Public Relations Techniques and Cases - Essay Example

Public Relation Techniques and Cases (Question Use of Case study in public relation Research A case study is one of the commonly used research methods in the field of public relations. Case study outlines how a product or service helped a given customer (Jaques, 2009). It is the most appropriate way to outline how business meets its different need of different customers. The case study can be featured on the companys website for its potential customers to see. Featuring the case study is critical because the public relation is an ongoing process and cannot be done at once and forgotten. Successful public relation requires continued building relationships, brand building and getting the company’s message out. A case study is a preferred strategy when ‘how’ or ‘why questions are being posed when the researcher has little control over events. The focus is always on contemporary phenomena within some real world context (Center et al., 2008). The researcher is enabled to research on real life events that cannot be controlled in the laboratory setting (Yin, 1994).The case study should use multiple evidence sources to increase validity (Jaques, 2008). The case study below highlighted the communication activities in the first phase of Phare and took an in-depth look at the model communication program developed in November 1997. The model was developed by Brussels-based public affairs consultancy to be used by the EU delegation to the 10 EU member countries. The model can apply to many other economic and political situations and cultural variables of a country. It emphasizes on one-on –one communication rather than involving the mass media. Background In the first years of operation from 1989-1994, the Phare program provided expertise to the member countries from a wide range of organizations ranging from non-commercial, public and even private. It acted as a multiplier by stimulating investments and responding to needs that cannot be met by other organizations. Phare also acted as a powerful catalyst for unlocking funds from other donors studies, guarantee schemes, and credit lines. It gives priority to the development of the private sector, restructuring of state enterprise and environment protection. Goals and Objectives Phares model activities were guided by two main objectives. The first goal was to help national and regional administration, as well as regulatory and supervisory bodies of candidate countries. The second priority was to help all partner countries bring their industries and major infrastructure up to EU standards by mobilizing the required investments Procedure The case study focused on how the above objectives would practically be demonstrated. This would ensure effectively communicate a highly complex topic to opinion leaders and gatekeepers. The three steps of the work program focused on research, communication activities and products. The research was carried out either face-to-face, over the telephone or through a written questionnaire. The research had three main objectives that included understanding the relationship between the delegation and its key target audiences; to inform the members on the research findings that drive the communication strategy and to serve better the information needed by the audiences. Communication activities involved were seven starting with rapid response service whose role was reply rapidly to journalists questions, negative media coverage, and general inquiries. The primary aim of communication was to improve understanding and raise the profile of the EU and its pre-accession strategy. Journalist lunch was the first communication venue. A delegation could host up to five of them per month. The second networking venue is an enlargement debate that was held at the University with a target of four debates per month. Third networking venue was via Phare project seminars, with the objective of improving understanding of EUs contribution to the accession process. All the networking activities were coordinated to avoid reputation and conflict with other groups. Results There are different political and economic contexts in which each delegation must communicate. The research showed that economic development might be closer to the European mainstream such as Hungary or still quite remote from it as in Albania. The goal of each delegation should be to meet the specific information needs of its country with the support of its local government. (Question 2) How to solve social issues in an organization Public relation is practiced in a variety of organizational context from in-house government or public affairs role to corporate communication roles. Public relation practitioners build and enhance the reputation of the organization towards achieving its goals (Steyn, 2007). Public relation also contributes maintaining an effective working environment within the organization through employee communication (Austin, 2000). Effective employee communication describes organization priorities and shares organizational information on what is happening. This enables the employees to understand and accept to change and focus their efforts towards helping the organization achieve their goals and mission (Wall, 2001). Public relation offers a framework and vocabulary for the effective coordination of all means of communication in an organization. The primary reason for establishing it is to ensure a favorable reputation with stakeholders upon which the company depends on for growth. Below is a description of how a given organization was able to solve a challenge of preparing its employees for change. Moving off the office is always a logistic problem for both a family and at a company level. The company had a problem of trying to move 200 employees to a new premise. Moving the employees and the necessity to change the way in which employees use their working environment was their main task. The program required to years for planning and required the expertise of public relation officers from a reputable institution for it to be successful. The company had to move because it needed to increase working space for its employees to enable them achieve at a maximum level. Although the change was very significant for the employee’s proper communication would play a critical role in preparing its employees for this change. Proper communication was essential for promoting far-reaching behavioral changes required to achieve its long-term goals. Public relation would enable them maintain business continuity during the move and create communication blueprint for future use. A communication company was appointed to develop and implement a robust communication strategy to support this strategy by use research. Research on new workplace design and cultural aspiration was done to identify potential issues and challenges. The stakeholders were briefed on areas such as maintaining business continuity while preparing employees for the move as well as the aspiration targets of promoting collaborative and sharing behavior the new workplace was designed to promote. A slogan statement reading ’Outside the square’ was used to focus the program and help internal audiences tune into the program. Six specific stages were used on this journey. Firstly was to announce, engage and excite the audience. Secondly, was to align and champion. Thirdly, to signal and promote. Fourthly, was to celebrate and embrace. Lastly, to reinforce and sustain. Each of the different stages used unique tactics to promote the key messages and desired behavior. The program not only created a sense of excitement and achievement but also dealt with employees concerns directly. This enabled identification of issues and collaborative solutions designed and implemented. The pre-relocation research found out that collaborative research had increased, and all the stakeholders had embraced the new way of working. The strategy was rated excellent and would be used for all the future relocation and changes in projects. (QUESTION 3) Organizational response to an event. The provision of $8 billion intercity rail project in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act renewed the effort to expand the intercity rail in the USA (BFR, 2015). The Obama administration announced that it would ask the Congress to provide $1billion annually towards the project. This initiative was included in the budget for the fiscal year 2010-2014. Two approaches would be used in the project. The first approach is by improving existing tracks and signals to allow trains to reach up to the speed of 110 miles per hour while the second approach deals with building new tracks exclusively dedicated to high-speed passengers rail service to allow trains travel up to 200miles per hour. The potential costs and benefits were relatively lower in the first approach than the second approach. There was a need for informing the public on the possible implications of the project both negative and positive. The implications would range from social economic and political. This would only be achieved through effective communication with the stakeholders. Communication was done through interviews, mass media and organization of public rallies where people were informed about the project. The public was involved by being asked to air their views concerning the project. The feasibility of the project was tested using SWOT analysis (Zellner, 2011). The technique is based on the strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats. Strength and weakness are usually internal to the organization while opportunities and threats relate to external factors. During the public rallies, people were informed of the advantages of the project. People were also informed of how the project will empower them both socially and economically. They were also taught on the obstacles and weakness of the project. Some would have to be relocated to allow the construction process. Despite the threats, the project was still supported by a majority of the people since the benefits far much outweighed the losses (Greasley, 2003). References Austin, E. (2000). Barriers to public relations program research. Journal of public relations research, 235-253. Board, F. R. (2015). Report on the EconomicWell-Being. Washington DC: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Center, A. H. (2008). Public Relations Practices. Managerial, 103-115. Greasley., A. (2003). Using business‐process simulation within a business‐process reengineering approach. Business Process, 408-420. Jaques, T. (2009). The case for case studies: Optimizing the use of communication cases. PRism, 72-75. Steyn, B. (2007). Contribution of Public Relations to Organizational Strategy. Challenges for the Next Generation, 158-168. T, J. (2008). A case study approach to issue and crisis management: Schadenfreude or an opportunity to learn? Journal of Communication Management, 192-203. Wall, S. (2001). Winning the public relations battle. Australian Banking & Finance, 3-10. Yin, R. (1994). Case study research. Thousand Oaks, CA. Zellner, G. (2011). A structured evaluation of business process improvement approaches. Business Process, 203-237. . Read More