Work based learning - Essay Example

Public Relations at San Jiao Xiang Restaurant In this ideal world, public relations is seeking recognition today as the path towards gaining professional status hinges on its adherence to professional ethical standards. Organizations are demanding public relations research as the key instrument towards development of the organization’s strategy. Research in public relations research has the ability to build a foundation for not only public relations department, but also better the organization in general. What characterizes the current dynamic business environment is high cost of advertising and lower efficiency of adverts. Corporations are relying heavily on public relations to in order to pass these hard times. This entails that public relations issues are greatly influencing the performance of different organizations (Botany and Taylor, 2004:4). This essay will present new internet technologies that can potentially improve an organization’s relations such as podcasts and blogs. This essay will also present some of the findings obtained from this research and conclude with suggestions on how San Jiao Xiang Restaurant public relations department can improve their efforts in order to achieve more. San Xiang increased importance of public relations This restaurant depends heavily on advertising through the internet and on other related mechanisms of publicity. In this millennium, public relations are becoming one of the essentials of communication tools than can imperatively lead to success by performing different functions of conventional marketing. Truthfully, it is not healthy for this restaurant to continue depending heavily on advertising due to a number of factors. First, the cost of advertising is growing exorbitant, the most recent study indicates that the users appear overloaded with ads and advertising reach is getting narrower. All these issues are leading to lower efficiency in advertising. Thus, marketing is turning for aid in public relations as it is increasingly using public relations techniques (Ofulue, 2006:86). It is expectable that the public relations efficiency will exceed that of classical advertising since the role of public relations is changing from being pervasive to proactive. The main purpose of marketing is to influence behavior of customers towards an organization or its products (Smith, 2005:55). On the other side, the main function of public relations is to form, change, and maintain attitudes of the public towards an organization and its products. Therefore, public relations serve the function of communication aimed at earning public understanding and acceptance through carrying out designed programs. An organization establishes rapport with different publics that include the government, investors, customers, suppliers, employers, and the media among others. The requirements and needs of these publics can turn to be somehow unique but very diverse (Regester, and Larkin, 2008:124). This means that, for San restaurant for keep a good rapport for all these publics, the responsible public relations department must have set procedure with clarified details showing appropriate measures for responding to their needs and requirements. Analysis of this process In exonerated with marketing, one of the most important tasks that marketing has to perform is public relations. Good relations with the media can have a huge affluence towards the image of an organization as well as other publics. As a result, if an organization resolves to use technology in public relations with media, the focus should focus should aim at getting the task performed quickly and as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, research findings show that, this is one of the rare instances where San restaurant can perform better and at lower cost simultaneously (English, 2005:7). China’s internet technology is high therefore, with the use of internet technology; the costs involved in reaching journalists are much lower than classical forms of communication. This restaurant should resolve to use internet technologies as they are cheaper and faster and some publics are no longer dependent on the information from journals and editors like those that they used to be. Using internet is more advantageous when compared to other forms of media such as speed of communication. Internet provides almost instant product delivery, personalization, interactivity, and customization. This means that, if this restaurant can make maximum use of internet technologies in its daily activities, the restaurant can achieve efficiency, productivity, and manage its issues effectively. Additionally, the internet provides an ideal forum for communication as a group hence enhances the chances of interaction, which dramatically transforms the way public relations practitioners distribute information, interact with one another and the key publics, handle crises, manage issues (Smith, 2005:37). With this respect, in order for San restaurant to improve the efforts of its public relations department, the restaurant can use special media web sites dedicated to the press and automatic personalized dissemination of content. Special media web sites San restaurant can form special media related web sites like Verizon News Center and DaimlerChrysler media services whereby this restaurant can use these web sites disseminate information since they offer tools essential for releasing the relevant content regarding the restaurant. Improving a company’s productivity is every manager’s priority and interest. Special media web sites help companies meet these priorities since they provide different news, information, facts, and archives regarding the company. San restaurant is bold company potentially able to make millions of Yens per annum (Malaysia, 2006:5). Therefore, it will wise for the restaurant to adopt these special websites where they can give indent information pertaining products and services, company structure, financial results, the company’s views, perspectives, governance, and markets besides dwelling on classical information. Special media websites provides activities showing events organized by the company or appearance of personnel. The company can make this content accessible to customers through calendar activities designed by the public relations department. By use of special media web sites, this restaurant has the opportunity to give in depth multimedia content as many media firms requires graphical representation for their editions. As a result, it is possible to give different logo resolutions, speeches, and pictures whereby the media firm can edit to present a reasonable multimedia content like customers while they are using the product or service, diagrams of the key corporative processes, and the employees at their workstations (Malaysia, 2006:7). With these web sites, this restaurant can access sources via external links including those with negative remarks and comments. This can give the restaurant an opportunity to respond in advance even prior any bad press can reach the air. This services the fact that the greatest advantage of internet is its ability to react quickly especially when dealing with such important crisis. Web blogs The process of replacing the issue counter attacking the success of San restaurant can proceed smoothly if the restaurant can resolve to introduce a web blog. Through web blog, the restaurant can publish its content periodically, which in turn enables the readers to comment, thus giving collaborative respond and space. A web blog purpose is to spark a means of initiating conversations informally about the organization and its services or products among its publics. Scholarly research results depict that, use of web blogs is advantageous because of the fact that, they provide means of quick communication of fresh ideas, quick internal response, greater informality, and a place for good leadership and innovation (Lindic, 2006:2). Most journalists explore the internet field while searching for news releases, when seeking new sources, experts to interview, and quotes of the day. This indicates that huge numbers of journalists uses blogs as their primary sources of information as they put their trust more on information coming from individual bloggers than that prepared by the company public relations department. San restaurant can achieve tremendous success through use of blogs ran internally since journalists would trust the individual employees more than public relations department hence this can factor van be of utter importance. Using a company blog internally has several motives, which include improving dissemination of information, reducing the imperfections of traditional information transfer, and nurturing communications between departments and teams. These motives aims at easier searches that make corporations resort to blogs with the view of communicating to different publics directly (Lindic, 2006:4). Initiating a web blog can give San restaurant a chance to offer information about links for comments, its products, and a platform for answering questions. The most interesting factor regarding web blog is that, it provides sources for generating ideas for new products. Analytical research reveals that, where San restaurant is indicating weaknesses is in capability of public relations managers. The research established that this is common and in most cases normal as advancements and capabilities link. Despite the fact that most companies value strategic capabilities, most public relations department managers are better at technical managerial roles as opposed to strategic roles. This is the case with San restaurant public relations department. This essay defines strategic roles as inclusive of evaluation research, segment research, and environmental scanning (Swann, 2010:7). Therefore, it is worth noting that, improving this restaurant’s performance communication managers should have expertise in research on different aspects of managing a restaurant. This is because, in spite of strong evidence that public relations research has immense effective programs, this restaurant’s public research and marketing departments conduct limited or no product research. This happens since the restaurant does not budget for research due to lack of funding, some public relations practitioners lack training on research, and fear of establishing that their research measurements are not successful (English, 2005:4). Diversity Diversity has strong influence on marketing and marketing reflects on the performance of the public relations department. Public has the ability to promote diversity through creating awareness and understanding of issues within an organization. Organizations should demonstrate to their publics that trust, satisfaction, and commitment exist among building relationships and in building diversity programs. Organizations that communicate directly and effectively with their publics develop better relationships since it is easy to reach mutual understanding, which reduces the likely hood of negative consequences. Scholars describe that the concept of requisite variety link diversity with public relations directly by explaining the notion that diversity has on internal and external effectiveness of an organization. Relationships are the essence of public relations since they help organizations build goals (Bruner and Brown, 2009:5). However, failure to understand and incorporate diversity or the concept of requisite variety to public relations, companies fails to establish relationships with their publics. Similarly, researchers argue that organizations that happen to recognize the vitality of diversity at early stages become effective while those that pay attention to public relations, diversity, and organizational culture are the most efficient and have high chances of meeting their objectives (Sriramesh, 2009:138). With this sense, it is crucial for San restaurant to identify a continuum that reflects stages of integration of diversity within the restaurant and the implications for public relations. Ethics and persuasion Most studies outline techniques involved in persuasive communication and yet only a few that mention the value of moral ethics in persuasive communication. One can use persuasive communication for bad or ill cause, which this essay finds it worthwhile mentioning that the character of the person using these persuasive techniques determines the ethicality of the persuasive act. Persuasion is a natural product of democracy and is a tool required to offer arguments and counterarguments left for the audience to sort out and make the final stance (Sriramesh, 2009:155). Always, persuasion depends on acceptance of the persuasive idea by the audience and their ability to make their own choices free of coercive pressure. Primarily, for this restaurant to allow the publics make non-compromised choices regarding their selection of food, it must choose an ethical mode of persuasion through public relations, advertising, as well as promotion. Ethical approaches to the issue stated Decisions for making frame works based on ethics depend on two classical theories: teleology and deontology. According to the theory of teleology, an action is ethical if benefits it accrues for the organization are greater compared to its alternatives. This theory emphasizes on the consequences of actions, which should promote common good for the most number of people (Ruler and Vercic, 2008:189). In other words, from an ethical point of view, a decision that promotes the greatest amount of values for the biggest number of people is the most reasonable decision. In this type of ethical theory, the end justifies the means whereby certain means of duties and responsibilities must regard fairness, justice, and respect among others regardless of the consequences. In deontology theory, principle based decision-making deals primarily with the reason of an action. According to deontologists, certain actions are inherently right or wrong regardless their consequences. The best-known deontologist argued that, the fundamental ethical principle is to respect the dignity of every individual. Treating every human being with respect is a categorical imperative with respect to its end and not its end means. In this case, the tenet of universal ability is the criteria of categorical imperative thereby; whatever is right in one situation is right in any similar situation (Lindic, 2006:9). As noted, it is vital for a public relations manager to have expertise in research since these are complex and for greater management, such a manager must possess them. To eradicate the issue of increased expenditure in advertising, San restaurant can adopt the process of universalism and incorporate ethical theories to achieve a pivotal means of reaching large pool of customers at low cost. The process The process of initiating good public relations in an organization begins with a strong and identical plan with concrete goals. As with all other project management activities, establishing public relations program starts with selecting someone to be in charge, exercise responsibility, and then develop an appropriate plan. Public relations leaders must be outgoing and positive, yet able and willing to perform duties by use of a systematic program. He must be able to prepare carefully constructed text and presentations for developing public relations plan following systemic basic steps suggested by the organization. For San to develop the best public relations plan that can do away with issues related to misuse of finances through advertising, the appointed manager responsible for that department must be able and willing to prepare a systemic plan (Smith, 2005:55). The plan must include some of these basics: know the restaurant’s objectives, determine the potential clientele and their characteristics, establish the relative importance of advertising and identify the high-risk areas of advertising. To be effective, the restaurant’s process of public relations program must recoginize, actively promote, and reinforce the objectives of the restaurant. Furthermore, the public relations program must be evident at all departments within the restaurant and it should aim at improving the credibility of the restaurant employees and thus their ability to perform. In short, public relations depart should design the program to emphasize the positive influence of the restaurant to counteract the negative attacks. This provides the public relations department with a powerful argument for establishing a well-devised program since its benefits appeal to the whole organization (Botany and Taylor, 2004: 11). A public relations program should put the locals of Chongqing as the primary beneficiaries of the accrued benefits from the significance of the program through increased employment opportunities, increased demand for local goods and services, corresponding increase in primary and secondary contributions to taxes. What San Jiao Xiang Restaurant should avoid Even though public relations practitioners tend to work towards preserving the positive image of customers, the public relations profession seldom campaigns on its own to safeguard its own image. Consequently, organizations that draw much of their focus on creating a positive relationship between several publics encounter the challenge of maintaining its own image or reputation before that of the same publics it is trying to influence (Swann, 2010:197). As organizations continue asking their public relations practitioners to act as sources and public contacts in an ever-increasing role as information disseminators, most people would incline to believe that these practitioners prove to be quality spokespersons. However, other research findings argue that little empirical evidence exists that can determine that these practitioners can serve as successful and credible sources of information to the public. Therefore, this restaurant would suffer paralyzed dissemination of information if it deploys incompetent public relations practitioners. Moreover, discharging public relations practitioners without credibility can affect the overall activities of the outlet. This is because; credibility determines how the publics would judge the message delivered by the public relations practitioner of this restaurant. Source competence and trustworthiness are emerging as the two widely accepted concepts of factor analytic investigation of communicator credibility. Competence reflects the general expertise of the source in the area of communication. The recipient evaluation of the source credibility of the message based on trustworthiness is of particular interest in studying the effectiveness public relations practitioners as organizational communicators. Studies of trustworthiness rely on audience to assess whether communicators are telling the truth in particular situations (Ruler and Vercic, 2008:138). Prove shows that trustworthiness is the key component in establishing the accuracy of a message and the credibility of the source. As such, incorporating untrustworthy public relations practitioners can adversely negate the outcome of San restaurant. Affiliating with unqualified public relations practitioner can result to deteriorated growth of an organization. Hypothesis of source credibility demonstrate a trend whereby, unqualified public relations practitioner leads to collection of unreliable data which if implemented can result to extended negative effects. Research findings that employed individual measures on examining the trustworthiness and credibility of unqualified public relations practitioners ranked them as less trustworthy, less credible, and incompetent. This trend appears critical of the profession and taken as a whole, public relations professionals undergo credibility problems that affect not only themselves, but also their respective organizations (Stoldt, Dittmer, and Branford, 2012:197). Thus, it is noble for this restaurant to charge public relations responsibilities to trustworthy and credible practitioners in order to maintain the reputation of the company. In summary, the information analyzed and discussed in this essay describe issues regarding the cost of advertising of San Jiao Xiang restaurant and the possible measures it should deploy in order to face out huge costs of advertising. In addition, the essay covered the effects that public relations as a tool of success would display for this restaurant. Recommendations stated give the way forward that San should consider if at all, success is the driving force. Interestingly, San is an outstanding restaurant with typical and extraordinary cuisine and performs moderately. 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