Models for theory-based M.A. and Ph.D. programs

In response to growing demand for advanced public relations education, this article suggests integrated models of outcomes, curriculum, pedagogy and assessment for theory-based M.A. and Ph.D. programs. Because public relations has commonly been approached as a professional rather than theoretical subject, this article begins with a short explanation of why theoretical education is becoming an increasingly important part of public relations education. It then reports the integration team's recommendations for a flexible educational framework allowing for practical constraints and providing for institutional individuality at both the M.A. and Ph.D. levels. Assumptions underlying efforts of the team are outlined and specifics that might be included in M.A. and Ph.D. programs are presented with rationales for each.     

Models for instruction and curriculum

As a means of making recommendations on public relations curricula, a task team of 24 educators reviewed research on public relations education including preliminary results from a study conducted for the 1998 NCA summer conference. After brain storming sessions, the task team developed three models of course-specific curricula and a content curriculum model for undergraduate public relations education. The task team also proposed core and elective areas for a master's of public relations curriculum. Team members agreed that public relations curricula should have a broad liberal arts and science basis. They recommended advancing public relations education with more attention to studies of ethics, multiculturalism, international issues and to the use of technology.     

Public relations education in Thailand

Public relation education in Thailand, offered at undergraduate and graduate levels at 21 universities, has become one of the most popular and competitive programs chosen by Thai students. This article discusses the development of public relations education in Thailand, the structure of current programs' curricula and course content at eight universities (three public, five private), graduate programs, instruction, and faculty.The in-depth interviews with public relations faculty revealed that while public university professors believed their students were well-prepared academically, most at private universities did not think the current curriculum sufficiently prepared students to be competitive in the work force in the future. The faculty uniformly agreed, however, that courses in interpersonal communication, intercultural/international communication, marketing communication, and new media technology should be added to the curriculum to help better prepare future practitioners to work in the global communication era.     

Measuring student outcomes: An assessment of service-learning in the public relations campaigns course

This study assesses the effectiveness of service-learning in the public relations capstone course by measuring perceived student learning outcomes. An assessment instrument is proposed and tested via a longitudinal survey of students (n = 210) enrolled in the public relations capstone course at a large southeastern university. Results support a general service-learning assessment instrument for public relations education that includes measures of practical skills, interpersonal skills, personal responsibility, and citizenship, as well as discipline-specific functional, creative, and research skills.     

The write stuff: teaching the introductory public relations writing course

This article provides guidance for an instructor looking to develop or to refine a basic or introductory public relations writing course. The objectives of the public relations writing course are presented along with assignments designed to meet these objectives. A sample grading rubric is provided along with an evaluation of the major public relations writing textbooks and how they cover the various communication tactics used in public relations.     

Perceptions of public relations education

A survey of 258 public relations educators and practitioners examined the state of public relations education across five dimensions: general perceptions of public relations, education, desired educational outcomes for both students and practitioners, assessment of student outcomes and learning, elements of public relations curricula, and teaching practices. Results indicate educators and practitioners agree that public relations education is on track and that systematic assessment is an important feature of public relations education. They also agreed on how public relations education should be structured and demonstrated a high degree of similarity in their preferences for teaching methods and techniques.     

Teaching crisis management in Arab universities: A critical assessment

This research looks at the teaching of crisis management at the colleges and departments of communication and public relations in the Arab world. Major findings of the study suggest that out of 24 colleges and departments of communication and public relations surveyed by this research, only two universities teach the course crisis management in their curriculum. The latest developments in the Arab world dictate new mechanisms in managing information and news and dealing with publics and the mass media locally and internationally. The new trends of teaching crisis management focus on the multidisciplinary approach which consists of a good knowledge of news management, dealing with the media, dealing with people, business administration, information technology, social and anthropological context. All these fields of knowledge are indispensable for understanding the general background of the issues and for choosing and selecting the best communication and persuasion techniques and tactics to manage crises effectively and successfully.     

Dual modes of ‘Good will hunting’: Untangling the reputation and relationship correlations en route to foreign amity

The present study theorizes ways in which foreign publics’ different relationship building patterns are associated with the reputation of a host country and with the outcomes of those patterns, which yield positive behavioral intentions. The study first distinguished the reputational relationship group (i.e., those who lack firsthand experience with the host country) from the behavioral relationship group (i.e., those who have firsthand experience with the host country). Next, it further conceptualized and tested the structural paths that theoretically illustrate how reputation is built across these two different groups of foreign publics. Model testing results suggested that the two groups fit well with the respective models. The results imply that the puzzle of relationship’s and reputation’s causal influences on the formation of future behavior can be solved using differentiated communication strategies. An understanding of these two distinct processing models provides a new foundation for theory building in public relations and public diplomacy, as well as new ground for strategic relationship management with foreign publics.     

Socio-Contextual Influences on the Korean News Media's Interpretation of Samsung's $847.6 Million Donation

This study investigates the role of leadership in facilitating strategic communication management and effective public relations practice by proposing a set of dimensions measuring corporate communication executives’ perceptions on leadership. A measurement methodology was applied and suggested to facilitate empirical investigation. Data from two groups of senior corporate communicators and public relations executives (N = 384) nationwide were used to assess the validity and reliability of proposed leadership dimensions that contribute to effective communication management. Results from both groups demonstrated strong support for the proposed higher-order measurement model. The analysis suggested that 6 major dimensions (self-dynamics, team collaboration, ethical orientation, relationship building, strategic decision making capability, and communication knowledge management capability) are crucial for communication executives to expand their influence in the institutional context and generate desired communication outcomes. The findings offer insights on both leadership and corporate communications that may account for significant nonfinancial indictors of organizational effectiveness.     

Exploring public relations in Croatia through relational communication and media richness theories

This article examines the practice of public relations in Croatia through the theories of relational communication and media richness. The findings suggest that the Croatian model of public relations is a mix of traditional media relations and personal influence. Croatian public relations is characterized by a heavy reliance on personal invitations, telephone contacts, and other relational methods for conducting and evaluating public relations. This preference for richer media tactics has implications for public relations practice and theory building.     

Exploding the Myth of the Symmetrical/Asymmetrical Dichotomy: Public Relations Models in the New South Africa

An empirical study of practitioners in the newSouth Africa found no evidence that respondents grouped public relations practices according to principles of symmetry or asymmetry, thus rejecting the notion of symmetry as a normative public relations approach in international settings. Instead, South African practitioners developed their ownculture-specific models of practice basedonthe economic, social, and political realities of their country. These included the conflict-based Western Dialogic model rooted in dissensus, the Activist model promoting change in organizations, theUbuntu model favoring harmony and reconciliation in theworkplace, and the Oral Communication model focusing on the use of oral media in the communication process. Practitioners' demographic characteristics did not influence their use of public relations models, most probably because of the similarity of their public relations education, which seemed to emphasize a focus on the characteristics of an organization's publics in the communication process rather than on practitioners' individual propensities.     

From aspiring presidential candidate to accidental racist? An analysis of Senator George Allen's image repair during his 2006 reelection campaign

This study analyzes how Senator Allen responded to the negative public relations incidents that occurred during his 2006 reelection campaign. Through a content analysis of Allen's media releases and interviews with Allen's communication staffers this study identifies Allen's image repair discourse strategies and tactics. This study also evaluates the effectiveness of these strategies and tactics through a content analysis of the newspaper coverage Finally, this study identifies three new image repair tactics.     

Evaluating excellence: A model of evaluation for public relations practice in organizational culture and context

This paper represents the development of an innovative and comprehensive model designed to measure public relations excellence within an organizational context. Drawing on established scales of evaluation for public relations practice, researchers propose a measurement model situated within excellence Theory. Through a partnership between the research team and The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) organization, a case study approach was developed and implemented, highlighting the relationships between organizational culture and communication. The Excellence in Organizational Context model was tested within the AER, using empirical data gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews and a self-report questionnaire survey conducted with individuals from various identified organizational stakeholder groups. This mixed-method approach was employed to explore and understand the multi-dimensional nature of public relations practice within this organization.Researchers investigated eight dimensions of excellence in this model. Initial findings indicate that the Excellence in Organizational Context model proposed here is a valid and appropriate method for measuring public relations performance when applied as a mixed-method approach for measuring practice and establishing context within an organizational culture. This indicates the need for both organizational, stakeholder, and sector/national level data in confirming relevant benchmarks.     

Whole Curriculum Mapping of Assessment: Cartographies of Assessment and Learning

Approaches to curriculum design often occur at the unit or course level within social work education. Only rarely have ‘whole of curriculum’ approaches been discussed in the literature. This paper describes the creation of a ‘whole of curriculum approach’ to social work teaching and learning within an Australian University. The project involved the creation of a methodology and conceptual framework to map assessment across an entire social work curriculum. In doing so, the mapping exercise provided a way to evaluate the sequencing and integration of assessment tasks across the four-year degree pathway, and judge the effectiveness that such assessments fit with theories and research on assessment more broadly, and with the graduate outcomes for a social work degree. This paper outlines the background to the 2013 assessment project and its alignment to the curriculum mapping. It argues and explains how a systematic approach to mapping and improving social work curriculums can be achieved.     

Public Relations as Negotiation: An Issue Development Perspective

In this essay 1 reconceptualize public relations as negotiation within an issue development perspective, Issue development is a communication approach to negotiation that focuses on the framing and reframing of issues. Theoretical characteristics of communication and negotiation models are utilized to identify shortcomings of the two-way symmetrical model and to advance notions of public relations as negotiation within an issue development framework. Issue development public relations is a management process of negotiating the organization public relationship. Theoretical implications and future research questions are indicated.     

The Government Communication Decision Wheel: Toward a Public Relations Model for the Public Sector

We argue that the existing public relations and communication models do not adequately account for the unique environmental characteristics of the public sector. By reviewing the public sector environment literature, we identify 8 attributes that affect government public relations: politics, focus on serving the public, legal constraints, extreme media and public scrutiny, lack of managerial support for public relations practitioners, poor public perception of government communication, lagging professional development, and federalism. We then review 5 existing public relations models, arguing that none of these models fully incorporates the unique environmental characteristics of the public sector. We conclude by proposing a new model: the government communication decision wheel.     

Developing a multi-level organization-public dialogic communication framework to assess social media-mediated disaster communication and engagement outcomes

Dialogic communication has long been viewed as vital for effective organization-public relations. Yet, it is under-theorized whether and how organizations’ disaster communication messages may embody dialogic communication principles, and how various dialogic features are associated with different public engagement outcomes on social media. Extending the Organization-Public Dialogic Communication (OPDC) framework to the context of social media-mediated disaster communication, we propose a multi-level framework to assess the dialogic capacity of Facebook messages sent by disaster management organizations during a natural disaster. Three levels of dialogic communication characteristics (i.e., message structure-level, topic-level, and linguistic level) are examined using content analysis and Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC). Results identified media richness, correcting, and confirming topics as three consistent predictors of public engagement of all types. Meanwhile, there exhibit greater variations regarding how other topical features and linguistic characteristics are related to public’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement during a disaster.     

Emotional intelligence and public relations: An empirical review

Since the 1990s, the concept of emotional intelligence has garnered growing popular and scholarly attention in the past several decades. Emotional intelligence is generally defined as one’s ability to recognize one’s own emotions, regulate them, recognize others’ emotions, and manage social relationships and is proposed to yield various desirable outcomes for organizations. This study provides a critical and comprehensive review of empirical studies on the role of emotional intelligence in various domains of public relations practice. Findings reveal that existing research has focused mostly on emotional intelligence as a competency vital to effective leadership and employee communication in organizations. Considerable research has also examined emotional intelligence as a necessity for effective crisis management and communication. This study calls for investigating the role of emotional intelligence in different areas of public relations such as media relations and community relations, for improved measurement and methodological pluralism in future research, for EI-based training for future public relations leaders, and for an EI model of professionalism in public relations education.