Public Affairs

Abstract

Public affairs is both a generic term for the trends and conditions that define and result from socio‐economic–socio‐political trends, and the corporate management function that works to position each organization comfortably and cooperatively in its non‐marketplace context. Focusing on the latter meaning, Madden (2005, 665) defined public affairs as “the management function responsible for interpreting an organization's external environment, or in the case of a corporation, its noncommercial environment, and managing an effective and appropriate response to that environment.” Its primary connection with society centers on governmental relations, the factors in the public policy (non‐marketplace) arena that can lead government to influence (support or oppose) management decisions and organizational operations and policies (→ Organizational Communication; Corporate Communication; Corporate Reputation; Organizational Image).