Public Relations Work Research Articles

Excellent companies and coalition-building among the fortune 500: A value-and relationship-based theory

Mainstream theoretical work and research in public relations is based in definitions emphasizing power and influence. It typifies the effort to join the “inner circle” of managers in the rational business management model. Yet, a revolution in business management that emphasizes people, values, integrity, and communication is changing the way so-called excellent companies do business. It should also change our approach to public relations. Research in coalition-building demonstrates that coalition companies possess the characteristics of excellent companies. Perhaps this community relations function will lead us from the rational model to truly ethical public relations based on relationship-building. Dr. Wilson joined the faculty at Brigham Young University in 1989. She is an associate professor of communication. Her research interests are in public relations issue management and corporate coalition-building to address social and community problems.

The paradigm struggle and public relations practice

One of the most perplexing problems facing public relations today is the lack of a common professional framework for evaluating public relations work. Drawing on Kuhn's (1969) classic work on scientific revolutions, this article outlines seven alternative paradigms of public relations. Each focuses on a different focal question for assessing public relations efforts. The author calls for an expanded debate on paradigmatic issues, arguing that the question has important implications for the field and for public relations education.

A method to the madness: The selection of student public relations groups

At one time or another virtually all public relations courses utilize the group project to facilitate “real world” learning for students. With such prominence in course work, it is necessary to, (1) examine how groups are designed and (2) to provide alternative and creative methods for this vital function. This paper provides such an alternative and points the way to increased awareness of the methods used to produce student groups for work in public relations.

The increasing importance of public relations in fast moving consumer goods firms

An interesting phenomenon in recent years is the apparent growth in spending and activity on public relations work in fast moving consumer goods firms. This paper attempts to show that in the first instance there has been a shift away from more traditional forms of marketing communications towards public relations. Secondly, it tries to account for this shift in emphasis. The comparative cost‐effectiveness of public relations is highlighted, as is its changing role. The interface and overlap with the more traditional corporate public relations is discussed.

Accountability gap: Evaluation practices show improvement

The need to document resulis and prove that public relations is working has raised interest in recent years in the evaluation stage of the public relations process. Since 1982, for example, evaluation data must be included in all entries in the Silver Anvil competition, the “Academy Awards” of public relations. On the assumption that Silver Anvil winners represent some of the nation's best public relations work, this paper reports a critical analysis of the evaluation methods used by the 58 Silver Anvil winners for 1984 and 1985. An empirical typology of 12 evaluation methods is developed, and the usage of various methods measured. The methods and their use are critiqued according to criteria for causality established by Lazarsfeld. A great deal of evaluation activity may be found among the Silver Anvil winners. Winners typically employ packages of three or four different evaluation methods, including a mix of measures of communication output, communication effect, and organizational goal achievement. But the specifity of data varies widely, including substantial amounts of purely anecdotal or impressionistic information. Many of the measurements employed are concerned with the public relations instead of bottom-line results. Moreover, only 43 of the 58 cases either show or claim organizational goal achievement, and of these, only 13 can be said to even partially meet Lazarsfeld's criteria. It is concluded that the level of quality of evaluation activaty in public relations practice is far lower than the level of quantity. Considerable improvement is needed if public relations is to claim that it can both get results and prove it.

Sex roles and job satisfaction in public relations

The present professional public relations work force is composed of people from a variety of professional and academic backgrounds. Few practitioners begin their careers with a public relations position and only a handful major in public relations at either the undergraduate or graduate level. The present study, which considers a random sample of professional public relations practitioners from a six-state area in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, looks at the job progression and academic preparation separately for males and females. This study additionally looks at the overall level of satisfaction with public relations work and at six specific characteristics of public relations work for males and females. While public relations work was uniformly rated very highly by this sample, sex differences are observed for ratings of satisfaction in the level of creativity required by the job and in salary—both are rated less satisfactory by females. Additional analyses suggest that despite age and education level, female public relations professionals are paid significantly lower salaries than men.

Public affairs execs: Orators or communicators?

In response to a steady increase in societal pressures on corporate institutional policies, there has been a substantial rise in the number of corporate officials with public affairs responsibilities. This empirical study of 10 such types of officers in the forest products industry suggests some major differences in the ways these officials learn about the public affairs environment. In this article, Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld gives the reader insights into the importance of the listening and fact-finding phases of public relations work.

Selling places: Environmental images for the executive

Burgess J. A. (1982) Selling places: Environmental images for the executive, Reg. Studies 16, 1–17. Images of place are a significant factor in the investment and locational decisions made by industrial and commercial executives. Local authority advertising attempts to reinforce favourable images and challenge stereotyped, unfavourable impressions about places. This paper assesses the content of promotional material published by local authorities between 1975–9. Image making could be improved through more creative and original copywriting, better market research and increased emphasis on public relations work.

Brochure on the ICRC

The ICRC has recently issued the second edition (June 1980) of its illustrated brochure entitled “Presenting the ICRC”. It is intended for the general public and gives in its twenty pages an overall picture of the ICRC and its activities. The brochure, which is available in six languages—Arabic, English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish—has been sent to National Societies, to be used by them in connection with their information and public relations work. Further copies may be obtained on request.

Inner-city teaching: A success story

"Switzer school was number one in everything bad in this city. We had the highest number of fires, assaults, thefts . . you name it. We were number one. Welt, we're not number one anymore. And I guess what I 'm trying to say is that with the right kind of teachers you can do a lot for kids." Bailey Gardner switches position in his chair and talks a little louder. Classes have just broken and the noise from the hallway threatens his story telling. But Gardner won't be interrupted. He spent most of his professional life in public relations work and he enjoys telling this kind of storya success story. Switzer Elementary School serves an area of Kansas City, Missouri, sandwiched between the city's skyscrapers and its stockyards. It 's an area of poverty. "We ' re working with the poorest of the poor," continues Gardner. As a result, the school has qualified for considerable Federal assistance. " I don't think there is anything new in education that we have not had here," claims Gardner. "But without a good teacher, all these mechanical things really are not worth a damn." Fortunately, the children in Switzer school have many good teachers. And that's Gardner's success story--the success of his teachers. " I t takes a special kind of teacher to work in the inner city," maintains Gardner. " A good teacher has to get involved with the community. He has to believe in what he's doing." Gardner continues: "You have to be willing to put your arm around these people and really like them. You can't just pretend that you like them. That's going to get you into trouble, tf they ever find out that you are not sincere in what you are doing with them, they would just as soon cut your throat as look at you." Gardner has involved teachers on his staff. And most of them are CUTE teachers. CUTE is academic jargon for Cooperative Urban Teacher Education. "My CUTE teachers never hesitate to become involved with the community. They go into the children's homes. They relate to kids and by that I mean they are not negative. As far as I 'm concerned, the only real salvation for inner-city schools are teacher-training programs like CUTE." Across town, in a large, nearly all-black senior high school, Principal Arnold Davenport agrees. "We 've been very high on the CUTE program. It provides us with excellent teachers. They adjust well to our school and they relate well to our students. And these kinds of things are real important if a teacher is going to succeed in a classroom in our kind of school." This praise for the CUTE program doesn't surprise its developer, Grant Clothier. Clothier, who once played basketball for UCLA, might suggest that his program's honors are comparable to making everyone's all-America team. The program has been cited by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, the U.S. Commissioner of Education, Federally funded research and development programs, and by hundreds of practicing teachers and administrators. The CUTE program operates on a simple premise: it takes special skills to teach in inner-city schools. But most prospective teachers, white and middleclass, receive their teacher training from similar individuals. Their textbooks reflect the prevailing middle-class system. And while this exposure and training serve the individual well when entering a suburban, white, middleclass school, they do nothing for the inner-city school teacher. " I heard a speech sometime in 1964 that really got me to thinking about the problem of training teachers for the inner city. The speaker said that there's something wrong with the teaching profession because people go into a four-year teaching program with the goal of getting an easy position in a suburban school. These children learn, if not in spite of the teacher, at least without much help from them. But the profession is neglecting the inner city where large masses of children need help." In the summer of 1964 Clothier put his concerns into action. A newspaper story by the superintendent of schools in Kansas City accused area colleges of neglecting realistic teacher training for urban schools. One college responded to the challenge. It began an Inner City Teacher Education project with Clothier as its head. The college-based program was simple in concept. Originally, 13 students were selected to earn extra credit by attending special seminars and by taking field trips into Kansas City to study urban life. And Clothier's project succeeded. Students were leaving the college to

Voluntary Enlistment in the First World War and the Work of the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee

Previous articleNext article No AccessVoluntary Enlistment in the First World War and the Work of the Parliamentary Recruiting CommitteeRoy DouglasRoy Douglas Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Modern History Volume 42, Number 4Dec., 1970 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/244039 Views: 24Total views on this site Citations: 12Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1970 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Brendan Maartens Your Country Needs You? Advertising, Public Relations and the Promotion of Military Service in Peacetime Britain, Media, War & Conflict 13, no.22 (Feb 2019): 213–233.https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635219828774Stephen P. Walker Accountants and the pursuit of the national interest: A study of role conflict during the First World War, Critical Perspectives on Accounting 47 (Sep 2017): 8–25.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2017.01.001Brendan Maartens The Great War, military recruitment and the public relations work of the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee, 1914–1915, Public Relations Inquiry 5, no.22 (Jun 2016): 169–185.https://doi.org/10.1177/2046147X16644004Marjorie Levine-Clark “Married men had greater responsibilities”: The First World War, the Service Imperative, and the Sacrifice of Single Men, (Jan 2015): 109–137.https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137393227_5Emily Robertson Norman Lindsay and the ‘Asianisation’ of the German Soldier in Australia during the First World War, The Round Table 103, no.22 (Apr 2014): 211–231.https://doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2014.898505Catriona Pennell ‘Why We Are At War’: Justifying War in Britain, 1914, (Jan 2012): 95–108.https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230393295_5ANNE LLOYD Between Integration and Separation: Jews and Military Service in World War I Britain, Jewish Culture and History 12, no.1-21-2 (Aug 2010): 41–60.https://doi.org/10.1080/1462169X.2010.10512143BONNIE J. WHITE VOLUNTEERISM AND EARLY RECRUITMENT EFFORTS IN DEVONSHIRE, AUGUST 1914–DECEMBER 1915, The Historical Journal 52, no.33 (Aug 2009): 641–666.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X09990069N. J. Crowson The conservative party and the call for national service, 1937–39: Compulsion versus voluntarism, Contemporary Record 9, no.33 (Dec 1995): 507–528.https://doi.org/10.1080/13619469508581352R. J. Q. Adams Asquith's Choice: The May Coalition and the Coming of Conscription, 1915–1916, Journal of British Studies 25, no.33 (Jan 2014): 243–263.https://doi.org/10.1086/385864Christopher Howard MacDonald, Henderson, and the Outbreak of War, 1914, The Historical Journal 20, no.44 (Feb 2009): 871–891.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X00011444J. O. Springhall The Boy Scouts, Class and Militarism in Relation to British Youth Movements 1908–1930, International Review of Social History 16, no.22 (Dec 2008): 125–158.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020859000004065

RADIOLUCENT MATERIALS IN DENTAL APPLIANCES

To the Editor.—In answer to the letter from A. J. Drinnan I should like to submit the following comment. Foreign bodies of dental origin are probably number one in foreign body incidence at the present time. The American Bronchoesophagological Association became keenly aware of the problem over five years ago and formed a committee headed by Dr. Paul Bunker, Aberdeen, SD, which did a great deal of investigative, preventive, and public relations work in this regard. Much data was accumulated by this committee whose present chairman is Dr. Gabriel Tucker, Jr., Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia. The writer is referred to these two bronchoesophagologists who have performed exhaustive studies in this regard.

Why Not Let Public Relations Work for You?

Why Not Let Public Relations Work for You?

The United Nations and Its Public

No governmental functions are traditionally more suspect than those relating to public information. National legislators always demur at the public relations work of civil servants. They inevitably assume (at times, with good reason) that appropriating funds to inform people about the performance of government agencies only helps to preserve the bureaucracy and to create and nurture a public which ultimately will bring pressure to bear upon the legislature itself.

The Local Organization of the British Labour Party

INCE ITS DEFEAT in last year's general election, the Labour party has been going through a period of self-criticism, comparable in many ways with that which went on in the Conservative party after 1945. The party leaders have suddenly wakened to the fact that their party has been steadily declining for years, that its organization has very nearly broken down, and that its ideas are outmoded. The reason for this awakening is clear enough: the substantial Labour majority of total votes which was so consoling to the vanquished in 1951 has been wiped out and replaced by a Conservative majority of some 900,000 votes. Labour, as the phrase goes, is against it, and is realizing that Mr. Micawber, with his belief that something will turn up of its own accord, must cease to be the prophet of the party. The result of Labour's self-examination may well be that 1955 will become, like 1945, a major turning-point in the party's history. Nineteen forty-five was a triumph for parliamentarianism. It established the dominance of the parliamentary Labour party over the party as a whole. Slowly and almost imperceptibly the party conference, the National Executive Committee, and the Trades Union Congress gave their pretensions to dictate the policy of the party. The old forms remained, the old shibboleths were still mouthed, but the change was made. Now there is a new phase. The shibboleths themselves are being challenged, not because they are wrong, but because they no longer seem relevant. A union leader wrote recently in a message to his union: For my part, I am convinced that much of the propaganda and public relations work of the trade unions, as well as the Labour party, misses its mark because it appears almost irrelevant to the millions of young people who knew not the terrors of the inter-war years. There is too much woe-woeing about the past, and there are too many attempts to undo the facts of life in the fifties with the propaganda incantations of earlier times.'

KEY TO THE RAINBOW

IN the parlance of reporters and editors, a is essential in writing a story. The news hook is also important in certain aspects of publicity and public relations work. The centennial celebration of William Henry Perkin's discovery of the first synthetic dye—mauve—provides the chemical profession and industry with a special opportunity to tell the public in a broad way what chemists, chemical engineers, and the chemical process industries have done in 100 years to improve the lot of mankind. Perkin's discovery of mauve is one of the greatest human interest stories in the already drama-packed history of chemistry. Its telling can do much to make the public more aware of how chemists work, their trials and tribulations, and, of course, die accomplishments of the profession. It could do much to dispel many erroneous ideas held by many people regarding the profession and the chemical industry. The centennial year will be climaxed by a ...

A Statistical Analysis of Water Works Data for 1945

an analysis, a study was undertaken to determine the usual values, trend, spread and possible interrelation of these data. It is hoped that the results of this analysis will be of benefit to water works men in a number of ways. Every superintendent and operator likes to know how his system compares with the usual national values, and with cities having characteristics similar to his own. The possible value of this type of information in public relations work is suggested. To engineers engaged in some of the many phases of the water industry, the statistical data should also be of interest. The original information was obtained through a questionnaire sent by the Association to 975 water properties, of whom 462 replied. These returns did not always provide all of the information requested; furthermore, the number of values in some classifications

The part which can be played by publicity and public relations work in making a healthier and fitter Britain

The part which can be played by publicity and public relations work in making a healthier and fitter Britain