Page 648 - Encyclopedia of Business and Finance

eobf_P 7/5/06 3:18 PM Page 625

Public Relations

negative connotation. Some commonly used propaganda Counseling Management. Experienced PR professionals
devices are: also act as advisers or counselors to organizations, which
are committed to fulfilling their organizational citizenship
• Name calling, which creates a positive or negative
and social responsibilities. Such professionals have devel-
characterization, such as “he is wise and conscien-
oped reputations for anticipating potential issues that may
tious,” “he is a liar,” or “she has character!”
affect public opinions and policies, helping organizations
• Emotional stereotyping, which evokes designed prepare for and deal with crisis communication, assisting
images, such as “housewife,” “foreigner,” or “geek” organizations in establishing and maintaining good gov-
• Bandwagon, which creates a theme of “everyone else ernment relations, and helping organizations improve
is doing it, and so should you” labor-management relations.
• Card stacking, which provides distorted information
by telling only one side of the story THE VALUE OF PR TO BUSINESS
AND SOCIETY
PR serves a purpose for a variety of organizations, includ-
PUBLIC RELATIONS RELATED
ing public and private corporations, trade unions, founda-
ACTIVITIES
tions, hospitals, industry groups, professional associations,
To carry out its fundamental functions of communicating schools, and universities, as well as government agencies.
and improving the behavior of an organization and the PR professionals provide organizations with new opportu-
perceptions of that behavior by its constituents, PR pro- nities because they interact with more internal and exter-
fessionals practice these major activities: researching the
nal audiences than anyone else in the organizations. They
market and public opinion, planning and implementing
serve as the eyes and ears of top-level executives to keep
PR campaigns, and counseling management.
them informed of what is really happening “out there,”
thereby overcoming executive isolation. PR professionals
Researching the Market and Public Opinion. The foun- also help organizations manage changes through effective
dation of good PR strategies is conducting research on the communication internally and externally, thereby reduc-
market, public opinions, and circumstances on which ing resistance and criticism from employees and other
public opinions are formed. Research enables PR profes- constituencies and increasing organizational competitive-
sionals to identify an organization’s target market and to ness.
discover what they think. Survey questionnaires and struc- In addition, PR helps this complex, pluralistic society
tured interviews are useful methods for collecting data reach decisions and consensus more effectively by con-
from the potential market and analyzing and interpreting
tributing to mutual understanding among individuals and
public opinions, attitudes, issues, and circumstances that
organizations. It serves to bring private and public policies
might affect the operations of the organization positively into harmony.
or negatively. In some cases, PR professionals can gather
information about their market and public opinion from Finally, efficient public relations campaigns protect
organizations when they are in crisis. A classic example is
secondary data, that is, data collected and published by
others, such as government agencies, industry groups, when Johnson & Johnson faced a crisis in late 1982 when
an unknown murderer laced Extra-Strength Tylenol cap-
professional organizations, research institutions, and uni-
versities. sules with cyanide, causing the deaths of seven people in
Chicago. With the counsel of Burson-Marsteller (a PR
firm), the company responded to the crisis in a very effec-
Planning and Implementing PR Campaigns. Based on
tive and expeditious manner. As a result, Johnson & John-
these research findings, a PR professional is able to plan
son’s PR campaign was so successful that not only did its
and implement campaigns for bringing an organization’s Tylenol products make a successful market comeback, but
mission and objectives to the attention of its constituency, its public image as a socially responsible company was
enhancing two-way communication and mutual under-
greatly enhanced.
standing, and influencing or changing public opinions
and policies. Planning and implementing a PR campaign
involves setting objectives, budgeting, recruiting and ETHICS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
training staff, developing persuasive messages, selecting PR professionals and their organizations have ethical
appropriate media, working with the media, monitoring responsibilities to at least these publics: clients, news
the campaign, coordinating various relations, evaluating media, government agencies, educational institutions,
outcomes, and managing the resources needed to perform consumers, investors, communities, competitors, and crit-
all of these activities. ics. As the PRSA Member Code of Ethics 2000 states,

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BUSINESS AND FINANCE, SECOND EDITION 625