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Public Relations Parameters: How does PR Function? By Andrew Bishop Mkandawire

When we talk about PR Parameters we are trying to understand how PR functions. PR functions in the following ways as argued by (Odedele 2008) as follows:

a)     Press Agently;

The organization has to be queried by its publics to provide information in response to the query(s). This means if the public does not ask for information, the organization would not find the need to communicate.

 Question – Why PA function is directly related to crisis communication!

 NOTE: Organizations usually respond using media rather than responding directly to the publics. Other tools used to communicate include opinion leaders.

b)     Public Information;

Successful organizations do not really wait for the public to query for information. They have plenty information necessary for their publics and as a way to communicate their future plans.

Emerging issues in such organizations that have public interest are freely communicated to the public even if it could be a public surprise. This means publics are not consulted if they really needed the information or not.

c)      Two-Way Asymmetrical;

This uses scientific research techniques to find out about the business problems customers of the business are facing. The organization digs deep into finding out about needs/wants of its publics but the found information is not used to solve the problem at hand…Why? Because this function is only there to help the business know customer needs.

Question – What would motivate the institution just know the causes of the business problem without having driven to solve the problem.

                            i.           To weigh the risk of either solving or not solving the problem

                          ii.           Prioritize the actual problems that require immediate attention

                        iii.           It can provide edge to understand how your publics value your competitors

                         iv.           It can be for planning purposes where in future a business would come to solve them at once

                           v.           It least to appreciate the problems affecting the business

                         vi.           To enhance inner improvements before the programmes goes out of that business

                       vii.           It can be a mode of deceiving customers that a business is equally concerne

d)     Two-Way Symmetrical;

Scientific investigative or research techniques are used to find out about publics needs/wants that affect business operations. The organization uses the found information to solve the business problems and adjusts to the needs of the publics.

The information as in Two-Way Asymmetrical moves from the organization to the publics and vice-versa.

e)      Excellence Theory;

Excellence Theory, as discussed by Grunig, holds that PR Management and Operations should always involve women's participation even in the leading roles. This responds to human rights declaration that women are equals to men.

The theory hosts that women empowerment in communication has an element of ensuring message acceptability by other women too.

Odedele 2008 quotes Grunig 1999 that all positions in PR department should not only be held by men but also women. However, although women and men are recognised to handle PR work for respective institutions, it does not really mean that either of them are exempted to manage all principles of PR (Communication, Research, Creation of lasting relations, and achievement satisfaction of publics and organization objectives/goals).

PLANNING PUBLIC RELATIONS PROGRAMMES

Remember PR is all about management communication of perceptions which require business attention to respond to the needs of publics for a business to succeed.

There if PR involves management, then it must follow all management tools as argued Henry Feyol:

1.      Planning – Get direction

2.      Organizing – Resources for operation (HR, Tech, Fin, Rep, Phys…)

3.      Coordinating – Linking individual efforts to represent organization/group results

4.     Controlling/Commanding/Executing – Discipline in deadlines, use of resources, focus on results.  

5.  Motivating – Timely salaries, work condition – safety and hygiene, promotions, acknowledgment of good work, training, work relations…

FOUR REASONS FOR PLANNING PR PROGRAMMES

1.      To set targets for PR operations – against which results can be assessed.

2.      To estimate working hours and other costs involved.

3.      To select priorities that will control (i) the number (ii)the timing of different operations in the programme.

4.      To decide the feasibility of carrying out the declared objectives according to the availability of (i) sufficient staff of the right caliber; (ii) physical equipment such as office machines, cameras, vehicles; (iii) an adequate budget.

SIX POINT PR PLANNING MODEL

1.      APPRECIATION OF THE SITUATION

This is about having sound knowledge of the problem at hand and finding a reason to solve such a problem. A leading would be…Is this worth a problem affecting our business success?

a)     Logical Planning; Reasoning with your environment or sensing that something is not right. You plan based on environmental circumstances.

b)  The PR Transfer Process; this enables organizations to transfer negative business-public perceptions to positive.

For example:

NEGATIVE	POSITIVE
Hostile	Sympathy
Prejudice	Acceptance
Apathy	Interest
Ignorance	Knowledge

 

c)      A Necessary Compromise; this involves turning almost a blind eye on certain mechanisms that though they are affecting the business but you need to tolerate then until sometime when you can respond without injuring or affecting your publics or your business.

d)     Investigating the Situation; actual probing of the problem using research techniques – Quest to know the cause of the problem.

e)      Opinion Polls; a simple survey where perception and attitudes are collected to establish the truth about a situation.

f)      Problem Solving; good PR is all about finding solutions to a business.

g)     Methods of Appreciating the Situation

                                                                      i.           Opinion, Perceptions, Attitudes or image surveys

                                                                    ii.           Media monitoring (Press cuttings, Broadcast markings)

                                                                  iii.           Customer complaints

                                                                   iv.           Sale figure trends

                                                                     v.           Market forces: economic, social, political, technological

2.      DEFINITION OF OBJECTIVES

Every programme is designed to achieve intended results. PR programme like other programmes depend on objectives which are representative with SMART [ER] model.

Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time bound, Economic, Researchable

 

Example: To increase sales of Soya Pieces with 60% by within July to November 2018.

1. To conduct sales promotion

2. To have three distribution points per trading centre

3. To engage advertising with 6 slots per day+

 

3.      DEFINITION OF PUBLICS

Check “Public Relations is Both an Art and Science “and Should be a Management Function By AB Deevado - Andrew Bishop Mkandawire article on the AB Deevado BlogSpot.

4.      SELECTION OF MEDIA AND TECHNIQUES

Selecting the media depends on the following factors;

1.      Frequency of the message

2.      Depth of the message

3.      Geographic reach

4.      Type of media (Advantages and disadvantages)

5.      Number of audiences

6.      Cost of disseminating the message

7.      Literacy levels

8.      Culture/Religion of audience 

5.      PLANNING OF A BUDGET

A budget, adequate and sufficient, is important to meet costs of the right equipment, transport, salaries, and wages, multimedia production, media cover, premise, hiring of talent, etc.

6.      ASSESSMENT OF RESULTS

Every PR program requires a check of results against objectives. This proves if the business achieved or not. Assessment of results can also provide a platform to discover other subtle opportunities.

PR CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Crisis Management makes a lot of sense to business operators (Juniors and Managers) who always desire to see their business successful.

Crises in every business can be:

1. Anticipated

2. Second or Third Party communicated

3. Un-noticed/Unexpected

Ivy Ledbetter Lee was called in by American Anthracite Coal Industry, and the Pennsylvania Railroad, in 1906 to handle pit disaster and rail accident for the stated companies.

Ledbetter used the following techniques to handle such crises:

1.      He demanded access to boardrooms to get the facts – To what caused the crisis, background of the problem and quest for possible solutions or inner improvement to avoid re-occurrence.

2.      He allowed access by the press to scenes of disaster – Avoids media negative publicity

3.      He ensured and kept communication lines open –

Avoids speculation

4.      Interaction with established Crisis Management Committee to handle crises

 

STAGES IN HANDLING A CRISIS

1.      PREVENTION – ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING

As discussed by (Jefkins 1998, p. 368) ‘Too often, disasters occur through bad management. They happen all the time in everyday public relations life let alone in large-scale industrial circumstances.’

When advocating that PR should be planned, an excuse is sometimes made that PR often has to deal with the unpredictable. Crisis PR means planning to deal with the unpredictable.

 

EXAMPLES OF POSSIBLE AND IMPOSSIBLE CRISES AT SOBO

Possible Crises

1)     Fire gutting the production plat

2)     Production team striking

3)     RTA for distribution trucks

4)     Laboratory chemical errors

Impossible Crises

1)          Plant close down due to lightning and thunder strike

2)          Plant hit by aircraft

3)          Distribution vans invaded by terrorists

4)          Government closing plant down due to outstanding taxes

5)          All workers attacked by Cholera

 

EXAMPLES OF POSSIBLE AND IMPOSSIBLE CRISES AT TNM

Possible Crises

1.      Slow/Gagged network

2.      Net shutdown

3.      Credit queries

4.      Rude/Incompetent customer care team

5.      Transmission tower causing perceived infertility

6.      Delayed supply of scratch cards

7.      Failure to maintain transmission equipment

8.      Retrenchments

Impossible Crises

1.      Malfunction of all transmission equipment

2.      Network discontinuation for more than week

3.      Loss of over 50% of customer due to a new entrant

4.      Issuance of wrong token numbers

 

2.      PREPARATION

Two things are necessary in order to be prepared for crises.

a)     Establishment of a Crisis Committee; this should be composed of junior workers and superior workers like HRO, Production Manager, ED, Sales Marketing Officer, Communications Manager, Head of Guards, etc.

b)     Emphasis on Regular Meetings; discussing issues that would help solve a crisis

 

3.      PROVISION

The media will demand every kind of information, although they have no right to anything. This is because bad news for an organization is good for media businesses to sell negative headlines.

 

Every crisis invites right or wrong criticisms. Therefore a business must prepare how it will provide information to the public. For example, a media statement must be written and agreed upon before releasing it to the media.

 

At all cost the PRO must be in control of the information flow from and when the problem is being solved, media tour should be arranged to allow media see problem-solving progress. And after the problem is solved media visit should be arranged as well to allow media  cover how much the problem has been solved. This creates public trust.

DOS AND DONTS DURING CRISIS MANAGEMENT

According to (Jefkins 1995 and 1998) The Western Union published Dos and Donts kit called When Every Second Counts – Crisis Communications Planning which has the following checklist:

 

DOS

                                                            i.           Gather all facts, and disseminate from one central information centre

                                                          ii.           Speak with one voice, consistently, via a designated and trained communications officer

                                                        iii.           Select a credible, trained communication officer

                                                        iv.           Be accessible to the media

                                                          v.           Report your own bad news

                                                        vi.           Tell your story quickly, openly and honestly

                                                      vii.           If you cannot discuss something, explain why

                                                    viii.           Provide enough evidence

                                                        ix.           Record the whole crisis for future uses (includes how it was solved)

                                                          x.           Update crisis communications plan periodically

 

DONTS

                                                            i.           Avoid no comment, as it leads to speculation

                                                          ii.           Don’t debate the subject

                                                        iii.           Don’t fight back at media, rather address and solve the problem

                                                        iv.           Don’t overreact or exaggerate

                                                          v.           Always operate within your policies

                                                        vi.           Don’t make off-the-record statements

 

SOURCES OF CRISIS

1.      Contamination of products

2.      Withdrawal of services

3.      Criticism

4.      Crisis in Public Service Industries and Events Organising

5.      Product Recall

 

REFERENCES

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

Jefkins, F 1998, Public relations frameworks, 5th edition, Pearson Education, Harlow. 

Odedele, S 2008, Public relations and communication management in Africa, Petros-Faith Public Relations Consult, Lagos. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baran, SJ 2002, Introduction to Mass Communication, 2^nd Edition, Boston: Mc GrawHill

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

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