Week 9

Corporate public relations offer outstanding career opportunities for those with the right blend of skills and experience. But it is highly demanding and requires practitioners of the highest caliber. Beginning public relations practitioners can build their expertise through gaining experience in such spheres as local community relations and employee communication. The most important driver of reputation is the quality of an organization’s relationships with its key stakeholders. The traditional, narrow emphasis of big business on making short-term profits at all costs to keep the shareholders happy is dangerously outmoded. Companies that build strong relationships with their other primary stakeholders not only enjoy a better reputation, but tent to be more financially successful in the long run as well. The corporate public relations practitioner, in focusing on reputation and the relationships and communication that build reputation recognizes the importance of these key things: that multiple aspects of what an organization says and does contribute to reputation, that organizations must have a clear vision of the reputation they aspire to and the nature of the relationships they would like to have, and that this vision must be clearly communicated within the organization.

This reading presents the view that issues management requires constant commitment from organizations and public relations practitioners to identify and understand issues, to monitor their growth, and to minimize potential impacts on the organization.

Diligence and awareness are essential characteristics of the role as a public relations practitioner. Issues management is an important component of proactive public relations programs. Organizations operate in an open environment; they must be responsive to the influence of public opinion and changing societal expectations. The process of attuning to audience and stakeholder issues and concerns, and being sensitive to the growth of public opinion on an issue of relevance to the organization, are key functions of the public relations practitioner.