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.     

A toolbox for public relations: The oeuvre of Michel Foucault

In this article, we provide a brief introduction to the work of Michel Foucault. Our focus is on the major themes of Foucault's work: discourse, power/knowledge and subjectivity. We demonstrate the rich contribution that Foucauldian theory can make to public relations practice and scholarship by moving beyond a focus on excellence towards an understanding of public relations as a discourse practice with power effects.     

Toward Public Relations Theory-Based Study of Public Diplomacy: Testing the Applicability of the Excellence Study

This study tested the applicability of the Excellence Study (L. A. Grunig, J. E. Grunig, & Dozier, 2002) to developing the study of public diplomacy to respond to Signitzer and Coombs's (1992) call for empirical research to "delineate and test" (p. 145) transferable public relations theories and to rigorously examine conceptual convergence between both spheres. This study delineated underdeveloped conceptions of public diplomacy practices and excellence in public diplomacy as a gap preventing theory building for both practices and excellence. It proposed the conceptual frameworks for public relations behavior and excellence in public relations in the Excellence Study to be applicable to developing the underdeveloped conceptions. In testing the applicability, this study examined the fits of 2 measurement models of public relations behavior and excellence in public relations developed from the conceptual frameworks of the Excellence Study. It tested the models with survey data on public diplomacy practices and management collected from 113 embassies in Washington, D.C. The findings showed that the conceptual and measurement frameworks of the Excellence Study are applicable: The 2 measurement models fit the public diplomacy data.     

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.     

Social Harmony Paradigms and Natural Selection: Darwin,Kropotkin, and the Metatheory of Mutual Aid

This article proposes the mutual aid theory of Charles Darwin and Peter Kropotkin as an engendering metatheory for social harmony paradigms within public relations, including communitarianism, excellence theory, and fully functioning society theory. It extends current research in public relations beyond Darwin's Origin of Species to include that author's later Descent of Man as well as the neglected works of Russian evolutionary biologist Peter Kropotkin. Drawing upon the research of those authors, the article presents evidence that the evolutionary processes of natural selection created the social instinct that provides both positive and normative status for the social harmony paradigms within public relations.     

Contingent factors: Modeling generic public relations practice in South Korea

This study identified which contingent variables public relations practitioners perceive as influential to their practice in South Korea. They responded that a number of contingent variables influence public relations activities and emphasized the influence of individual and organizational level variables on their practice. Practitioners at the management level perceived organizational level variables as influential while the staff level indicated PR department variables as dominant to their practice. Public relations practitioners whose main function is government relations tended to acknowledge a greater influence of organizational level variables. Most notably, public relations practitioners cited the constraints of negative information release and conflict situations.     

Communicating on Behalf of Global Civil Society: Management and Coordination of Public Relations in International Nongovernmental Organizations

In the last few decades, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have become influential actors in creating awareness of international social, political, environmental and economic causes in global society. However, NGOs have not received much attention in research on international public relations. This study contributes to filling that gap by analyzing how NGOs manage public relations according to the generic principles of excellence in global public relations and how they coordinate strategic communication between headquarters and local units. An online survey of 440 practitioners revealed 2 excellence clusters and 4 clusters of organizations with differing degrees of centralization. Excellent NGOs were found to assign more resources to public relations and more frequently considered cultural context in their communication programs. Thus, the study gives significant insights into international public relations practice in the global civil society sector and reveals further need for modifying and extending public relations theory in that respect.     

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.     

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.     

Investor Relations: Two-Way Symmetrical Practice

Although public relations claims investor relations as one of its specializations, scholars have paid little attention to it and practitioners historically have been divided between finance and public relations. A national survey of 145 members of the National Investor Relations Institute and the Public Relations Society of America's Financial Communications Section tested models and dimensions of practice to build theory. Results show that such investor relations officers predominantly practice the two-way symmetrical model and their work is characterized by the dimensions of symmetrical effects and—to some degree—two-way communication. Practitioners do not differ by their orientation to either finance or corporate communication/public relations. This study is the first to find the predominant practice of the normative model across its sample, thereby refuting long-standing criticism that the symmetrical model is a utopian ideal. The two-way symmetrical model does exist in the real world, and it can be found in the bastion of capitalism—publicly owned corporations in the United States.     

Overcoming Ethnocentrism: The Role of Identity in Contingent Practice of International Public Relations

Based on literature from the contingency theory of public relations and psychocultural conflict theory, this study explored how multinational corporations (MNCs) are practicing public relations in Korea, and what contingency factors impact MNCs' stances in conflict situations. Interviews of leaders in public relations agencies whose major clients are MNCs found that "fear factor" plays a critical role in MNCs taking more accommodative stances in conflict situations. MNCs tend to move toward accommodative stances based on their fear of Korean media and local culture, regardless of the presence of 2-way symmetrical communications with publics. More specifically, accommodation seemed to be enacted through 1-way communication (i.e., local publics' claims) and MNCs' fear of media, local culture, or publics. This finding implies the following: First, 1-way communication may not always result in advocacy as is claimed in Western cultures, but may actually lead to accommodation. Second, indigenous local cultural dimensions should be explored in examining international public relations practices.     

Country Reputation in Multidimensions: Predictors,Effects, and Communication Channels

A country's reputation is a subject of increasing interest for the practice and research of public relations and public diplomacy. South Korea's reputation as viewed by Americans, the country's most strategic foreign public, is the topic of this study. It aims to (a) demonstrate a reliable, valid measurement model of country reputation in multidimensions for the research context; (b) examine effects of individual experience with and awareness of the country on country reputation; (c) assess the effects of country reputation on foreign publics' supportive intentions toward the country; and (d) explore strategic communication channels that can be effectively used for country reputation management. Key findings of this study include a valid, reliable measurement instrument of country reputation, strongly mediating effects of public awareness between individual experience and country reputation, and the encouraging effect of country reputation on nation branding.     

Communicating for the good of the state: A post-symmetrical polemic on persuasion in ethical public relations

As inarguably one of the most influential theories in public relations scholarship, the symmetrical theory devalues the most common public relations objective, persuasion. This article deconstructs Grunig's work and re-constructs classic rhetoric to provide a post-symmetrical direction for public relations scholarship devoted to influencing behavior. By viewing the practice of persuasion from the perspectives of Aristotle, Plato, Isocrates, Burke, Nietzsche and others, this paper provides ethical and procedural guidelines on how today's public relations scholars can refocus the public relations agenda to focus more on real-world issues.     

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.     

Korea/Japan or Japan/Korea? The Saga of Co‐hosting the 2002 Soccer World Cup

Since Japan's defeat and enforced withdrawal from Korea in 1945, continuing acrimony from those 35 years of Japan's unwelcome domination on the Korean Peninsula has been a thorny issue affecting full normalization of relations between the two countries. The first round of post‐war talks between Japan and South Korea remained stalled for almost half a decade, and not until 1965, after 14 years of subsequent – and painfully drawn out – negotiations were diplomatic relations finally established. Today, in spite of a gradual thawing of that very icy relationship, Korean people's bitterness over Japan's militarist past and over what they regard as insufficient apologies and reparations was always going to feature as the two nations went head to head in their bid to host the 2002 World Cup. Following FIFA's decision in 1996 that Japan and South Korea would jointly stage the cup as co‐hosts – the first time in soccer World Cup history – extant animosity became increasingly problematic as South Korea, Japan and FIFA hammered out the details. In this paper I draw upon media coverage from the mid‐1990s to the present day to discuss FIFA's historic co‐hosting decision, a judgment which, in spite of the difficulties then and now, does have the potential to make a very positive impact on both countries and greater Asia. After briefly introducing the broader sports/politics conundrum, I outline the final stages of the host‐nation selection dilemma which forced FIFA into its unprecedented joint decision, locating that process within a framework of the competitive lobbying between the two political rivals and internal demands for a change of management style within FIFA itself. I will also highlight the economic, political, historical and social ramifications of a co‐hosted soccer World Cup and attempts to deal with the issues. South Korea's desire for North Korea to participate in the tournament will also be discussed as a vehicle for encouraging stability on the Korean Peninsula and for future cooperation between Japan and South Korea on their policies towards North Korea. Although the 2002 World Cup arrangements are already firmly in place, the long‐term animosity and the continuing accusations and points‐scoring between the two host‐nations suggest that we can not yet take it for granted that the co‐hosted 2002 soccer spectacular will go according to plan.     

Charm offensive: mediatized country image transformations in international relations

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on what has come to be known as a ‘charm offensive,’ a diplomatic technique countries may use to shift their international image through strategic public relations campaigns utilizing personal magnetism. The charm of the selected representative is meant to appeal to a broad international audience with the hope of improving the country's brand. The paper examines the concept and practice of a charm offensive through two case studies. The first is the Iranian charm offensive during the 2015 negotiations of the nuclear deal with the United States, when Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif aimed to improve his country's controversial international image through gentle, diplomatic communication and an aura of civility. The second case study is the charm offensive of North Korea from the 2018 Winter Olympics until the historic meeting of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald J. Trump in June 2018. Both case studies analyze the media representations of the particular charm offensive in two countries, the United States and a regionally more proximate, and therefore likely more directly affected country: Israel and South Korea, respectively. I argue that quick image-transformations often characterize contemporary, highly mediatized international diplomatic communication. Unlike classical cases of soft power, the temporary alliances forged through charm offensives are not built on shared values, but on momentary appearances, and sometimes on deception.     

More or less a foreigner: Domestic reception of multinational K-pop groups

With K-pop's tremendous growth transnationally, scholars have pointed to the industry's inclusion of singers from different national and ethnic backgrounds, highlighting them as examples of successful glocalization. But there has been little attention paid to how these “foreign” singers, now integrated into the Korean pop music industry, are received within South Korea itself. In South Korea, public attention towards these idols has intensified as a result of the global success of multinational K-pop groups like Blackpink and NCT. The public visibility of these idols complicates South Korea's image as an ethnically, linguistically, and culturally homogenous nation. This article examines the domestic reception of these idols, exploring the tensions that emerge at the intersection of Koreanness, K-pop, and multiculturalism in South Korea today. Drawing on focus group interviews with Korean K-pop fans as well as Koreans who do not actively follow the industry, the article explicates how foreign K-pop idols alternately challenge and reinforce contemporary understandings of Koreanness.     

Pursued by Excellence: Rewards and the Performance Culture in Higher Education

In the UK, government is both concerned with improving the performance of public services, including higher education, and with ensuring that the public is aware of improvements in services, to convince the public of the effectiveness of the current regime. Success is both an effect of and a dynamic in the process of evaluating performance, and increasingly ‘excellence’ is established as a performance outcome. Drawing on a critical review of relevant theory and research, primarily from the UK, Australia and the USA, and illustrated by the author's experience of winning a National Teaching Fellowship, this paper examines teaching excellence in the context of two recent schemes: the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme and the Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The performance culture in the public sector and the use of excellence as a success criterion are critically analysed. Assumptions about the transfer of excellent practice are explored. Questions about the interaction of competition and equalities issues are raised. The paper ends with arguing that if excellence schemes are to be an established feature of public sector systems, then we must develop strategies to enable them to be implemented equitably, transparently and fit for purpose.     

Revisiting fundraising encroachment of public relations in light of the theory of donor relations

No research has examined whether 0025 and 0035 reconceptualization of fundraising as a public relations specialization, partly advanced as protection against fundraising encroachment of public relations, has been accepted or implemented. This study found that the rate of fundraising encroachment has not changed substantially in 20 years, that practitioners accept Kelly's concept but prefer separate-but-equal departments for the two functions, and that Kelly's theory of donor relations should be revisited to incorporate contingency theory.     

Growth of public relations research networks: a bibliometric analysis

ABSTRACT

This research reported and expanded on a 6-year citation study of published scholarly research in public relations that occurred between 2010 and 2015. This analysis built on the work of Pasadeos and his collaborators, who examined the literature’s most-cited works from the 2000s and 1990s, respectively, and studied the field’s research network. Moreover, this study expanded the scope of coverage by adding three international journals. Overall, this study found that public relations scholarship experienced quantitative and qualitative leaps during the last decade, and the areas of excellence theory, relationship management, and crisis communication were heavily researched across the journals examined, whereas stakeholder and corporate communication are major study areas in the international journals.