Theoretical Framework and Literature Review
CHAPTER TWO
Theoretical Framework and Literature Review
- Introduction
- Public relations is an essential organisational function because it is mainly through public relations that an organisation can establish favourable relationships with its stakeholders. Public relations through the PR[NAM1] practitioners helps to build and shape a positive image for the organisation, PR helps to make the brand, communicate the organisation’s message and minimize the effect of adverse publicity[NAM2]. Public relations is responsible for managing the organisation’s relationships and reputation; it, therefore, encompasses issues management, public affairs, corporate communications stakeholder relations, and crisis communication[NAM3].
- This[NAM4] chapter seeks to provide a review of available literature on how organisations make use of their public relations department in terms of building relations with the stakeholders. It will also present the theoretical framework that will work as a lens for this study, and give definitions of the key concepts around which the study is built. This study will also review the effectiveness of public relations to the organisation’s communication and relationship building with the organisation’s stakeholders, and also identify the communication channels used to disseminate information to the different stakeholders, both the internal and the external stakeholders[NAM5].
2.1 Theoretical framework
The excellence theory informs this study. This theory is chosen to guide this study because Grunig (1992) states that this theory explains the value of public relations to organisations and society, based on social responsibility of managerial decisions and the quality of relationships with stakeholder publics. Nicky (2014) says the excellence theory is a general and foundation theory in public relations, which resulted from an integrated collection of theories that developed from the 1970s to the 1980s by James Grunig, Larissa Grunig, and David Dozier. Nicky (2014) further explains that the approach resulted from a 15-year study sponsored by the International Association of Business Communicators Research Foundation[NAM6]. The theory was tested through interviewing heads of public relations, CEOs, and employees in numerous different organisations[NAM7].
- The excellence theory incorporates several middle-range theories of public relations, which include public relations and strategic management, models of public relations, evaluation of public relations and employee communication, Leitch (1997: 7). Leitch (1997) says the excellence theory first explained how public relations is valuable to an organisation and society based on the social responsibility of the decisions made by the management and the quality of relationships with stakeholders. For an organisation to be active, Grunig (1992) says this theory states that it must behave in ways that solve problems and satisfy the goals of the stakeholder and the management[NAM8]. Grunig (1992) further says the excellence theory also highlights that organisations must communicate regularly with stakeholders to cultivate high quality and long term relationships with them.
- According to Grunig and Grunig (2006), there are four approaches from which the excellence theory evolved from. These approaches are goal attainment, systems, strategic constituencies, and competing values. Grunig and Grunig (2006) indicate that the goal attainment approach states that organisations are active when they meet their goals. This approach suggests that for an organisation to reach its goals, everyone within an organisation should have a clear understanding of the organisation’s aims, and everyone should be aware of their roles and responsibility to achieve the set goals and objectives[NAM9].
The second approach is that of systems. Grunig and Grunig (2006) postulate that the systems approach recognizes the importance of the environment for the effectiveness of an organisation indicating mutual need between an organisation and its environment. The strategic constituencies approach is the third approach. Leitch (1997) says it identifies elements of the environment whose opposition or support can threaten the organisation’s goals or help to attain them. Leitch (1997) adds that the strategic constituencies approach is based on Grunig’s situational theory of publics and multi systems theory of organizational communication. (Leitch, 1997)The situational theory suggests that people can be identified and classified according to their problem awareness and information-seeking behaviour in processes of coming up with solutions for problems[NAM10].
The latter approach is that of competing values. Leitch (1997) says that organizational literature shows that organizational effectiveness can be sorted according to the criteria of the competing values model. The competing values approach is initially developed from research conducted on the primary indicators of active organisations. Leitch (1997) says the competing values approach suggests that organisations must be adaptable and flexible, but should also be stable and controlled at the same time[NAM11].
The Excellence Theory also discusses internal and external management, which, according to Murphy (1991), argues[NAM12] that organisations have to maintain a good relationship with their stakeholders and their employees. Furthermore, Murphy (1991) says the theory examines the roles of public relations in strategic management and also observes obstacles that make it difficult for women to enter into a decisive management role. Excellence theory introduced the symmetrical communication model to increase the satisfaction of the customers with the organisation[NAM13].
Before the public relations Excellence Theory development, Grunig, Grunig, and Ehling (1992) state that very few studies could connect public relations practice with organisations’ behaviour.
Scholars described the relationship between public relations’ role and behaviour of and the organisation through mass communication theories of media effects and attitude theories from social psychology. Grunig, Grunig, and Ehling (1992) indicate that in 1966 Grunig tried to use the situational approach he developed and organizational theory to explain how an organisations’ structure, environment, history, and size affect the practice of public relations.
According to Leitch and Neilson (2001), the excellence theory states that for an organisation to behave in a socially acceptable manner, it must scan its environment to identify the public who will be affected by the potential organisational decisions. Leitch and Neilson (2001) additionally indicate that the theory further states that the organization must communicate regularly with the external public and the internal publics about both the public and the oragisations’ interests. It also says that the organisation should put both the publics’ and the organisations’ interests into consideration because good relationships are of value to the organisation and help to reduce negative publicity that can be caused by poor relations.
Laskin (2009) says that based on this theoretical statement about the value of public relations, the excellence theory derived principles of how the function should be organised to maximise this value. Laskin (2009) further says research has shown that strategic communication management involvement is an essential characteristic of excellent public relations. However, Grunig and Grunig (2008) report the studies showed that when public relations is redirected to marketing or other management functions, it loses its unique role in strategic management. Redirection to another function resulted in attention only to the stakeholder category of interest to that function. For a public relations function to be excellent, it has to be involved in organisational communication.
Excellence study showed that a balanced system of internal communication increased employees’ satisfaction with their jobs and with the organisation. The theory examined the role that the public relations practitioners play in an organisation. According to Grunig and Grunig (2008), public relations assists organisations in strategic decision making, and it proves that PR practitioners are in a vital management role in behavioural management. Public relations practitioners have the power to influence decision making in the organisation. Laskin (2009) says Excellence Theory also argued that public relations played a management role in organisations, and this received widespread acceptance in both academic and professional fields. Laskin (2009) further explained that public relations is valuable for communication; it contributes to strategic planning and overall strategies in an organisation.
The excellence theory explains that the value of public relations lies in organisation public relations. Leitch and Neilson (2001) indicate that when an organisation has a good relationship with its strategic publics, this becomes helpful to the organisation because it can, therefore, develop and achieve goals desired by both the organisation and its publics. Furthermore, Leitch and Neilson (2001) say this can help reduce costs of bad publicity and increase revenue by providing goods and services that are needed by their customers, which are part of the organisations’ stakeholders. Grunig (1992) says public relations value can be maximised by identifying strategic publics and building long term relationships with them through symmetrical communication programs.
The excellence study identified characteristics of effective public relations in four primary categories. Laskin (2009) says the first category is that of empowerment of the public relations function, which means that active organisation must empower public relations as a critical management function. The second category, Laskin (2009), says, is about communicator roles, which means public relations executives should be allowed to play managerial positions as well as administrative tasks.
Laskin (2009) says the third category is the organisation of communication function, and it states; public relations should be an integrated communication function and separate instead of being sublimated to marketing or other management functions. Lastly, Laskin (2009) indicates that the fourth category is that of public relations models and its states that active organisation should base its internal and external communication and relationship building two-way symmetrical model.
2.2 Definition of terms
Public Relations
Alhadid (2016) defines public relations as a management function that evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and the procedures of an organisation with the public interest and plans and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance. The public relations process establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organisation and its stakeholders on whom its success or failure depends, Trench and Yeomans, (2006:4). Whereas Laskin (2009) defines public relations as a strategic communication process that builds favourable and beneficial relationships between a corporate and its publics and also builds an excellent corporate image for an organisation.
Stakeholders
Clarkson (1995) explains stakeholder is any group or individual with an interest or stake in the operations of a company or organisation, or anyone who can affect and be affected by the organisation’s activities. Clarkson (1995:9) says stakeholders can either be internal or external. Internal stakeholders include groups such as employees, subsidiary companies, whereas the external stakeholders include groups such as customers, the suppliers, and the government.
Internal Communication
Okada (2016) says internal communication is the exchange of information between an organisation and its internal audiences. internalThis can include employees, shareholders, and unions. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) explain that internal communication comprises both formal and informal interface, and can also be called employee communication.
External Communication
Wright and Hinson (2009) say external communication is the exchange of information and messages between an organisation and other organisations, groups, or individuals outside its formal structure. Wright and Hinson (2009) indicate that the goals of external communication are to facilitate cooperation with groups such as suppliers, investors, and shareholders and to present a favourable image of an organisation to its publics.
2.3 Literature Review
2.3.1 The role of public relations in the organisation’s communication
It is in every organisation’s interest to maintain a positive public image. Whether an organisation is a private sector or a public sector, both types of organisations can benefit from proper management of their publics’ perceptions of the organisation. Argenti (2015) says organisations reap benefits from a positive public image, which not only helps to increase confidence in the organisation on behalf of the organisation’s public and critical stakeholders but also reinforce trust in the organisation’s capabilities towards success. Moreover, Argenti (2015) says reputation or image management is the planning and implementing of policies, procedures, and strategies that demonstrate the commitment of an organisation to the public and social responsibility, ethical behaviour, corporate identity, and reputation with key publics. This shows that proper PR can lead to effective establishment and maintenance of relations between an organisation and its stakeholders.
Dolphin (2005) affirms that the discipline of PR deals with shaping and maintaining the image and reputation of the organisation in the eyes of its various publics. Public relations is deliberate, planned, and sustained effort to an institute and maintain mutual understanding between the organisation and its publics. Dolphin (2005) says the publics are the interested audiences that are important to the organisation, and they can be internal to the organisation or be external. In essence, PR strives to build an organisational image that is appealing to the organisation’s publics because organisations need their publics to function correctly.
A positive public image is the result of carefully planned media placement, press release composition proper reputation management. Okada (2016) suggests public relations success requires a deep understanding of the interests and concerns of each of the many publics, hence the public relations professional must know how to effectively address concerns that arise and those which may affect the organisation’s functions. The role of PR is, therefore, to study the organisations’s publics to deliver according to the public’s needs and desires.
Public relations should make a significant contribution in helping to form an organisation’s ideas. Okada (2016) states public relations play a vital role in managing the organisation’s communication. Argenti (2015) says public relations helps to manage communication of an organisation, and he further explains that a fundamental technique used by public relations is to identify the target audience and to tailor a message to be relevant to each audience. Okada (2016) says the public relations role calls for developing communications objectives that are consistent with the organisation’s overall goals. Public relations professionals are two-way communicators, and they, therefore, interact directly with key publics.
Crisis management is another public relations function and is operated through communication. Crisis management is a crucial organisational function. Failure to properly manage an organization’s crisis can bring about losses for an organization, harm to stakeholders, or force an organization to close down. Crisis management is defined by Argenti (2015) as a process designed to prevent or lessen the damage a crisis can inflict on an organization and its stakeholders. Argenti (2015) further indicates that with crisis management communication, public relations establishes methods and policies to use when the operations of the organisation become involved in an emergency affecting the public.
Another role of public relations to the organisation’s communication is that of managing issues. Issues management involves identifying problems, concerns, and trends relevant to the organisation and then developing and executing a program to deal with them. Issues management is considered an essential function of PR because the issues management process is a long term problem-solving function placed at the highest level of the organisation, through which it can adapt organisational policy and engage in the public affairs process.
In an organisation’s communication, PR also helps with risk management and strategic management. Risk management functions as preventative PR, it involves making the organisation aware or areas of potential danger so that needed changes can be made before potential hazards develop into crises. In the strategic management, PR professional helps the management team in developing sound policies that are in the best interest of the public as well as the organisation. The PR professional integrates an understanding of the concerns and attitudes of critical publics into the organisation’s managerial decision making.
2.3.2 Efficiency of PR in relationship building
Kent and Taylor (2014) indicate that since the late 1990s, public relations scholars have maintained the concept of dialogue Ron Pearson in 1989. Pearson (1989) positioned dialogue as an ethical approach to public relations, and he indicated that it is morally right to establish and maintain communication relationships with all publics affected by organisational action and further suggested that it is morally wrong not to do so. Furthermore, Botan (1997) adds that practitioners should transition from one way model of communication to a more ethical two-way dialogic communication process. Additionally, Botan (1997) says traditional approaches to public relations demote the public to a secondary role, making them an instrument for meeting organisational policy. In contrast, dialogue elevates the public to the status of communication with the organisation.
Stakeholder engagement plays an essential role in the effectiveness of public relations and hence helps to build robust and long-lasting relationships between organisations and their stakeholders. Kent and Taylor (2014) emphasis that the principle of engagement is a way to clarify and facilitate dialogue in public relations. They argue that participation is a necessary part of the conversation, for, without it, there can be no real dialogue. Kent and Taylor (2014) indicate that new routes to shareholders or audiences are being pathed, and this includes new social media platforms. They further state proper utilisation of these channels can help to foster dialogue between organisations and their stakeholders, and this will support public relations to be more efficient.
Building and maintaining relationships is a unique offering by public relations and a valuable asset that PR professionals can provide. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) say the success and failure of an organisation can be determined by relationships it keeps with its key publics and stakeholders. For an organisation whose objective is to build the right corporate image, a solid PR strategy is one of the best tools for creating an excellent corporate image and for making and enhancing the reputation of an organisation.
Moreover, Kent and Taylor (2014) state PR is an essential and dynamic service for building corporate images and stakeholder relations because it helps in building a good working relationship with clients and also making the image of the brand. Kent and Taylor (2014) say PR also plays a vital role in building and maintaining relations between the public, especially if the organisation’s PR maintains consistent communication. They further indicate that it is mainly through PR that a right corporate image can be built, and the organisation can, therefore, attract and acquire new clients, retain them and maintain trust between them by rendering excellent services.
PR is a tool that can effectively weave together all brand building and communication activities for a brand or an organisation. Kent and Taylor (2014) suggest that the basis of PR includes constant communication with the target audience to influence them. PR builds credibility and a direct connection with the clients. Moreover, in any crisis scenario, PR serves as the most effective tool since it directly reaches out to the clients.
PR is an essential and dynamic service for brand building because it helps in building a good working relationship with clients and also making an image of the brand. Clarkson (1995) affirm PR also plays a vital role in building the reputation of the brand and consistently helps to maintain the brand. It is mainly through PR that can attract and acquire new clients, retain them, and maintain trust between them by rendering excellent services.
2.3.3 Importance of selecting suitable communication channels to disseminate information to stakeholders
Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) say a communication channel is the technical side of the communication process that allows the transfer of information from the sender to the receiver and from the receiver back to the sender. A channel is a means of communication that an organisation can either select to use or can decide not to use. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) indicate that a particular channel could be a preferred option in certain situations, or ignored in other circumstances. Achieving effective communication with audiences depends on selecting effective methods of communication, this will ensure that the message will reach the desired audience, and the desired outcome may, therefore, be achieved.
2.4 Concluding remarks
For public relations to effectively help organisations build beneficial and sustainable relationships with their stakeholders, several factors should be taken into consideration. PR plays a vital role in helping to improve the oraganisation’s overall communication and also plays a decisive role in building desired stakeholder relations. However, without the use of the communication channels, it would have been almost impossible to establish and maintain such relationships, most notably with the external stakeholders. So, in essence, PR helps to uplift overall communication in an organisation and helps to mitigate the impact of negative publicity through the use of the communication channels chosen by individual organisations.
[NAM2]provide the source, please
[NAM3]source is needed for this statement.
[NAM4] this should be your first paragraph. your introduction should tell the reader what the chapter is all about.
[NAM5]where is your background of the study. Check the structure provided to you and try to follow it. In your background, try to discuss what has been happening around your topic of research and what is happening now. don’t be lazy to read and write, please.
[NAM6]This part is not necessary to delete it, please.
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[NAM8]please check if this sentence makes sense.
[NAM9] SO FAR I CAN SEE THAT YOU ARE DISCUSSING THIS THEORY, BUT YOU FAIL TO LINK IT TO YOUR TOPIC.
PLEASE TRY TO SHOW HOW IS IT GOING TO INFORM YOUR STUDY.
[NAM10]Please check the above comment and apply it here.
[NAM11]How are these approaches you are discussing helpful to your study? So far, you failed to show how your theory is going to inform your research.
[NAM12]How possible is it that you can use the highlighted words concurrently in one sentence? please check you construct your sentences and proof your work before you submit it.
[NAM13]Provide a source for this information please. Stop stealing other people’s information and make it yours.