Why PR is Important in a Formal Organization-By Andrew Bishop Mkandawire (AB Deevado)-MC Yr 4-Share World Open University-BT Campus

Why PR is Important in a Formal Organization

By Andrew Bishop Mkandawire (AB Deevado)-MC Yr 4

4^th May, 2012 Share World Open University-BT Campus

(Names stated in this document are not real except that of the author. It was an assignment submitted to SOUM)

                                             

Abraham Wapona Kisebe Chief Executive Director of GT Detergents   Andrew Bishop Mkandawire Chief Executive Director of ADEEVA COMMUNICATIONS Ltd Co AC’s 2012/03/20-77 WHY PUBLIC RELATIONS IS ESSENTIAL TO AN ORGANIZATION AND WHY THE PR MANAGER SHOULD BE APPOINTED AS PART OF THE SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM

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Introduction

Public Relations is an integral stake of every organization that ensures that management has a strong back bone on which information and communication can be a tool to position the strength and the opportunity of the organization. This becomes possible because the PR functions work to build and maintain good relations with mutual understanding and benefit with the organization and its publics. 

This was reflected in a meeting that was held on 2^nd February, 2012 which was participated by GT Detergents and ADEEVA COMMUNICATONS (ACs) Ltd Executive Boards where it was appreciated that PR is a vital tool worthy to be part of the organization’s management setting and operations.

And here is the report by the ADEEVA COMMUNICATIONS Ltd, the hired communications consultant, that expresses why Public Relations is essential to an organization and why the PR manager should be appointed as part of the senior management team.

Terms of Reference

ADEEVA COMMUNICATIONS Ltd as a communications consultant was mandated by GT Detergents Executive Board to compile a report that will show how PR as a profession and a PR Manager can benefit the Detergent Manufacturer.

Procedure

To gather relevant data for the report to be comprehensive and professional with sole aim of proving out why PR is essential to the organization as well as why it is necessary to have an internal PR Manager that have to be appointed as part of senior management team, Books and Internet have been used. These books have reputable and accredited authors and publishers and the websites used are referred. These are indicated in inside referencing and at the end of the text or reference list.

Findings

The AC’s found that the following are necessary reasons why GT Detergent has to have the PR functions and an internal PR manager who has to be appointed in its senior management. The sections a, b and c illustrate this relevance of PR.

a)                  PR has many transferable benefits that are realized when it is used in an organization. These benefits make no sense when PR is absent. They are highly appreciated when PR is practically experienced in an organization setting. For example:

It create and sustainably maintain relationship with publics; this is true from the virtue of understanding the concept of PR where almost in every definition it is argued that this profession revolves around two key words Communication and Management which all aim at ensuring that mutual goodwill or understanding and probably benefit for a sustainable period of time is achieved. This means the organization stands close to its stake holders through information flow.

Three definitions from Jefkins, PRISA and Baran provide evidence of the above explanation. ‘PR is an art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organization leaders, and implementing planned programs of action which will serve both the organization’s and the public interest’ (Jefkins 1995 p. 08); Public Relations is the management, through communication, of perceptions and strategic relationships between an organization and its internal and external stakeholders (www.saaci.co.za); and ‘PR is the is the management function that focuses on the relationships and communications that individuals and organizations have with other groups (called publics) for the purpose of creating mutual goodwill’, (Baran 2012 p. 308).   .

PR also helps to Manage Stakeholder Mapping. Stakeholder mapping is the effort of an organization that helps to identify active and non-active stake holders (those individual, groups and organizations that have interest in the operating business). Because PR keep communicating with these stakeholders, it becomes easier to identify those who are direct, connected and external stakeholders that an organization can communicate to effectively achieve its objectives through press conferences, press visits, lobbying just to mention a few. For example, external stakeholders like investors, financial lending institutions, just to mention a few institutions and customers, can easily be communicated and their needs and wants known through the Two-Way-Symmetrical Model.  (Odedele 2008) The Two-Way Symmetric model represents a public relations orientation in which organizations and their publics adjust to each other. It focuses on mutual understanding and two-way communication rather than one-way persuasion.

Usually it is the influence of stakeholder mapping that guides the need for Total Quality Management.  In this Communication internally and externally the organization becomes the major tool to carry the day, meaning to help business achieve its objectives and goals. The TQM concept is the is Holistic approach to long-term success that views continuous improvement in all aspects of an organization as a journey and not as a short-term destination. It aims to radically transform the organization through progressive changes in the attitudes, practices, structures, and systems. TQM transcends the 'product quality' approach, involves everyone in the organization, and encompasses its every function administration, communications, distribution, manufacturing, marketing, planning, training, (www.businessdictionary.com).

PR helps the business to reduce costs. Public Relations unlike advertising reach its publics with little cost and this stretches the organizations marketing function. For example, the PR messages mostly are treated in the media as news which are covered freely. Press Releases, Documentaries, Notices are some such forms. And sometimes the media can cover a function like a Trade Fair in form of exhibition about the new product at a cost of covering news of their media organizations. This money saved can help to fund marketing efforts and programs like research on identifying the new market.

PR functions saves money or minimizes costs with fact that it avoids litigations the business could commit and pay for damages and compensations. This becomes avoidable because PR advocates for ethical operation in business. Business Ethics can be defined as ‘a set of principles prescribing a behavior code that explains what is good and right or bad and wrong; it may even outline moral duty and obligations generally’, (Chryssides & Kaler 1993 p.51).

This becomes possible because business ethics are necessary to businesses as they enable the business operate in accordance to business stakeholder interest; helps the business meet quality standards within and outside the business; enables the business define good or bad operation of duty, task or project, leading to the formulation of code of ethics; guides the business to abide by business laws and policies of individuals, organizations and government; and conform with principles of economic structure and system available and ratified in a legalized market.

This further creates good image and reputation which increases PR messages from such an organization to be received by publics with high credibility which fasted reaction or response to the communication flow.

PR helps to avoid price competition. In short this means that before a product is offered to the market, consumers are communicated to base the understanding of the price the market can afford. This helps then to publicize or create awareness of the product price before it hits the market. This does not compete with any product or service price already or coming into the market. Through business research which helps to identify needs of the market, this research also helps to forecast the future of the business performance in terms or relations, sells, accessibility of raw materials just to mention a few factors. Forecasting can be argued that it is in strategic context, any attempt whether qualitative or quantitative, and usually based on past performance, to predict future outcomes and trends in the internal and external environments of an organization in order to limit the risks involved in devising and implementing a strategy (Cole 1997).

 PR helps and organization looks larger. Through media coverage that continuously keeps disseminating messages of the organization to the public, it maximizes publicity of the firm’s image. This attracts attention of the public and perception that is created represent that the organization is big in terms of operations and responsibility to the public. Mostly when the publicity is positive with good communication flow of productive and public interest news about on going or to be introduced events, the organization looks larger. For example, recent commotion on minority gay rights between the  civil society and the government, the Human Rights Consultative Committee showed up to be a larger organization because it was dominantly covered in the media to be on fore front advocating for legalization of gay rights.

b)                   Public Relations is essential to an organization because it has effective activities that enrich PR programming. These activities are:

1.      Government Relations; lobbying officials and government departments on legislation or fair policies in the industry the GT Detergents operating.

2.      Publicity; giving out information of what GT Detergents has or how it is involved in a activity done to the public via the available cost-effective medium

3.      Communication; a message central to getting instant feedback from audience on any activity done or to be done

4.      Employee Relations; usually to lessen the gap between employees and their immediate bosses through active interpersonal linkage within chain of command and span of control and enhancing their commitment and hard work through participation, involvement and hands-off where necessary and allowing their work environment flexible. This counsels management on vital matters affecting the organization.

5.      Public Affairs; creating a beneficial mutual understanding between community, government officials, civil society, pressure groups, etc. 

6.      Community Relations; making sense and considering those who are surrounding GT Detergents like residences, and all stakeholders within and outside Malawi.

7.      Minority Relations; recognizing the importance and right of defined minority groups like the old, children, disabled, etc

8.      Financial Public Relations; bridging good and successful talks between investors, banks, shareholders and owners of organization.

9.      Industry Relations; associations, unionism and organization corroborated work activities are more recognized to the public than solo. This is vital

10.  Press Agency; attracting and responding to public queries before they interrogate the organization, even ask about an issue publicly or privately known.

 

11.  Promotion; positioning an idea, activity or organization to make the public know, believe or adopt the idea like image of the organization

12.  Media Relations; treating media as a tool of disseminating communication messages

13.  Issue Management; moving public opinion on large scale to take supportive position of the organization

14.  Propaganda; injecting ideas with aim to get quick public reaction usually to support the concept given by the organization.

15.  Advertising; to attract audience with messages for them to own, possess or support the product or service with profitable exchange.

c) Finally, PR is both an art and science. There are many issues to be discussed here but the following two statements represent why PR is an art and science respectively.

PR is an art because it uses skills to select things like strategies, tactics, objectives, designs, messages, personnel, media, tactics and equipment to manage a certain program. For example, it builds its communication frame work from a scratch to make it informative, comprehensible and memorable. For example a PR department will have graphic designer and Video editor and producer whose duty will be to come up with ideas and then turn them into a visual picture where the PR can place text to make the graphic have complete meaning. The video editor and producer will also turn the shooting script into a documentary for example of how pregnant rural women are struggling to seek maternal health care. The preparation of the shooting and editing script, the writing of news releases and the presentation of PR messages to the public via the media, all derive from the duty and power of art in PR at most to enrich personnel with compositions of different forms of communication. Brochures, Newsletters, House Journals, etc, are sources of art in PR practice.

Public Relations is science because it plans, organizes, controls, implements and evaluates its programs which were implemented. These are managerial roles and functions. And usually evaluation is a scientific term that goes together with means of solving business problems like research. Research in public relations belongs to the faculties of social sciences and economics and commerce. For example the organization failure to market its products/services may cause the business to partner with internal or external PR consultants to help find the cause of the problem and possible solutions to it through a joint venture called Marketing-Public Relations. This according to (Belch and Belch 2004 p. 566) is referred to public relations activities designed to support marketing objectives as marketing public relations (MPR) functions. The marketing objectives that may be aided by PR activities include raising awareness, informing and educating, gaining understanding, building trust, giving consumers a reason to buy, and motivating consumer acceptance.  MPR ads value to the integrated marketing program in a number of ways: building market excitement before media advertising breaks; creating advertising news where there is no product news; introducing a product with little or no advertising; providing a value-added customer service; building a brand-to-customer  bonds; influencing influential’s; and defending products at risk and giving consumers a reason to buy.

Therefore we can prove that PR is vital to an organization. To prove this further, there are five major components that make the locomotion of business possible whether profitable or non-profitable. These are International Business/Marketing, Strategic Planning and Control, Financial Aspects of Business, Integrated (Marketing) Communication, and Case Study. This reflects that Communication in an organization is vital and inevitable for the organization to achieve its objectives and goals sustainably.  

For example, PR supports all features or departments in the organization including Marketing. In International Business therefore PR can help to position the organization and its products and services in a foreign country to create awareness and market education before the actual start up of the firm commences. This is the concept of PR Export Trade within Financial PRs. 

To a detergent manufacturer organization, such PR Export activities can help to identify news foreign markets thereby generating more foreign currency that can even help the government of Malawi through tax that it can support its social services. But at most this can give opportunity to extend efforts of expanding the business either locally or as a multinational organization. This in example can be achieved through execution of Ansoff Growth Strategies where Market Development, Product development, market Penetration and Diversification strategies can be completed.   

And for the business to be accurate in designing communication strategies to support business objectives and goals achievement, a professional PR Executive need to be employed and be appointed to the senior management of the business. This person is unique because: is a qualified professional on communication programming able to develop communication programs; can help strategizing and carry out communication programs; can help choice of media and techniques to be used; can forecast the consequences of a communication program; can control costs by scheduling cost effective communication techniques; and at most can counsel the management on how ethical, and legal communication should be conducted within and outside the organization.

For example, the internal flow of communication among employees can boost employee relations and commitment to job as team works and employee integrity can be motivated. This can lower levels of conflicts and whistle blowing. The latter according to (Weiss 2003, p. 246) ‘is the attempt of an employee or former employee of an organization to disclose what he or she believes to be wrong doing in or by the organization’; and (Chryssides & Kaler 1993, p.304) define whistle blowing as the ‘activity of ‘going public’ with pieces of information which are normally regarded confidential within the firm, but the disclosure of which is deemed to be in the best public interest’. 

Conclusion

Therefore it is conspicuous that PR affects the entire internal and external parts of the organization. And it has been shown that its functionality is sensitive to relations, perceptions and needs and wants. When these are well served among the publics, it gives the organization strength which generates the ability to control the market and the opposite leads to failure to control the market which leads to loss of market share. Further than this, PR enable the organization to forecast its future trends. This helps to prepare for success.

Recommendations

Therefore it can be argued that Communication and Management are Inclusively Inseparable. With this notion it is then necessary for an organization to have PR department and ITS professional Manager should be appointed to the senior management because these communications activities go together with strategy formulation, implementation and control. His presence will quicken accuracy and effectiveness because he will have the opportunity to propose, play roles of advising and counseling the senior management on better means of approaching communication activities and programs as some discussed in the FINDINGS.

Andrew Bishop Mkandawire

0888 11 36 23

Chief Executive Director of ADEEVA COMMUNICATIONS

REFERENCES

Baran, SJ 2002, Introduction to Mass Communication, 2^nd Edition, Boston: McGraw Hill

Belch, GE & Belch, MA 2004. Adverting and Promotion, 6^th edition, Washington, Mc Graw Hill

Chryssides, GD & Kaler, JH 1993, An Introduction to Business Ethics, London: Thompson

Cole, GA 1997, Strategic Management, 2^nd edition, London: Thomson

Jefkins, F 1995, Public Relations Techniques. 2^nd Edition, Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann

Odedele, S 2008, Public Relations and Communication Management in Africa, Lagos: Petros-Faith Public Relations Consult

Weiss, JW 2003, Business Ethics, 3^rd edition, Canada: Thomson

 ‘Business Dictionary’ 2012, Total Quality Management, Viewed 24^th March 2012, http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/total-quality-management- TQM.html. [22/01/12]

‘Southern African Association for the Conference’ 2012, PRISA Public Relations Definition, Viewed 27^th February, 2012, http://www.saaci.co.za/content.asp?pageID=349

Which another PR topic you long to get discussed. Leave a comment.

Public Relations is Different from Propaganda, Advertising, Marketing and Publicity

By Andrew Bishop Mkandawire (AB Deevado)-MC Yr 4

4^th May 2012 Share World Open University-BT Campus

The subject of Public Relations aims at creating mutual understanding; mutual benefit; sustainable relationship; art and science of maintaining, improving and solving of communications problems, and timing of communication programs for success orientation between the organization and its publics.

An extended understanding of PR as a definition can be supported by (Jefkins 1998, p. 06) who argues that it ‘is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics’; (Jefkins 1995, p. 08) states it ‘is the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counselling organization leaders, and implementing planned programs of action which will serve both the organization’s and the public interest’; and ‘PR is the is the management function that focuses on the relationships and communications that individuals and organizations have with other groups (called publics) for the purpose of creating mutual goodwill’, (Baran 2012, p. 308). 

With this understanding of Public Relations efforts can then be employed to differentiate from the following:

Propaganda according to (Jefkins 1998, p. 11) is the means of gaining support for an opinion, creed or belief.

The Propaganda activities are quite different from Public Relations activities. It divides its activities into Band Wagon, Naming, and Curd Stalking. Band wagon represents the ambition to have many supporters of an idea or activities without considering who they are to be affected with the idea and usually the majority support share few benefits from the ideology. Naming is where the owner of the message tends to maximise his mention in the media to block those competing with him. Only his good works, achievements are aired to the public.  And curd stalking is where the owner of the message exposes weaknesses of the competitor in a nuisance way so that the public should lose favour of him. Public Relations never behave this way. For example, instead of tarnishing image of the competitor it does create industrial relations. In addition PR activities are many like Public Affairs, Government Relations, Community Relations, Employee Relations, Industrial Relations just to mention a few.

Propaganda is as well different from PR because of its aims. Usually it has primarily negative connotations, but seeks to generate more or less automatic responses to given symbols-it is used by bad guys as well as good guys, (Baran 2002). From this statement it can be argued that audience can find it difficult to believe the message in propaganda form even if it can be produced by a good guy or even if it can be of goodwill. The publics do not legitimise the credibility of the message which has a form of propaganda. This is different from PR whose message has public credibility and bad guys cannot find way to use it because it depends on sustainable good relations.

Another aspect is the seeking of public response. Propaganda has shown according to (Baran 2002) that it seeks automatic response from the public from its symbols or messages. This can be to avoid the public to realise the motive behind the message before the owner of the message benefits. This does not guarantee mutual understanding and relationship nor benefits but maximisation of self-interest or egoism. PR is utilitarian in nature. Utilitarianism (utilitarian ethics) founded by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), (Oz 2000, p. 08) ‘is a form of Consequentialism that views good behaviour as any behaviour that increases happiness’.

Utilitarianism holds that an action is judged as right, good, or wrong on the basis of its consequences. As a Consequentialist principle, the moral authority that drives utilitarianism is the calculated consequences, or results, of an action, regardless of other principles that determine the means or motivations for taking the action.

It also includes the following tenets to any action or purpose that has to be regarded ethical: An action is morally right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people affected by it; and An action is morally right if the net benefits over costs are greatest for all affected compared with the net benefits of all other possible choices considered; and 3. An action is morally right if its immediate and future direct and indirect benefits are greatest for each individual and if these benefits out-weigh the costs and benefits of the other alternatives.

Propaganda indeed may contain a message that is biased, intended for bad actions and only to satisfy the inner selves. For example, the propaganda that went behind changing of Malawi Flag Colours biased government authorities and many have criticized it to be unethical action which was intended to make government authorities get advantage of fraud of government monies. Public relations works for mutual understanding whose mission or communication messages guarantee credibility, objectivity and its aim would be to make publics understand the services, functions and advantages of changing any organization mission.

Advertising can be understood as ‘any paid form of nonpersonal communication about an organization, product, service, or idea by an identified sponsor’, (Belch and Belch 2004 p. 16).

The concepts are quite different ranging from the communication purpose to their costs.

Advertising aims at disseminating a message through persuasion. This is forcing one to buy a product through both enticement and lurement. PR does not lure. It firstly gives out enough information about a product before a customer come-up with decision to purchase. The costs of advertising are very expensive than those of PR. For example, the advertising message will incur costs of accounts, creative work, production and media air time. A PR message is usually covered as media news. For example, a press conference about a new product will be covered by media house as news like wise the press releases in this case placement is usually free.

Further than discussed above, Public Relations and Advertising are different in forms of: level of supplementary; degree of operation costs;   limitation of practice; level of effect; and level of creation of organization image.

Public Relations is wide and work for the entire organization that is across the organization departments. It affects the entire organization through internal public (employee) and external (customers, financial lending institution, government departments) relations, corporate strategy formulation, implementation and control consultancy. Advertising for example is attached only and encircled to marketing department which takes functions like recruitment and selling of products. Advertising incurs more costs than PR although it is limited to marketing. Public Relations functions are also much common in organizations than advertising functions which are absent in many organizations. For example, Share World Open University has a public relations department but it has no advertising department. This means organizations can survive with public relations functions without advertising as it is true with lawyers, medical doctors, and fire brigade enterprise services. And finally, public relations work much to control litigations, public harm and this creates sustainable relations with publics. Advertising cannot manage to defend or enhance understanding of a business strategy to the publics. It can neither control litigation nor control public harm. And it is just expensive to manage an advertising campaign than a public relations campaign. For example, you can place the press release in the news column or bulletin for free but an advert cannot be accommodated.

Marketing is ‘a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others’, (Kotler et al 2009 p. 6). Marketing is about identifying meeting human and social needs. One of the shortest good definitions of marketing is “meeting needs profitably” and the major responsibilities of marketing are to identify, to anticipate and to satisfy customer requirements profitably. 

PR and Marketing are different in that PR is for entire organization while marketing is a departmental function. Activities that emerge from PR Department directly affect the entire organization. For example, success of Financial PR will mean increase in productivity (increased product output and number of employees) and growth of marketing function (like export trading). Policies of the organization like in production will change for improvement and maintenance of quality. In short marketing functions depend on PR successful communication programs.

The plane motive of the two differs as well. Marketing aims at selling the product or services with value or that satisfy customers to identified markets while public relations aim at creating understanding with sustainable relationship with its publics. With marketing what is greatly important is the selling of products and services to maximise the profits for the organization. Public Relations recognise that the most important aspect in business is the creation of good, mutual relations and understanding that ensure that both organization objectives are achieved and the public benefits sustainably.  

Marketing self-interest motive is to experience the instant benefit from its customers through maximization of revenue realization. For example, soon the product is introduced to the market the provider starts monitoring the product life cycle progress in which the growth stage is the most desired stage by businesses as it generates more revenue and profits. With public relations it can educate, inform or create awareness about the organization mission without actually waiting for instant benefit. For example, a business can employ PR function of educating the market without expecting direct or instant benefit like how MR PRICE textile enterprise did two years before it came to Malawi in 2009.

This is why marketing depends on PR for it to achieve its objectives. For example, (Belch and Belch 2004, p. 566) argue that public relations activities when merge with marketing are designed to support marketing objectives as marketing public relations (MPR) functions. The marketing objectives that may be aided by PR activities include raising awareness, informing and educating, gaining understanding, building trust, giving consumers a reason to buy, and motivating consumer acceptance.  MPR ads value to the integrated marketing program in a number of ways: building market excitement before media advertising breaks; creating advertising news where there is no product news; introducing a product with little or no advertising; providing a value-added customer service; building a brand-to-customer  bonds; influencing influential’s; and defending products at risk and giving consumers a reason to buy.

And since PR continuously communicates with its public, it gets an opportunity of understanding their needs and wants. No wonder for MPR to succeed, PR may not hesitate to use a social sciences technique in knowing publics social position. Usually, this is by executing a business research is the planning, collecting, analyzing of data relevant to business decision making and the communication of the results of this analysis to the management Guler & Gani (2004).

Publicity results from information being known. This known message or event publicised can be good or bad and usually uncontrollable.

The major differences are slim converging at the level of control and preparation of the message. PR will ensure that the whole organization communicates and passes need to communicate to the public about the new program because this is the corporate strategic issue. And the preparation of the message will follow professional, ethical and legal standards of writing guided by objectives, mission and vision of the organization. Publicity can originate from any angle without control and even with bad impression. For example, last year there was publicity of Share World Open University at Nyasa Times that exposed its weaknesses from its financial crisis that led to not paying lecturer’s salaries which were low, lack of water at the BT premise, lack of computer lab and adequate books in the library, 45% school fee hike among other weaknesses (www.nyasatimes.com). This was bad publicity and it failed to justify why such information was necessary to the public mostly how it could benefit the institution and its publics mutually.

Therefore this is how PR can be differentiated from propaganda, advertising, marketing and publicity.

REFERENCES

Baran, SJ 2002, Introduction to Mass Communication, 2^nd Edition, Boston: McGraw Hill

Belch, GE & Belch, MA 2004. Adverting and Promotion, 6^th edition, Washington, McGraw Hill

Guler, O & Gani, AS 2004, Business Research, Cape Tow, Juta and Company Ltd

Jefkins, F 1995, Public Relations Techniques. 2^nd Edition, Boston, Butterworth-Heinemann

Jefkins, F. 1998. Public Relations Frame Works, 5^th edition, Harlow, Pearson Education

Kotler, P et al, 2009, Marketing Management, 13^th edition, New Delhi, Pearson Education

Oz, E 2000, Ethics for the Information Age, London, Business and Education Technologies

Staff Writer 2011, ‘Share world open university fails to pay lecturers low salaries for three months’, 27^th April, 2011, viewed 27^th April, 2012, http://www.nyasatimesreakingnews.com/.

Do have another PR topic you would want to be tackled? Leave a comment.