Our purpose in this volume is to introduce you to the management of public relations. We use knowledge of management, strategy, public relations theory, research, and professional practice to explain the discipline of public relations. Our text is based on current research and scholarly knowledge, as well as on years of experience in professional practice.
We value every moment that you spend with this book. Therefore, we have eliminated much of the academic jargon found in other books and used concise writing. We aimed to make the chapters short and manageable, but packed with information. We hope that our direct to-the-point approach will help your study move quickly and smoothly. We use a few original public relations case studies that we have researched and written about to illustrate the concepts we discuss. We hope that instructors will elucidate many of the concepts in this book and offer discussions of the cases—for brevity of reading, we leave that to users.
This book is divided into three sections:
- Part I: Mastering the Principles. Chapters 1 through 4 focus on the theoretical foundations of the profession, its taxonomy, the role of the chief communication officer (CCO), and the function as a part of management.
- Part II: Organizations and Processes. Chapters 5 through 9 offer a look at organization, its structure, effectiveness, and how the public relations process is managed—through relationships with publics and stakeholders, conducting research, and the process of strategically managing public relations, using the “RACE” acronym. A strong focus on research methods is found throughout this section.
- Part III: Advanced Practices in Public Relations Management. Chapters 10 through 12 provide an advanced discussion of public relations: issue management or advanced problem solving, and the sectors of public relations. We offer an analytical framework for analyzing ethical dilemmas, perhaps the most difficult situations faced in public relations. We reveal what research and practice show on how to best contribute to organizational effectiveness.
Please be aware! A catch-22 exists in this book: We would have liked to put the ethical analyses guidelines (in Chapter 11) earlier in this book—preferably page 1! However, the complex understanding of the field needed to engage in robust ethical analyses requires a great deal of prior knowledge that is presented in Chapters 1 to 10. Ethics is so important that we also developed a formula incorporating these concepts early on, so that they can be discussed until gaining the knowledge and terminology needed to conduct a deontological analysis (the most common and powerful type among public relations managers, but requiring some study). The CERT formula—Credibility, Ethics, Relationships, and Trust—should guide you until the advanced and detailed ethics discussions in both Chapters 11 and 12. Although you may skip ahead for assistance, we generally recommend reading the chapters in order to build upon the logical flow of terminology, processes, and management knowledge.
For Instructors: You will find both original research and solid theory throughout this book. We have designed it to fit a standard 15-week semester, leaving time for activities and exams, at a pace of one chapter per week. For reading brevity, we will count on you to elaborate, offer examples, ask questions, and ask students to identify the principles evident in our cases. Chapters 1 and 2 are shorter than most, so you may wish to assign those together, depending on other activities and the pace of your term. The price of our text is exceptionally competitive. Thank you for using our work.
For Students: This text is loaded with terminology but eschews jargon. We often draw your attention to terms in bold or italics and they build upon one another throughout chapters. Our book is purposefully concise and avoids repetition, so that each chapter is loaded with new information. Research shows that this knowledge can advance your career and earnings faster than among those without such study.
Here is a brief overview of what is ahead:
Chapter 1: A vivid case illustrates when public relations made a critical difference to an organization, both to customers and employees.
Chapter 2: Defining public relations; terminology of the profession and the concepts prevalent in the strategic management of relationships with publics and stakeholders.
Chapter 3: Introduces models and dimensions of public relations that provide a taxonomy for communications efforts; a brief history, and the subfunctions or specialties within the profession.
Chapter 4: Inclusion of public relations as a management function, roles and access to the CEO; decision making; core competencies for working in business, including strategy and profit.
Chapter 5: Organizational theory, culture, structure, and ethical values as applied to the communication discipline.
Chapter 6: Theory from business management applied to the communication discipline; how organizations define success.
Chapter 7: The stakeholder management approach to identifying issues, stakeholders and publics, and prioritizing them for strategic communication.
Chapter 8: Data collection and research methods; the importance of research in strategy and strategic management.
Chapter 9: The four-step process of public relations management, abbreviated as RACE: Research; Analyses and strategic action planning; Communication; Evaluation research.
Chapter 10: Issues management, the most advanced problem-solving function of the discipline; four sectors of the industry—corporate, agency, government, nonprofit.
Chapter 11: Moral and ethical guidelines for practicing principled public relations; managing organizational values; counseling on ethics; leadership; utilitarianism and the powerful analytical framework deontology.
Chapter 12: Ethics as the beginning and end of excellent public relations; what principles lead to excellent public relations; relationship management and OPR variables; ethics as the basis of long-term trusting relationships that allow an organization to flourish.
Each of the authors has been teaching with the first edition of this book for years, so we incorporated student and instructor feedback. We retained and updated the UPS, Entergy, and wild horse cases that were popular in the first edition. We strived to make this edition even more concise, hard-hitting, direct, and to the point: exactly what you need to know to know public relations—and to be excellent at it.
Thank you for your confidence in us to guide your study of the field. We will not let you down!
Sincerely,
Dr. Shannon A. Bowen
December 28, 2018
From coastal South Carolina, U.S.A.