Barbara DeSanto and Danny Moss
This paper explores the nature of managerial work in the public relations context drawing comparisons with the way mainstream management research has defined the main elements and…
Abstract
This paper explores the nature of managerial work in the public relations context drawing comparisons with the way mainstream management research has defined the main elements and processes of management within organisations. The paper begins with a critical review of the public relations and management literatures relating to managerial work and behaviour, highlighting the distinctively different approaches taken by public relations and management scholars in defining the nature of managerial work and behaviour. The paper goes on to present the findings of a qualitative investigation into the role and work patterns of practitioners occupying senior positions in cross sections of both US and UK organisations. The study identifies a number of common elements in pattern of “managerial” work performed by both UK and US‐based practitioners. The study also reveals the extent to which senior practitioners participate as members of the dominant coalition within their organisations and contribute to strategic decision making. The paper concludes by reflecting on the adequacy of existing definitions and understanding of the managerial dimension of the role played by practitioners within organisations.
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Danny Moss, Gary Warnaby, Sally Sykes and Callum Thomas
This paper explores the role which the public relations function can play in assisting organisations to manage their interface with the environment and, in particular, with their…
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This paper explores the role which the public relations function can play in assisting organisations to manage their interface with the environment and, in particular, with their key stakeholders. The paper examines the conceptual arguments concerning the importance of the boundary‐spanning role of public relations practitioners and examines how this role was enacted at Manchester Airport, Britain's largest regional airport, during its prolonged campaign to win approval for the construction of a second runway on the airport site. Through analysis of this case study, the paper highlights how practitioner roles may vary according to the situational context, and explores the factors which may influence the extent to which the public relations function is able to contribute to the strategic management of an organisation's interaction with its environment.
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Danny Moss and Rob Green
This paper examines critically how the manager’s role in public relations has been conceptualised, comparing how the work of managers has been defined from a public relations and…
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This paper examines critically how the manager’s role in public relations has been conceptualised, comparing how the work of managers has been defined from a public relations and management perspective. Here the paper provides a critical review of the relevant public relations and management literatures, pointing to the relative weaknesses in the public relations literature. The paper concludes by examining a particular case study to illustrate some of the weaknesses in current practitioner role models to conceptualise the weaknesses in the public relations manager’s role.
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Danny Moss, Ruth Ashford and Najani Shani
While the past two decades have seen marked advances in the development of public relations theory both in the USA and latterly in Europe, very little is known about the use and…
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While the past two decades have seen marked advances in the development of public relations theory both in the USA and latterly in Europe, very little is known about the use and practice of public relations among small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Theory development in public relations has focused almost exclusively on examining the role of public relations within large corporations, government and public sector organisations and, to a lesser extent, in the voluntary sector. Yet the SME sector is generally acknowledged to represent over 96 per cent of all enterprises operating in both Europe and the USA as well as in most non‐Western economies. This paper reports the results of an exploratory study of public relations practices within SME businesses in the North‐West of England and draws some comparisons with the initial findings of the US IABC Foundation study into public relations practices and needs of small enterprises in the USA.
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Phil Harris, Danny Moss and Nadja Vetter
Drawing on the work of Niccolo Machiavelli and his appreciation of management and power, this paper explores the contemporary role of public affairs in UK organisations and the…
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Drawing on the work of Niccolo Machiavelli and his appreciation of management and power, this paper explores the contemporary role of public affairs in UK organisations and the type of roles enacted by practitioners. The paper reviews how public affairs and, particularly, the corporate lobbying function have been treated by researchers and outlines recent research into the role played by public affairs practitioners based within a number of leading UK organisations. This study forms part of a longer‐term research programme designed to examine the functioning of in‐house public affairs departments within the UK. The paper explores how the role of public affairs practitioners can be conceptualised and suggests that public affairs and corporate lobbying have gained increasing recognition as strategically important activities, particularly within the more regulated sectors of industry.
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Danny Moss, Gary Warnaby and Louise Thame
Examines the role of public relations within the UK retail sector and seeks to determine whether retailers use public relations strategically ‐ as a means of managing their…
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Examines the role of public relations within the UK retail sector and seeks to determine whether retailers use public relations strategically ‐ as a means of managing their relationships with key stakeholder publics ‐ or simply as a tactical publicity function. Identifies, in an exploratory study conducted in four major UK retail organizations indicative of the different types of retail institutions within the UK, the main characteristics of the public relations functions and compares these with those associated with each of the four models of public relations identified by Grunig and Hunt (1984). Looks at the relationship between the marketing and public relations functions, analysing whether public relations operates as an independent function free of control from marketing or whether it operates simply as a sub‐function of marketing. Considers to what extent public relations can be said to play a strategically important role within the UK retail sector. Highlights the considerable diversity in the way in which public relations is practised within the retail organizations studied, and suggests the need for more extensive research to identify the reasons for this diversity in the way the public relations function operates within the UK retail sector.
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Practitioners provide valuable resource for students through sharing their workplace experiences with them as guest lecturers in classrooms. Practitioners often take advantage of…
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Practitioners provide valuable resource for students through sharing their workplace experiences with them as guest lecturers in classrooms. Practitioners often take advantage of these opportunities to share real‐life situations and problems with students. This scenario, often called telling “war stories”, contains the precious raw materials for effectively developing a case study. This paper provides a framework through which practitioners can structure their storytelling to involve students actively in the exchange while students can organise the practitioner’s lessons using a guide to illustrate and evaluate the lessons present in each practitioner’s experiences.
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This paper examines the growth of the public relations (PR) discipline in the UK with reference to some of the possible business drivers behind growth and the changing strategic…
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This paper examines the growth of the public relations (PR) discipline in the UK with reference to some of the possible business drivers behind growth and the changing strategic role of communications in companies. Some of the factors at play are discussed, with particular reference to corporate social responsibility, transparency, stakeholder relationships and reputation management and the role of PR in creating the “employer brand” for those companies competing for the scare resource of new corporate talent. The paper also discusses the role of PR education in the UK in preparing aspirants to the profession for the working life of a PR practitioner and considers the expectations of companies for strategic PR management and whether the supply of practitioners meets the need and demand. Finally, the author draws upon experience in having undertaken a course of further formal PR education at Masters degree level and comments on the practical and strategic communications benefits to be gained from framing experience of PR in action within the growing body of PR and communications theory encountered during academic study.
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This paper discusses the contribution psychographics can make to the public relations process. While marketers and advertisers rely on building up groups through individuals'…
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This paper discusses the contribution psychographics can make to the public relations process. While marketers and advertisers rely on building up groups through individuals' consumer purchasing behaviour, public relations practitioners have traditionally assessed different groups' public opinion to provide guidance in developing communication. Psychographics offers practitioners a dimension between the individual and the group choices that takes into consideration the individuality of the marketing/advertising approach and the group mentality of the public opinion process. Correctly researched, psychographics can also add attitudinal and behavioural information to traditional demographic categories, allowing practitioners to tailor communication to match the attitudes and perceptions of their target publics. The key, of course, to making effective use of psychographics is carefully constructing the research to generate the genuine responses that accurately reflect target publics' feelings, motivations and values.