is ‘Defining Public Relations Problems’ which can be carried out with the help of a SWOT analysis. Second step is that of ‘Planning and Programming’ where the major focus is on ‘strategy’.In public relations, planning strategy plays a critical role in determining how organisations respond and manage environmental relationships and demands. Third step is that of ‘Taking action and Communicating’ which basically involves ‘implementation’. And the last step is that of ‘Evaluating The Program’ or a final ‘assessment’. Ethics issue in Public Relations Ethics is related to a set of moral codes and values which are based on the ideas of right and wrong or basically “The right thing to do”. Those beliefs and standards provide assistance in decision making processes and hence will manage how a company ought to act. The existence of ethics in an organization can be studied on the basis of ‘Comparative ethics’ which talks about how different organizations observe different ethical standards. Next it can be studies with the help of ‘Normative ethics’ which is based on the philosophical and moral ideals of ethical standards. Lastly, it can be studied based on ‘Situational ethics’ which is decided by the ethical standards maintained in different situations by an organization. Ethical standards can be maintained in the running of an organization by following certain rules. According to Arthur W. Page’s ‘Principles of Ethical Behavior’ an organization must always tell the truth, prove it with action, listen to the customer, manage for tomorrow, conduct PR as if the whole company depended on it and remain calm, patient and good-humored. Ethics becomes a fundamental issue in the PR field as it is important to the company's success and is a critical element of competition in today’s business world. According to the book ‘3D Ethics: Implementing Workplace Values’, ethics are constituted of Integrity, Transperancy and Honesty. Reputation of an organization and its ethical standards are inextricable linked with each other. The public perceives an organization to be reputed depending upon how ethical their practices are, and whether the organization works in the best interest of the public. John Elkington’s[12] new paradigm can give a background of the growing importance of ethical practice today as against the changing business revolutions. From Elkington’s point of view, in today’s business, competition has driven companies increasingly, while in the past business firms were more submissive. For this reason, many companies practice their business without considering the impacts which may affect the society in order to win their competitions. For example, multinational companies such as Nike and Starbucks are claimed to have exploited local people in poor countries due to low wages standards and poor working conditions in order to reduce their production costs. In another case, one of the plants set up by Coca Cola in India led to the displacement of a large number of poor families. As a result, ethics is becoming more crucial in providing guidance for their contribution toward building a better society, and subsequently PR should refer to ethics in their practice. The next point of business revolution which is described by Elkington is the change of transparency. However, it is also important to remember that transperancy should not be confused with ‘truth’ as the latter is about facts, while transparency is about the process.The advance of communication technologies offers great access to information for people around the world. Meanwhile, global society is also becoming more democratic in that all people have the right to gain information that will have an effect on their lives[13]. The transparency expects companies to keep their stakeholders fully informed of their business. Therefore, the integrity and credibility of the PR must be preserved. PR practitioners should not tell a lie in giving information as this might lead to mistrust, cynicism, deterioration of relationship, and damage business reputation[14]. Moreover, lies are often demanded to cover up the previous dishonesty and are harmful to a company as people judge a company by its past record. One example of a company which suffered from a damaged business reputation is Ford Motor which is depicted as a liar due to its pledge to increase the fuel efficiency of sport utility vehicles by 25 percent. Chairman William Ford Jr. is depicted as a long-nosed Pinocchio in an advertisement issued by the environmental group Bluewater Network. The advertisement shows public’s cynicism toward its business: “Don’t buy his environmental rhetoric. Don’t buy his cars” [15]. Another ‘business insurrection’ which contributed to the growing importance of ethics in the PR field is the change in perception of life-cycle technology. The reason why companies and PR practitioners should pay attention to this is because there is a shift from subversive to symbiotic partnerships, in which companies and PR practitioners will have to build broader relationships with economic, social, and environmental publics. An organization will be judged on how ethical its publics perceive it to be. This is done with the help of the field of ‘information ethics’ which investigates the ethical issues which arise from the application and development information technologies. These include providing a critical framework for taking into account moral issues related to informational privacy, moral agency, new environmental issues, life-cycle of information (arising from creation, processing etc). Nowadays, while maximizing shareholder return is still a top priority for them, companies are also coming to realize that it is against the shareholders’ interests to achieve interim profitability which may harm the company's image, its customers and sometimes its employees in the long run. This is why, there is a need for ethical behaviour in maintaining a good, beneficial, and long term relationship with the community. It must, nevertheless, be understood that ethics is a process, not an aspiration. The argument advanced here is similar to that of Creedon’s in Kruckeberg [16]. Creedon suggest practicing “strategic ethics” emphasizes the process to build relationships which are based on mutual respect for each other’s values. Nevertheless, as a process, sometimes PR practitioners face complexities in making ethical decision for their practice. There may be different perceptions towards the concept of truth since ethics are culture-bound[17]. What is “right” in one culture might be perceived as “wrong” in other cultures. Moreover, PR practitioners might need to deal with different political, social, cultural, or legal values in their ethical practice. This is also important as public views a company based on its past actions, hence it becomes necessary to maintain a clean reputation at all times. In addition, perhaps the best example is the ethical issue of PR practices in Asia; in attempting to get a media coverage, PR professionals might have to give ‘transport allowances’ to journalists to cover the travelling cost to attend a press conference or media events held by the company. Although it might be against the code of ethics, this practice is perceived as prevalent. In addition, it is quite rare in Asian countries to find a case in which an action was taken towards PR practitioners who breached the code of ethics. PR professionals have also dealt with the diversity of traditions in various Asian cultures. When dealing with clients or municipals in Asian countries, PR practitioners should be aware of the dress code, eating and drinking practices or seating arrangements as these may offend particular beliefs or religions[18]. On the other hand, a downside of not maintaining ethics in an organization is that it can greatly have a negative impact on the company’s reputation. For example, in the 1970, the PR firm Ketchum which was working for tobacco companies Brown and Williamson denied that there was a link between smoking and heart and lung disease. This led to a widespread criticism from the public and affected the company’s status deeply. In terms of ethics, one of the most contentious practices in public relations is to make use of ‘front groups’ which are organizations which claim to serve a public cause but in reality are serving the interests of a particular client of theirs. This practice is sometimes also referred to as a ‘third party technique’ or the skill of ‘putting your words in someone else's mouth’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): PR activities are becoming more interlinked with the development and maintenance of public support as well as with the growing attention of managers to social responsibility. PR is a management service, through which social relations are evaluated and the personal or organizational policies and activities are determined according to the public interest. As per Business for Social Responsibility, USA, CSR is nothing but a company which is operating in a method such that it meets or exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations which the society has of business. As previously mentioned, changes to many aspects in the business revolution has seen corporations attempting to get public consent for their operations. Companies should build a good relationship with its public to achieve long run success. Those companies that are seen by the public as not paying enough attention to social responsibility often suffer as a result, but companies with good records on social responsibility are likely to enjoy better PR than less ethical competitors. Out of the many ways to maintain CSR, a company can rely on many global standards and frameworks that have been developed such as ISO 14000, SA 8000, AA 100 as well as the codes formulated by OECD, U N Global Compact, Global Reporting Initiative. The significance of CSR is clearly manifested in a study conducted by Harris Interactive and the Reputation Institute (2003), it was found that the public is likely to forgive the fraud, deception, and greed of the world’s best-known companies[20], owing to their past record. This is also clearly evident in case of Walmart which, in its reactive mode, came up with a corporate image campaign saying, “Wal-Mart is working for everyone”. This campaign however faced a lot of criticism owing to Walmart’s less-than-average public relations track record. The result of MORI research in Britain has also shown similar perceptions amongst the public towards their distrust of the CSR of many companies. The majority of the public do not believe that large companies pay attention to the long term environmental and social impact of their operation[21]. CSR is a significant issue for PR the profession. Conversely, PR also plays an important role in improving the level of CSR. The importance of PR in improving an organization’s CSR is mainly found in communicating a company’s actions to the public. This however is a challenge owing to the cynicism which exists within the community.  As an example a recent Australian study revealed that consumers say that they are not much aware about what big organizations are doing but they also think that they only do it to look good.  Some company’s avoid communication of their CSR to the public as they do not believe in ‘blowing their own trumpet’, but it is essential for the community to still learn about the initiatives. In addition, the PR occupations are for professionally motivated people who are performing their social responsibilities, at the same time taking into consideration the impact of their work upon society and its culture[11]. These Professions must also fulfil expectations and moral obligations at the level of society. To reach this goal professionals are expected to do more than provide knowledge and skilled services. They are held responsible for improving the institutions administrating the services. It is believed that PR firms can put in value to a company’s CSR efforts with the help of a direct relationship with the communications department which spells out a clear demarcation between the PR firm’s responsibility as that of communicating the activities of the organization in response to their CSR, and the organization’s onus of planning and implementation of such activities. It can also be done by improving professional practice and the conduct of organization services provided to the society, by using communication and negotiation to replace half-truths with information, and enforcing ethical conducts[4]. As an interpreter, PR should be able to translate what the public expect from the firm in its contribution to the society; on the other hand, it should also be able to translate the policies, the practices, and the management decisions of the company to its public. As an essential part of CSR, PR practitioners also play a significant role in creating two-way communication between the companies and its stakeholders that will influence social acceptance. PR requires strong communication skills to be able to answer the public’s questions in a manner that gains public support and to lobby for regulation on specific PR practices which may affect the public interest. Subsequently, it is expected that a good two-way communication between corporation and its stakeholders will build a long term and mutual relationship that will support the existence of its business in the future, and the success of company in a highly competitive world. This is essential as organizations must remember that media is not looking for the ‘good thing’ that a company is doing, and rather for the ‘bad thing’ that they can pin point upon and make news of. Hence it is more of a liability for an organization to use PR to publicize its CSR initiatives. Another role of PR which is significant to improving CSR level is PR advocacy. In terms of advocacy, PR should function as problem finder, problem solver, and problem preventer, and ensure that CSR is considered in decision making process at the CEO level. This might require awareness and sensitivity to public opinion, to help the company deal with the new demands made by its stakeholders, such as environmentalists, concerned scientists, human rights activists, consumers, or employees[17]. Conclusion Finally, it is understood that the significance of PR lies in the fact that it helps in building an image for the organization and thus maintain its reputation. It is the duty of every organization to maintain certain ethical standards in order to protect the integrity of the consumer they are serving. And finally, it is evident how CSR is a part of the ethical standards that a company maintains, and that PR helps in increasing the awareness about a company’s CSR initiatives. Thus, PR must engage in a new level of dialogue that resonates with stakeholders personal values. Practitioners also will have to increase simplicity and adopt a more integrated approach to monitoring and influencing the online communications that shapes their reputations. REFERENCE Read More