Professionalism in Indian public relations and corporate communications: An empirical analysis

Public relations is evolving in India and the profession is gaining acceptance and recognition. This study is an attempt to measure the extent of professionalism in India and how much consensus, if any, exists regarding professional standards among practitioners in agencies and those in corporations. It also identifies the influence of demographic factors on the standards in the profession.     

Personal public relations: identity as a public relations commodity

Public relations for individuals is steadily emerging as a significant area of practice, yet little research and theoretical development is currently undertaken in this area. Within this article public relations for individuals, referred to in this study as personal public relations, is examined. The research identified two approaches deployed by public relations practitioners: a formative mode and an advisory mode. The formative mode is an active constitution of a public identity, whereas the advisory mode is a communication counseling approach. The paper argues that the formative role is more closely aligned to the marketing techniques of promotion and selling, whereas the advisory role fits more closely with the public relations roles of communication counseling and relationship building. Potential guidelines for ethical personal public relations work emerged from the discussion.Dr Judy Motion is a senior lecturer in the Department of Management Communication at the University of Waikato in New Zealand.     

Building theory in public relations: Interorganizational relationships as a public relations paradigm

ABSTRACT

This article suggests that agreement on a paradigm focus for public relations scholarship would greatly enhance the probability of productive theory development. The author argues, influenced by Thomas Kuhn, that until those who call themselves public relations scholars come to agreement on the focus of public relations research and theory development, there may be much activity we call research in public relations, but there will not be much theory development.     

Opportunities for public relations research in public health

While communication researchers have developed a solid body of knowledge in the health field, we know little about the activities of public relations practitioners in public health bodies. This is unfortunate, because public health bodies at the federal, state, and local level have faced considerable criticism for what amounts to poor public relations. Public relations scholarship and practice have much to offer the field of public health in helping public health bodies meet their challenges. In order for public relations scholars to assist public health bodies, however, scholars first must fill a void in the research by investigating the public relations functions of public health bodies. The author suggests six avenues of public relations research in the field of public health.     

How public relations works: Theoretical roots and public relations perspectives

Public relations is often studied from a managerial, instrumental perspective or a psychological, behavioral perspective. To understand the role of public relations in building trust or mistrust and to develop – or destroy – a license to operate, it needs also to be studied as a social phenomenon.     

Rethinking power in public relations

In the United Kingdom, popular sceptism about the merits of public relations has prompted self-reflection among practitioners and industry bodies. At the root of the public debate is the assumption that public relations wields unjustified social influence on behalf of already privileged organizational interests. The core concern of this discussion, therefore, is the power that a public relations has in democratic societies.     

Terrorism and public relations

This paper asks what we can learn from the parallels between terrorism and PR, either for the understanding of terrorism or—of more direct concern here—for the understanding of PR and its place in contemporary society. The already poor public image of PR may suffer from insufficient clarity about these parallels. It is suggested that while analogising between the two is of value, the differences between terrorism and PR also need to be stressed. Public communications need to be differentiated in two ways, firstly in terms of the distinction between spectacular and participatory types of public sphere, and secondly in terms of the distinction between values-based and power-based modes of address. Combining these concepts generates a simple 2×2 matrix for c1assifying public communications. This can help both to identify terrorism and PR as different forms of public communication, and also to identify the practical PR challenges facing governments and civic society in the struggle against terrorism.     

Reconsidering public relations models

This essay examines some of the methodological and conceptual problems involved in measuring public relations models. The analysis suggests that there are several contradictions between the relationship management metaphor underlying this work and how public relations models are conceptualized and measured.Drawing on examples from the historical evolution of leadership studies, the authors argue that “public relations models” need to be measured at the relational level, rather than being aggregated across publics and relational stages. They also argue that an adequate normative theory of organizational practice will have a developmental component built into it.