Week 11

This chapter let me know identify the different cultural issues that apply to the practice of public relations in Asia. Understand the importance of identifying variables in public relations.

In this chapter we are interested in how public relations is shaped and applied in the countries that comprise the region under investigation. First though, the region needs to be defined, then some of the theories that have been used to influence public relations practice considered. We will then look at particular examples from the primary entities in which public relations is most frequently applied: corporations, governments, and not-for-profit organizations. The question of why public relations is important in Asia is also of interest, given that most of the countries that comprise the region vary enormously in what Van Leuven describes as ‘the three stage process of development’: form nation building; through market development; to establishment and maintenance of a regional interdependence.

From this reading, one theoretical model does not cover all aspects of public relations in Asia. Different types of practice and management need to be applied in different circumstances in different countries. Culture and language play important roles in developing relationships and framing issues. Public relations have vast potential for all types of strategy developments from nation building to issues management. The contextual influences of government and culture are instrumental in defining how public relations operates in the countries studied in this reading.