Cultural Consequences on Excellence in Public Diplomacy

The purpose of this study is to advance the contextual study of public diplomacy—the inquiry into the influences of a government's contextual variables on its practice and management of public diplomacy. To meet this aim, this study investigated the empirical associations between Hofstede's cultural dimensions and Excellence in public diplomacy, a conception of excellence in public diplomacy developed from the Excellence study, based on survey data from 52 embassies in Washington, DC. The findings suggest that the uncertainty avoidance dimension has substantial and significant empirical associations with Excellence in public diplomacy. Additionally, not only low uncertainty avoidance cultures but also individualist and low power distance cultures are more conducive to the Excellence than are their counterparts. Nonetheless, the findings have an implication that, in terms of associational magnitude, the overall contextual effects of societal culture on the Excellence may not be strong.     

Memory for Investor Relations Messages: An Information-Processing Study of Grunig's Situational Theory

Marketing managers have used segmentation techniques to divide mass markets into specialized markets for some time, and many public relations practitioners have adopted the same techniques for their practices. Most marketing techniques segment markets more effectively than publics, however, and thus have limited value in public relations. Few public relations scholars have developed segmentation techniques for publics that are comparable to those used to segment markets in marketing. Grunig and Childers (1988) developed a situational theory of publics that has been tested and used widely by academic researchers. The theory segments publics by the activeness and passiveness of their communication behaviors and the extent to which their behavior affects organizations. Grunig maintained that active publics are more likely to process information actively and to remember it than are passive publics. This study uses the context of investor relations to test the cognitive effects of Grunig's theory. In doing so, it applies cognitive psychological methods of experimentation rarely used in public relations research and tests the effects of involvement, problem recognition, and constraint recognition on two types of memory performance. Differences were found in cued recall and recognition memory; the implications of these differences are discussed.     

Applicability of the Generic Principles of Excellent Public Relations in a Different Cultural Context: The Case Study of Singapore

This study used 4 generic principles of public relations based on the Excellence Theory to analyze the extent to which strategic public relations management was practiced in Singapore and whether public relations is part of senior management in 4 types of organizations: public relations consulting firms, corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. Data were collected from 127 public relations professionals using a survey questionnaire based on the Excellence study. In addition, 22 in-depth interviews were conducted and organizational publications analyzed. The data revealed that the 4 generic principles studied are applicable in another culture. In Singapore, public relations has a lower status compared with advertising or marketing. Public relations is also not used as a strategic business tool and professionals do not practice strategic public relations in the city–state because of lack of proper training, among other things. Thus, although Singapore has emerged as an "Asian Tiger" the public relations profession has not developed as much as one would have expected.     

Influential Authors and Works of the Public Relations Scholarly Literature: A Network of Recent Research

A bibliometric study of the public relations scholarly literature revealed the most cited authors and most cited published works for 1990-1995. Unlike other disciplines, public relations is typified by a concentration of scholars, institutions, and topics. J. E. Grunig is by far the most cited scholar, J. E. Grunig and Hunt (1984) is the most cited work, and public relations roles is the most co-cited category of works. Findings indicate that public relations is a young, but growing, social science discipline that might benefit from a certain amount of paradigmatic or topical diversity in the future.     

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.     

Testing an environmental framework for understanding public relations practitioners’ orientation toward relationship management

This study offers an alternative conceptual framework for an integrated understanding of public relations practice globally. It investigates the relationships between political, economic, and media constructs and relationship management in public relations by building upon an environmental framework for understanding public relations. Based on a survey of public relations practitioners in Singapore, this study positions relationship management as a conceptual locus for public relations theory and practice. Four environmental variables—perceptions of the degree of democracy in the political system, level of economic development, level of economic freedom, and level of media freedom—are found to be associated with public relations practitioners’ orientation toward relationship management, based on Hon and Grunig’s relationship management scale.     

Toward excellence in public relations: identifying practices and barriers in Kuwaiti corporate,governmental and non-profit organizations

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to examine the applicability of the Excellence principles in Kuwait, generating insights into factors that affect the practice of strategic public relations management across corporate, governmental and nonprofit organizations. The findings, based on 21 semi-structured in-depth interviews with Kuwaiti public relations practitioners, revealed that the public relations profession demonstrates low levels of adherence to the generic principles of excellence. Public relations practitioners are less involved in strategic management and less empowered in the dominant coalition. Practitioners have provided various barriers including higher management’s lack of understanding of public relations, and lack of qualified practitioners, which have created disparities in understanding symmetrical communication. The sector of the organizations and the employment system in the country have also contributed to the situation.     

Institutionalizing government public relations in Romania after 1989

Public relations are a new profession in Romania, an Eastern European former communist country which changed to a democratic regime in December 1989. It is generally considered to have emerged after 1990, although publicity and political propaganda preceded it (Rogojinaru in Sriramesh and Ver?i?, 2009, p. 553). Although the Romanian practice of public relations evolved and developed quickly aligning with the international practice, several campaigns and programs receiving awards during the last editions of IPRA Golden World Awards, SABRE Awards, Cannes Lions Awards or European Excellence Awards, there is still very little focus on research and theory. Thus, there is no major study on the history of public relations in Romania prior to 1989 to either confirm or challenge the conclusion of Grunig, Grunig and Ver?i? (2004) that there was no public relations in Eastern Europe before 1989 because the concept was not acceptable for socialism (p. 137). Even after 1989 while there is a growing body of literature on public relations in general published in Romanian, few studies addressed Romanian public relations which are more frequently described in practice than researched from the viewpoint of public relations theory. This exploratory research aims at identifying the characteristics of government public relations in Romania in 2011, the main stages in institutionalizing government public relations after 1989 and correlates them with the general evolution of public relations in Romania between 1989 and 2011.     

Public Relations Research at the Crossroads

This article briefly sets out where we are in terms of research and then discusses where I think we should go in the future. The emphasis in this article is on what I see as the dominant theoretical paradigm in the field—2-way symmetrical communication. Although relationship building is also a prominent feature of the literature (L. A. Grunig, Toth, & Hon, 2000), it is 2-way symmetry that dominates. Today's public relations practice is fluid and complex. Thus, we need to bring into our literature new theories from other disciplines to enhance our conceptual understanding of the field and explore more fully the implications of postmodern theories for the practice of public relations. The management literature has embraced postmodernism, leading to an evolution in thinking about strategy with which we have failed to keep up (McKie, 2001; Moss, Warnaby, & Newman, 2000). If we are to be a management function, we need to bring that literature into ours and update what we do and how we do it.     

Global Public Relations: A Cross-Cultural Study of the Excellence Theory in South Korea

This study applies the global theory of generic principles and specific applications, based on the excellence study, to South Korea. Data were collected using the International Association of Business Communicators's excellence questionnaire and Hofstede's cultural values questionnaire. Results show that the excellence theory could be used to explain South Korean public relations practice. In addition, findings on influence of societal culture show that excellent public relations practice in South Korea may be enhanced by collectivism and dynamic elements of Confucianism.     

Remembering the Public in Public Relations Research: From Theoretical to Operational Symmetry

In an attempt to reconcile public relations research with a range of critical concerns, J. Grunig and colleagues have proposed a two-way symmetrical model that reformulates public relations as a more inclusive, balanced, and ethical practice. A contradiction exists, however, between two-way symmetrical theory and the asymmetrical research agenda it perpetuates: an agenda that continues to subsidize commercial and state communications at the expense of other segments of the population. To achieve real inclusion and balance in public relations, research must begin to address the public communications needs and constraints of previously excluded segments of the population     

Public relations and health diplomacy

Authors have noted the convergence of public relations and public diplomacy, yet public relations scholars have ignored an important aspect of public diplomacy–health diplomacy. Health diplomacy involves activities that improve global health while strengthening relationships between the United States and peoples abroad. This article encourages greater public relations involvement in health diplomacy.     

Relationship Cultivation in Public Diplomacy: A Qualitative Study of Relational Antecedents and Cultivation Strategies

Political public relations and public diplomacy both focus on managing communication to build and maintain relationships for a political purpose. Public diplomacy focuses on foreign publics and involves governments and organizations seeking to build relationships internationally. This study explored relationship cultivation, i.e., the process of initiating, nurturing positive, and recovering from negative relationships between various public diplomacy actors. Data included 32 in-depth interviews with communication officers in the United States. Results confirmed some of the previously developed relationship cultivation dimensions and suggested new ones. The study offers a nuanced discussion of relationship cultivation factors and an explanation of how they apply to public diplomacy engagement.     

Beyond excellence: Extending the generic approach to international public relations: The case of Bosnia

This article extends the generic approach to international public relations research. The current generic approach, based on the Excellence theory of public relations, suggests a normative framework to study and evaluate international public relations practices. This generic approach has great potential for focusing international research and clarifying infrastructure, geopolitical, legal, cultural, media, and other important variables. Unfortunately, this generic approach has been mainly used to confirm the Excellence model of public relations. Thus, it falls short of providing scholars and practitioners the tools they need to conduct and study global public relations. This paper seeks to clarify international public relations research by explicating rhetorical generic theory (RGT).     

Milestones in Turkish public relations history

This study aims to mention the most important events, cases and names that have had an impact on the public relations profession in Turkey within historically-divided developmental periods between 1920 and 2012. While forming the historical periods into sub-phases, socio-political and economical contexts are considered. Three separate periods are named: antecedents, emergence and developmental. Concerning these periods, the applicability of Grunig and Hunt's (1984) four models of PR is discussed within a Turkish context, and it is concluded that the typology does not totally fit into Turkish PR history.     

Public Relations Expertise and Organizational Effectiveness: A Study of U.S. Hospitals

A national survey of 191 heads of public relations departments in hospitals measured the departments' expertise or knowledge to practice excellent public relations, as defined by recent research. Utilizing 2 scales original to the study, correlations showed strong and significant relationships between organizational effectiveness and departments with high potential to practice the 2-way symmetrical model, enact the manager role, and participate in strategic planning. Analysis further showed that traditional communication craft, as characterized by 1-way models and the technician role, is a foundation for public relations excellence. Findings can be used to help resolve the current crisis faced by hospitals.     

The Estimation of the South Korean Government's Diplomacy for Its Opposing Public North Korea

Based on the influence of the contingency factors of inner organizational and external situational factors, contingency theory of accommodation provides a good explanation for the real public relations practices. A recent series of experimental studies supports the idea that the theory is also applicable in the public's estimation pattern regarding an organization's public relations practices. This survey study is theoretically important when examining and sorting out significant factors in the real population of a notable public diplomacy domain. That is, this research examines how the South Korean people perceive the contingency factors and how people estimate the South Korean government's stance toward its opposing public, North Korea. The regression model of perceived contingency factors and stance estimation was generalizable in the population of this study (R ² = .279). The most influential perceptual predictors in the model include: the North Korean leader's preference for the South Korean president, the relative power of South Korea, the level of commitment of North Korea, the South Korean president's preference for the North Korean leader, the US government's support for the South Korean policy toward North Korea, the South Korean government's certainty to deal with the North Korean military threat, situational difficulties, the South Korean government's knowledge and skill to deal with the threat, the situational duration of threat, and the South Korean president's relation-oriented leadership. Finally, this study discussed practical implications for the government practitioners.     

Public relations in Ghana: Work-related cultural values and public relations models

This study explores cultural influences on public relations practices in Ghana. This survey research brief reports data collected from Ghanaian public relations practitioners (n = 64) and describes work-related cultural values as well as the practices of public relations models in Ghana. The result reveals that Ghanaian public professionals tend to utilize international public relations and two-way communication models. The study extends knowledge of international public relations in African cultures.     

Getting past the impasse: Framing as a tool for public relations

J. Grunig, L. Grunig, and Dozier (1995) have proposed a two-dimensional model of public relations that combines the two-way symmetrical and asymmetrical models. They also have named strategies important for both public and organizational influence and called for research dealing with others. This article proposes frame analysis as such a strategy. To demonstrate the technique’s potential, the author employs framing to show how sex education can be promoted more effectively within public schools.Myra Gregory Knight is a doctoral candidate in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.     

A Social Networks Approach to Public Relations on Twitter: Social Mediators and Mediated Public Relations

This study proposes theoretical and practical frameworks to systematically examine mediated public relations in social media spaces. We applied a social network conceptual framework to identify and characterize social mediators that connect the US State Department with its international public. The results showed that social mediators vary in terms of their formality and interdependence. Formal social mediators were primarily US government agencies while informal social mediators were nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals. Notably, relationships with populations in the Middle East and North Africa were mediated primarily by informal actors, and formal mediators played a key role in connecting the public with everywhere else in the world. Government-related formal mediators and informal social mediators showed similar levels of bilateral relationships. In contrast, news media, the most traditional public relations mediators, were rarely found as social mediators and demonstrated the most unilateral relationships.