Week 8

Public relations is uniquely placed to identify and understand the needs and expectations of the organization’s environment such as those related to climate change and filter these through decision making processes to generate a response or action that meets the combined needs of the organization and its environment. In the past, it might have been acceptable for public relations to simply create a favorable image of an environmentally aware organization, but today, publics and audiences are not satisfied with anything less than real action and real outcomes. This reading introduces us to the challenges facing the public relations management role in organizations and the employees’ role and position.

The public relations management role in organizations is grounded in systems theory. To achieve organizational goals, internal public relations practitioners must be aware of the relationships between the public relations function and other corporate functions. An important role is to build relationships with employees, with specific regard to communication channels and organizational culture. There is a need to build and maintain relationships with external publics, who have the potential to affect organizations during times of stability and change. Community engagement and corporate social responsibility are strong trends in current public relations practice. Contemporary challenges to the public relations management role are driven by changing expectations of publics and audiences. As operating environments change and new issues emerge, the public relations role will continue to change and to focus more on active involvement in organizational decision making and relational development at all levels.