Science Journal of Business and Management

| Peer-Reviewed |

A Reflective Essay on What Public Relations Is: Its Role in Strategic Communication Management in Organizations and MNCs

Received: 27 April 2020    Accepted: 02 June 2020    Published: 23 June 2020
Views:       Downloads:

Share This Article

Abstract

This article has the objective of clarifying what public relations is all about in connection with how large corporate entities or MNCs manage or handle strategic communications. In the past, we have seen the demise of large Multinational Corporations due to scandals and failure to handle crisis such as oil spills, handling clients’ money during global financial crunch such as the sub-prime mortgage financial crisis of 2007-2009. That crisis saw the demise of huge corporations such as Lehman Brothers, Anderson & Anderson, Freddie Mae, and Freddie May, among others. Failure to handle various publics and interest groups strategically can spell the doom of a company or a nation. This article took an exploratory approach since the authors wrote the article for a master’s course and not as professionals in public relations. The methodology adopted was that of desk research based on secondary data sources accessed from books, the internet and journal articles. The author also did a lot of observations and reflection to come up with the insights expressed in this paper. The paper was also approached from a multidisciplinary point of view to give it breadth. The findings and conclusions are that in modern times, corporations and nations should utilize the speed, flexibility, transparency, interactivity, global reach, and easy accessibility of Social Media to engage various publics in a crisis in order to gain credibility and show their human and humane qualities of empathy, humility and readiness for fruitful discourse and dialogue. However, CEOs and political leaders such as Presidents of countries are judged by the way they conduct themselves on Social Media such as Facebook or Twitter, and their chances of re-election hinge on their tweets and mis-tweets. On Social Media, users are always called upon to observe netiquette or urbane and civilized behavior.

DOI 10.11648/j.sjbm.20200803.11
Published in Science Journal of Business and Management (Volume 8, Issue 3, September 2020)
Page(s) 106-111
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Bloggers, COVID-19, Crisis Management, Publics, Public Influencers, Public Relations, Public Opinion, Social Media, Strategic Communications, Opinion Leaders

References
[1] Argenti, P. A., Howell, R. A. & Beck, K. A. (2002) The Strategic Communication Imperative MIT Sloan Review.
[2] BBC (2020) George Floyd: What happened in the final moments of his life [Online] Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52861726
[3] Berger, B. K. (2008) Employee Organization Communication Institute of Public Relations 2008 http://www.instituteforpr.org/employee-organization-communication/
[4] Blanchard, O. (2014) Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in your Organization London: Que Publishing.
[5] Bocan, C. H. (2017) Strategic Communication and Practice: The Cocreation Model New York, N. Y.: Wiley Publishing Inc.
[6] Boothby, F. Social Media Best Practice Guide http://usefulsocialmedia.com/assets/pdf/USMBriefing.pdf
[7] Bovee, C. L., Thill, J. V. & Schatzman, B. E. (2003) Business Communication Today Singapore: Pearson Education.
[8] Brown, D. L., Vetterlein, A. & Roemer-Mahler, A. (2010 Theorizing Transnational Corporations and Social Actors: An Analysis of Corporate Motivations Business and Politics Vol. 2 No. 1, 2015, 9 July.
[9] Carroll, A. B. & Bucholtz, A. K. (2003) Business and Society Ethics and Stakeholder Management (5th ed.) Australia: Thomson South Western.
[10] Coombs, W. F. (2007) Crisis Management and Communications Institute for Public Relations 2007 www.instituteforpr.org/topics/crisis-management-and-communications/
[11] Coombs, W. T. (n.d.) Protecting Organizational Reputation during a Crisis: The Development and Application of Situational Crisis Communication Theory Corporate Reputation Review Vol. 10 No. 3 pp. 163-176.
[12] Corporate Social Responsibility (2014) Encyclopedia for Business (2nd ed.) http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/comp-de/aCSR/actual
[13] Cornelissen, J. (2008) Corporate Communication Guide to Theory and Practice Los Angeles, C. A.: Sage Publishers.
[14] Crisis Communication Plan: A Public Relations Blueprint https://www3.niu.edu/newsplace/crisis.html
[15] Dougal, E. (2008) Issues Management Institute of Public Relations December, 2008 pp. 153-219.
[16] Goodman, M. & Hirsch, P. (2010) Strategic Adaptation for Global Practice in Corporate Communication: Strategic Adaptation for Global Practices New York, N.Y.: Peter Lang pp. 141-153.
[17] Laskin, A. V. (2011) How Investor Relations Contribute to the Corporate Bottom-line Journal of Public Relations Research Vol. 23 pp. 302-324.
[18] Lux, S. T., Crook, R. & Woehr, D. J. (2011) Mixing Business with Politics: A Meta-Analysis of the Antecedents and Outcomes of Corporate Political Activity Journal of Management Vol. 37, No. 1 January 2011 pp. 223-247.
[19] Mullins, L. J. & Christy, G. (2010) Management and Organisational Behaviour Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
[20] Patterson, J. (2015) Multinationals have become social and political actors who need to address publics in a constant flow of information.
[21] Prweb.com (n.d.) How to write a successful News Release PRWeb http://service.prweb.com/learning/article/how-to-write-a-successful-news-release
[22] Shum, P. K. & Yam, S. L. (2011) Ethics and Law: Guiding the Invisible Hand to Correct Corporate Social Responsibility Externalities Journal of Business Ethics 2011, Vol. 98 pp. 549-571.
[23] Smith, R. (2012) Analyzing the Organization’s Strategic Planning for Public Relations New York, N. Y.: Routledge Press.
[24] Smudde, P. M. & Courtright, J. (2011) A Holistic Approach to Stakeholder Management: A Rhetorical Foundation Public Relations Review Vol. 37 No. 2 pp. 137-144.
[25] Starykh, N. (2018) Communication theories and design practices of strategic communications in social field [Online] DOI. 10.30547/worldofmedia.2.2018.2.
[26] Straubhaar, J. & LaRose, R. (2010) Media Now: Communication Media in the Information Age (3rd ed.) Connecticut, USA: Wadsworth Publishing pp. 324-368.
[27] Watson, D. (2015) 5 of BPs Biggest Gulf Oil Spill PR Blunders Regan’s PR Daily 9 July, 2015.
[28] Wilcox, C. & Shin, R. (2011) Public Relations [Online] Retrieved from: Dennis-Wilcox/dp/020578169.
[29] Wilson, L. J. & Ogden, J. D. (2008) Strategic Communication Planning for Effective Public Relations and Marketing (5th ed.) Kendall-Hunt Publishing (p. 284).
[30] WikiHow.com (n.d.). How to write a Press Release WikiHow http://www.wikihow.com/write-a -press-release
[31] Wilson, L. J. (2017) Strategic Communications Planning for Public Relations and Marketing.
Author Information
  • Directorate of Research Consultancy and Innovation, ZCAS University, Lusaka, Zambia

  • Social Science Department, ZCAS University, Lusaka, Zambia

  • Accounting and Finance Department, ZCAS University, Lusaka, Zambia

  • Department of Work Employment and Organization, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland

Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Kwesi Atta Sakyi, Geoffrey Mweshi, David Musona, Esnart Mwaba Tayali. (2020). A Reflective Essay on What Public Relations Is: Its Role in Strategic Communication Management in Organizations and MNCs. Science Journal of Business and Management, 8(3), 106-111. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjbm.20200803.11

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Kwesi Atta Sakyi; Geoffrey Mweshi; David Musona; Esnart Mwaba Tayali. A Reflective Essay on What Public Relations Is: Its Role in Strategic Communication Management in Organizations and MNCs. Sci. J. Bus. Manag. 2020, 8(3), 106-111. doi: 10.11648/j.sjbm.20200803.11

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Kwesi Atta Sakyi, Geoffrey Mweshi, David Musona, Esnart Mwaba Tayali. A Reflective Essay on What Public Relations Is: Its Role in Strategic Communication Management in Organizations and MNCs. Sci J Bus Manag. 2020;8(3):106-111. doi: 10.11648/j.sjbm.20200803.11

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.sjbm.20200803.11,
      author = {Kwesi Atta Sakyi and Geoffrey Mweshi and David Musona and Esnart Mwaba Tayali},
      title = {A Reflective Essay on What Public Relations Is: Its Role in Strategic Communication Management in Organizations and MNCs},
      journal = {Science Journal of Business and Management},
      volume = {8},
      number = {3},
      pages = {106-111},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjbm.20200803.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjbm.20200803.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjbm.20200803.11},
      abstract = {This article has the objective of clarifying what public relations is all about in connection with how large corporate entities or MNCs manage or handle strategic communications. In the past, we have seen the demise of large Multinational Corporations due to scandals and failure to handle crisis such as oil spills, handling clients’ money during global financial crunch such as the sub-prime mortgage financial crisis of 2007-2009. That crisis saw the demise of huge corporations such as Lehman Brothers, Anderson & Anderson, Freddie Mae, and Freddie May, among others. Failure to handle various publics and interest groups strategically can spell the doom of a company or a nation. This article took an exploratory approach since the authors wrote the article for a master’s course and not as professionals in public relations. The methodology adopted was that of desk research based on secondary data sources accessed from books, the internet and journal articles. The author also did a lot of observations and reflection to come up with the insights expressed in this paper. The paper was also approached from a multidisciplinary point of view to give it breadth. The findings and conclusions are that in modern times, corporations and nations should utilize the speed, flexibility, transparency, interactivity, global reach, and easy accessibility of Social Media to engage various publics in a crisis in order to gain credibility and show their human and humane qualities of empathy, humility and readiness for fruitful discourse and dialogue. However, CEOs and political leaders such as Presidents of countries are judged by the way they conduct themselves on Social Media such as Facebook or Twitter, and their chances of re-election hinge on their tweets and mis-tweets. On Social Media, users are always called upon to observe netiquette or urbane and civilized behavior.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - A Reflective Essay on What Public Relations Is: Its Role in Strategic Communication Management in Organizations and MNCs
    AU  - Kwesi Atta Sakyi
    AU  - Geoffrey Mweshi
    AU  - David Musona
    AU  - Esnart Mwaba Tayali
    Y1  - 2020/06/23
    PY  - 2020
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjbm.20200803.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.sjbm.20200803.11
    T2  - Science Journal of Business and Management
    JF  - Science Journal of Business and Management
    JO  - Science Journal of Business and Management
    SP  - 106
    EP  - 111
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2331-0634
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjbm.20200803.11
    AB  - This article has the objective of clarifying what public relations is all about in connection with how large corporate entities or MNCs manage or handle strategic communications. In the past, we have seen the demise of large Multinational Corporations due to scandals and failure to handle crisis such as oil spills, handling clients’ money during global financial crunch such as the sub-prime mortgage financial crisis of 2007-2009. That crisis saw the demise of huge corporations such as Lehman Brothers, Anderson & Anderson, Freddie Mae, and Freddie May, among others. Failure to handle various publics and interest groups strategically can spell the doom of a company or a nation. This article took an exploratory approach since the authors wrote the article for a master’s course and not as professionals in public relations. The methodology adopted was that of desk research based on secondary data sources accessed from books, the internet and journal articles. The author also did a lot of observations and reflection to come up with the insights expressed in this paper. The paper was also approached from a multidisciplinary point of view to give it breadth. The findings and conclusions are that in modern times, corporations and nations should utilize the speed, flexibility, transparency, interactivity, global reach, and easy accessibility of Social Media to engage various publics in a crisis in order to gain credibility and show their human and humane qualities of empathy, humility and readiness for fruitful discourse and dialogue. However, CEOs and political leaders such as Presidents of countries are judged by the way they conduct themselves on Social Media such as Facebook or Twitter, and their chances of re-election hinge on their tweets and mis-tweets. On Social Media, users are always called upon to observe netiquette or urbane and civilized behavior.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

  • Sections