Public Relations Consultancies in Bahrain - Research Paper Example

Public Relations Consultancy Agencies s Submitted by s: Introduction Public relations work is the work of either the in-house resource of the organisation or a program that will enable outsourcing of these services form a public relations consultancy but in some occasions, it employs a blend of both methods (Westwood, 2011, p. 104). Contrary to popular belief, a consultancy is not necessarily an agency whereby for instance, a management consultancy is not the same as a management agency in that the former offers a whole range of services that deal with consultancy while the latter works on a commission for the employees. Public relations consultants help the clients in a variety of ways that may include: The organisation that is seeking the services not being established enough in the financial point of view so that it cannot be able to run a public relations department by itself The company might have a policy that prescribes that all the public relations should be handled by an external firm through outsourcing When the organisation is in the search for services that it considers to be specialist When the organisation is in need of a supplies that entail media-relation services For convenience whereby if the organization has a number of offices, then consultancy can be able to deliver services that are centrally based for functions that need be organized such as press launches, conferences and receptions. The organisation might also be in need of the services from the consultancy that are supposed to handle one time assignments For United Kingdom as an example, there are a considerable number of consultancies that generally range from; the big ones that have international repute to those that are modest, the medium sized and the very small ones. There are also other public relation practitioners, who offer specialized services on a business-to-business basis while others deal with a coverage that is more general and therefore provide a full service for their clients, which it delivers directly to the public (Henslowe, 2003, p. 10). Issues in public relations Key theorists that have dealt with the issues Systems issues Pat Jackson stated that harmony is an outcome of public relations practiced over a long time. According to him the communication role of the managers also entails the transmission of emotions and intuition Situational issues James Grunig focuses on public relations as a function of strategic management in organizations and he helped to explain how public relations professional participate in strategic decision-making processes in an organizational setting. Attribution Fritz Heider explains the one’s own behaviour and also that of others and assigns attributes that are meant to explain behaviours Literature review Until recently, the main practitioners of public relations and the main buyers who sought public relation services were the multinational businesses and institutions not only because of their economic size but since they have an appreciation of how important public relations can be. Organisations that deal with this area of business progressively developed sophisticated in how they use communications, which will be able to make public relations to become more popular in Bahrain (Carroll, 2011, p. 25). Public relations practitioners in Bahrain Public relation consultancy Review Promoseven PR Promoseven PR is a part of the Promoseven Network and an affiliate of the McCann-Erickson World Group is the market leader in the United Arab Emirates where it ranks as the first among the agencies as the agency that had the highest awareness levels among the clients that seek services in the public relations field. The company provides services like press, public and government relations to independent clients and the agencies advertising clients. Additionally, it provides organizational services of press offices for sporting events and international exhibitions, conferences and seminars. Moreover, the Arab observation service and the unit for commodities initiations that is dedicated, conferences and unique proceedings in the whole of the Gulf Coast Council Levant and some of the North African countries (Sriramesh and Verčič, 2003, p. 50). Promoseven PR states a mere thirty per cent of the customers that it has have chosen it on a project basis. On this basis, they deal with a particular project for the client and after that project is completed, the contract that they have ends. The rest of the clients are on a retainer basis or a marriage of the retainer and the project and this is interesting since about ten per cent of their clients have their own in-house unit that deals with public relations. Act Smart Public Relations Act Smart Public Relations consultancy aims at providing the best public Relations Consultation Services through putting together Academic Knowledge and the Practical Experience that it has acquired in the sector to include it to the Peculiarity of Bahrain so that it can be able to realize Services that are tailor-made for this region and stanched for its Original Customs. The firm states that it aims at providing the services that are of the best quality and meet international standards which are combined with the local preferences because it believes that public relations is supposed to be derived from the characteristics of it environment. It deals with a wide array of services that include social media consultancy; media consultancy and dealing with media interpersonal skills; public relations and image building consultancy; management of events and consultancy; corporate social responsibility consultancy; executive consultancy and protocol and etiquette consultancy. The other major players in this region include Asda’a Public Relations, which is originally affiliated with Burson-Marsteller; Memac; Ogilvy and Mather; Team: Young and Rubicam; Gulf Hill and Knowlton; PSCG and Bates Pan Gulf. These and other agencies that are smaller in stature compete for the twenty million dollars that spent on public relations every year in the United Arab Emirates. Nature of public relations practice in Bahrain Bahrain is an expatriate paradise that is secluded from the political and religious struggles that are rampant in that particular region and shielded from the global economic meltdown where the companies and organisations that are interested in new markets and opportunities for business concentrate their efforts (Hakim, 2005, p. 1). Bahrain gets most of its benefits from this but it also presents a variety of problems particularly in the field of public relations and communication. Expatriate in the Gulf region account for more than eighty per cent of the population and most of the companies that operate in this region have a diversity of employees. These employees originate from a variety countries in the globe. This acts, as a source of internal communication problems since not all of these people can be able to communicate in the same language (Mertens, Anfara and Roney, 2009, p. 48) .The diversity in the workforce that comes from more than eighty countries is the same diversity seen in the clientele that these companies serve. This means that the communication in the companies will need to be a priority so that the process of dealing with the customers can be smoother taking into consideration that wide array of languages and the dissimilarities in the cultures of these people (Budhwar and Mellahi, 2006, p. 70). Most of the companies that have their operations in Bahrain are of an international nature and they conduct their business internationally. This requires the public relations practitioner to be able to deal with communication at the regional level and even the international level (Augsburg, Claus and Randeree, 2009, p. 6).This means that the strategy that is employed for one particular customer or client might not necessarily be the strategy that will work for the next customer that will need the services since even at the regional level there are differences that exist in the Arab world. There is an assumption by the public relations companies that come from the West that the PR issues that exist in Bahrain can have the same solution. This kind of assumption is incorrect and is a recipe for disaster since if the strategy is good enough to post positive results in one country; it might not be able to perform the same way in other country. To avoid the issues that are involved with the public relations failing in one part of the region and being successful in another part, the strategy that is employed should be targeted, localized and relevant while making sure that it is in the right languages. The language is a very important factor in the success of a Public Relations campaign in this region since the people here prefer to communicate in Arabic. Press releases made in English do not get the chance for publication since even the Arabic journalist that works here favour doing their work in the Arabic language. Limitations associated with the practice The challenges to communication that exist here are unique to this region and they rarely occur in the other parts of the world and the fact that the public relations industry that exists there has not been able to adequately deal with it makes it even worse. Much of the debate that is going round has focused on public relations agencies and the methods that they use to achieve the goals that that they have set out achieve. There have been accusations that have gone round about insider trading, constructing front groups, arranging and paying protest demonstrations and generating some anonymous and negative information concerning their clients that tarnished the perception that the public has of them. Taking an example of Norway, there was the largest ever scandal that involved an insider-trading case that went before a Norwegian court in the months of March and April where a group of investors and a public relations consultant that is among those that have the most experience in that country. The case involved a PR advisor blamed for handing out inside information on three companies listed to close friends of his. The growth that posted in the industry has also generated the debate about the existence public relations agencies and the effect and influence that they have on democracy. The issue is mainly whether public relations agencies contribute to an undue political influence, which makes those that are have the capability to will to purchase advice to have a ready access to the media and the influential politician. Regulation The public relations firms are guided by regulations, which address specific and highly focused areas of the practices in public relations that recommend the best practices in the event that a practitioner might find himself in an ethical dilemma. The issues that are involved in this include the recording of conversations, which is used in the field of public relations to ensure accuracy. The regulations dictate that state laws should always be considered before this is done and consent must be sought before doing this. Plagiarism, although uncommon in the public relations industry can also be treated as a fraud or theft of intellectual property when a practitioner uses the thoughts of another author as their own original work without making any attempt to attribute the work. Social media Public relations has been revitalized by social media and the practitioners in the industry are progressively expanding their roles as they make a change from facilitators of communication to become the tactical public relations campaigners. Social media has made public relations practitioners adopt new responsibilities in their organizations, which give them an opportunity to expand their practice (Duhé, 2007, p. 100). Social media has assisted in the development of mechanisms that are employed in fostering employee cooperation and innovation that will end up producing communication that is more productive and programs that have a larger impact. Communications PR practitioners are part of a vital and progressively growing profession that assists organizations develop connections with people who have significance for them through practical and people-focused communication channels (Clear & Weideman, 2002, p. 9). This involves doming up with ideas that are developed into projects and events that will assist charities, businesses, government agencies and celebrities enhance their public profile through working with journalists in communication. Theorists Theorist Issue How issue was dealt with James Grunig Communication Organisations deserve communication that is effective which is delivered through public relations to help them create better relationships with clients (Grunig, 2013, p, 4) L. Marie Parkinson Regulation The content of political advertising and lobbying communication are not addressed by legal regulation since there are limitations on these two activities (Parkinson, 2007, p. 34) Deirdre K. Breakenridge Social media Public relations will continue to undergo transformations and developing monumental changes where handling communications in the public will increasingly employ the use of social media (Breakenridge, 2012) Theorists THEORIST THEIR IDEAS Brody (1987) Public relations is a functional level where it has been assigned responsibility for implementing organisational objectives but not for helping to develop them Kotler and Andreasen (1987) Marketing is a strategy but public relations is not and when public relations is restricted to the functional level it usually implements the strategies of other departments such as marketing or human resources and is restricted to the application of technique rather than the formulation of policy Pearce, Robinson (1982) A team from all three levels should develop and govern the strategic management process since in the 1960’s organisations have developed planning departments or staffs to coordinate the strategic process Brody pointed out that those public relations conventionally has been pushed to the practical level where it has been given the responsibility of executing the objectives of the organisation but not for helping in their development. Kotler and Andreasen concluded that marketing is a marketing strategy but public relations are not the same. This is because public relations is restricted to the functional level it usually implements the strategies that are meant for the other departments that entail marketing and human resources and is restricted to the application of the techniques that are required rather the formulation of policy. Pearce and Robinson on the other hand have the view that a team from all the three levels should be able to develop and govern the strategic management process and since the 1960’s organisations have been able to create and develop departments that deal with planning or employees that coordinate the strategic process. The planning departments have frequently been taking over the functions and the marketing departments, human resource department and the legal departments have been following suit thereby creating an encroachment problem which in the end will damage the ability of the organisation to deal with external relationships since this departments have no expertise in this field (Grunig, 2013, p. 119). There is no way of predicting how the theories that are associated with public relations will evolve to look like in the days to come but there is confidence that the idea that the public is a can direct itself in matters that deal with public relations. This will be the heart of the theory in the decades that are coming since public relations is a field that is dynamic and changing all the time (Botany and Hazleton, 2010). Practitioner Input Primary data The primary data that was established clearly showed that Bahrain does not go through the same political and religious struggles that the other countries in the region experience, and that most of the companies that operate in Bahrain that require public relations services are international. All these companies have their own unique approach to public relations since there are people from all over the world, which therefore means that good communication is a priority. It is also clear that the challenges that faced by the public relations industry in this region are unique to it. Key issues According to Sriramesh and Verčič (2003, p 100), the practitioners practice is mainly characterised by self-censorship and even though there are no concrete rules that govern, they still find a way of regulating themselves. He considers that race and religion as issues that done not have a huge potential of affecting the practices that are associated with public relations but at the same time they are issues that the practitioners must adhere to since they are sensitive and can easily cause social disintegration. There is also evidence in literature that shows that the public relations industry faces a number of issues that are the practitioners find difficult to deal with most of the time. Bernays, (2013, p.8), states that here has been increased competition in the PR consultancy industry; this has led to the firms undercutting each other making it difficult to attract clients with simple offers. The global agencies are cannibalizing the local agencies; most of the agencies are moving their head offices to the gulf, which therefore threatens the local agencies and this, this is exhibited by with the United States covering almost half of the PR consultancy in the region. There are very few local practitioners since there is insufficient talent that exploit the potential that is in this region making most of the workforce that are in PR consultancy expatriates. Young (2013) has the opinion that to counter the issue of increased competition, the practitioners are improving their services so that they can be in a position to attract clients in a better way. The practitioners that serve their clients the best generally get referrals and repeat clients .The issue of the global agencies is the most difficult to deal with since the region has many expatriates who come from different places in the globe. The local PR industry should find ways of training more of their own so that more of the local people can take up these jobs. In the social responsibility environment, there are a number of limited restrictions directed at the media but none among these has the likelihood of having an impact on public relation practitioners. Restrictions that are directed at obscenity, slanderous material and the material that can incite violence crime and spite are likely to be regulated to various degrees. Freitag and Stokes, (2009, p 77) think that the practitioners though are not likely to have engagements that border this kind of action and behaviour. In the case that there is a national emergency, the restrictions are normally tightened further. The issue of corruption of judgement is very serious as far as public relations people are concerned since the dispute most often than not comes from the interpretation of the facts but not the facts themselves as well as over conflicting value systems (Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg, 2013, p. 165). Social media, communication and regulation form some of the important issues that public relations practitioners experience on a daily basis in the process of doing their jobs. They are integral attributes of the functioning and success in the field of public relations currently. This is the reason why the practitioners should emphasize to everyone that wishes to be a part of this field and those who are in it already. Practitioners always aim to make sure that they have these three issues under control to make the running of business in the industry as smooth as possible. Research methodology Interviews were the source of primary data from the practitioners and they aimed at getting a key informant perspective of the issues that affect the public relations industry that exists in Bahrain. The type of interview that used was a brief survey that aimed at getting qualitative data from the respondents. The interview was structured so all the questions that were asked were planned beforehand. Practitioner Interviews There was picking of respondents from the list of public relations practitioners in a random sampling manner and a request sent to them asking if they would allow an interview at the time that would be most convenient to them. Overall, three interviews were carried out and the results compiled and analysed. The prospective respondents for the interviews got rationales for the research for a request to participate and for giving up there precious time since this action is of a particular significance (Bryman and Bell, 2011, 210). The type of rationale used in this case was a written one and delivered to the offices of the potential respondents. Analysis of results of the interviews For the analysis of the interviews, all the interview responses were read through and patterns that existed in the data that had be collected and data reduction then enabled the findings to be revealed in a manner that was simple and efficient through discourse analysis. From the interviews, it was clear that the main clients served by the practitioners that operated in Bahrain ranged from the government, multinational corporations, corporate firms and also influential individuals and politicians. Ali who works for Promoseven PR as a public relations consultant stated “the services that the public relations consultants offer the clients are important and aim at making sure that the communications that come from the clients are of substance.” On the other hand, when asked whether public relations are taking over the role that marketing is meant to play, Amin from Act Smart Public Relations responded that “the work that is done by the two departments totally differ from each other. This means that there is no way that the public relations can be taking over marketing even though they might work together once in a while.” Both Ali and Amin were of the opinion that the main problems faced by the public relations consultancies that operated in Bahrain came from the fact that many of the organizations and people did not correctly differentiate it from marketing while others thought that it was not necessary to employ these services. Amin went on to say that “the public relations sector is still growing in Bahrain and the industry has a lot to offer in terms of the services that are in the discipline that it deals with.” Ali agreed that the growth of the industry would mean that the services offered by the agencies that are there would continue to get better with time. Practitioners advise on career path in Bahrain From the practitioners view, it is important for any person that wants start a career in public relations to have what it takes to enable him or her to enjoy the job and be successful. For a smooth and successful career in this sector, the person must be interested in the career and enjoy brainstorming ideas and strategies that are creative while at the same time not being intimidated by deadlines and a fast-paced job environment. It helps to volunteer as an intern in a firm that is in the business of public relations, and gathering samples of work handled by the people in this field. The person that is interested in the career should also be interested with coming up with compelling story angles and always do research on the trends in the news world. Dealing with issues that issues that are associated with public relations System issues Sorting of system issues is through the development of a communication structure that is meant to guide the parts of the organisation in its endeavour to achieve the goals that it has targeted. The leaders of these organizations should create and maintain these internal structures. Situational issues In the case of situational issues, the firm that is facing an issue will have to be aware of the issue and recognise the potential that the issue has to affect them firm. Consequently, it can be able to deal with the issue in a manner that will be exhaustive without leaving some parts of the issue unattended. This will help the firm understand why there might be characteristics of being active on a single issue while others show it on multiple issues which will depend on the connection of the organization to the issue. Personal career plan Milestones After graduation, I hope to start a career in public relations and get employment in this sector since I have a lot of interest in how the field works as well as the communications issues it deals with, and assist the individuals and organisations that need the services that come from this sector. I would like to better the outcome of the services offered by public relations establishments by developing strategies that will be unique and innovative while focussing on the task to yield maximum success. In the first year of employment, I hope to work under an established public relations practitioner so that I can learn better in the real environment. At the end of the second year, I should have learnt enough to work independently and be able to self-motivate myself to complete the tasks assigned to me at the work place. After working for four years I hope to have gained good experience in the public relations field to be able to deal with the clients and also to help in orienting the new people that will be joining this career, Action points I have identified objectives for my action plan that will help me focus on the ideas that I have and enable me to achieve the goal that I desire. This will include getting involved more in the public relations sector so that I can be more familiar with the scene and also improving on the skills that I already have through taking seminars and short courses while taking time to self-evaluate myself regularly. This will make me better at prioritising tasks, achieving my goals and completing the work assigned to me in time and in the manner that they are supposed to be completed. Personal review Based on a self-evaluation that I have done, I can conclude that there is progress in the development towards these goals. According to the evaluation, I have found that I am self-motivated, intuitive and judging which means that I weigh ideas before executing them and generally motivate myself to work towards the results that are required of a particular task. I consider myself open to observations and ideas, and I think this trait will be important in helping me work with others in the same field also those that will be in different ones. Timelines Within a period of three years, I hope to have worked hard enough so that I can be able to secure a position in this area of my interest. After I achieve this, I hope that in the three years I hope to establish myself as a public relations practitioner and continue working in the field to gain as much experience as possible and establish the areas that are my strengths and weaknesses and focus on strengthening those areas that will be characterised by weakness. In five years I hope to have generated a network of clients and created a good name for myself in my field of operation to enable me to secure place in one of the leading PR firms as part of their work force Skills and knowledge As a form of preparation for the career field that I aspire to be a part of, I have strived to take many courses related and associated with this field. I have been able to take courses dealing with public relations so that I can understand better how the public relations industry works. I have also been able to enrol for classes that teach communication to better relate to the people that I aim to work with and those that I will be serving in my line of work. I have hope that the internship placement that I went through helped me to gain and acquire the basic and necessary skills that form the principles of working in this field and help me to deal with the weaknesses that I had by turning them into strengths that will help me advance the career that I hope to develop. Appendix Questionnaire 1. What comes to mind when you hear of public relations? 2. What services do public relations consultancies provide? 3. Who needs the services of a public relations consultant? 4. What is the difference between public relations and marketing? 5. What are the principles of good public relations? 6. What are the benefits of using the services of a public relations consultant? 7. How do public relations consultancies make communication from an organisation or an individual better? 8. Give examples of public relations consultancies. 9. What are the problems encountered when employing the services of public relations consultants? Interview questions 1. Who are your main clients? 2. How important is public relations to the clients that you serve today? 3. Will public relations ever take over marketing? 4. What problems do you encounter when dealing with clients? 5. Are there cases that public relations firms work with each other or are they always competing with each other? 6. What is the future of public relations? Bibliography Augsburg, K., Claus, I. A. and Randeree, K. 2009. Leadership and the Emirati woman. Lit.Münster. Botan, C. H. and Hazleton, V. 2010.Public relations theory II.Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Mahwah, N.J. Breakenridge, D. 2012. Social media and public relations (1st ed.). FT Press. Upper Saddle River, N.J. 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