CHAPTER 2

INTEGRATING PUBLIC
RELATIONS WITH STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT

ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS
2.1 PRs Role In The Organizational Structure
PR as part of the management team.
Considered essential in organizational management
In business world :
GOODWILL is considered an ASSET
FINANCIAL MEDIA look for INVESTOR RELATIONS (for
comment)
GLOBAL MEDIA ask for a SPOKESPERSON (if crisis
arise)
ORGANIZATION needs someone to play in COURT OF
PUBLIC OPINION.
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-Therefore Public Relations is valued for its

strategic contribution.
-PR roles in organizational structure are:
1) it should act part of the management
team in formulating strategies for the
organization.
- developing problem-solving strategies for
the entire organization.
- Its department efforts should be integrated
and co-ordinated with the other
organizational units.
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2. being attentive to issues as they emerge,

monitoring them before they
crystallize into public opinion and advising
management how to handle the issues for positive
outcome to the organization.
-The public relations practitioners should report
directly to the CEO of the organization.
-By being the counsel to the top management, the
PR practioners can
interprete the philosophies, policies, programs and
practices of their management to the public and
convey the attitudes of public to their management
(Seitel, 1998, p.8).
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- Many PR departments are placed in the marketing,

administration or advertising department.

2.2 Public Relations Strategic Management Role

-Most organizations have mission statements that typically
make public commitments of citizenship obligations and
social responsibility.
-They are idealistic and inspirational statements designed
to give those in the organization a sense of purpose and
direction (Cutlip, Center, & Broom, 1994, p.350).
-Mission statements of the organizational goals, values,
and social responsibility serve two important purposes in
public relations (ibid, p.352)
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1) they commit the whole organization to

accountability, and that means visibility, or
communication of some sort.
2) the attitudes expressed provide a framework in
which public relations can devise its goals and
objectives, build its budgets, direct its talents,
devise its programmes and assess its impact.
Public relations department can justify its existence
by aligning and reconciling its activities with
managements goals and objectives which are
always tied with the organizations mission
statement.
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Public relations department help the organization achieve

its mission by:
1) collecting and analyzing information on the changing
knowledge, opinion, and behaviour of key publics and
stakeholder groups.
2) Serving as the central of source information about
organization and as official channel of communication
between an organization and its publics.
3) Communicating significant information, opinions and
interpretations to keep an organizations publics and other
stakeholders aware of organizational policies and action.
4) Co-ordinating activities that affect an organizations
relationships with its publics and other stakeholder groups.
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2.3 Public Relations Role In Reputation

Management
- decision that an organization make has four
broad sets of implications : operational, financial,
legal and reputation.
- The first three implications are understood to be
important for any business.
- The reputational aspect is often be ignored or
neglected.
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-The reputational implication can be defined

as those that impact the way in which an
organization is regarded by the publics with
whom it interacts.
- A decision has reputational implications if
it has the potential to affect the relationship
between the company and any of these
groups.
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-Reputation is an asset but it can become

liability if not carefully managed or if its
taken for granted.
- If it is to add value, it should be managed
with the same care and attention as any
other asset we have.
- There are two stages to the reputation
management process:
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1) earn the reputation through your

organizations behaviour as well as its
communications.
2) leverage the reputation so that it provides
a tangible business benefit.
How the organization can earn good reputation
management?
By demonstrating to the publics that your
organization does not only efficiently produces
and honestly sells goods and services, it also is
fair and equitable employer and a responsible
corporate citizen ( Wilcox, Ault, & Agee, 1995,
p.28).
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-there are several functions you need to uphold:

1) Protect the organization against attacks
2) Tell your story well when controversy arises.
3) Initiate programs to explains organizational
goals and policies
4) Make early identification of developing
problems so the organization can act quickly to
solve them
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5) Demonstrate that your company

follows good environmental practices
and urge management to do so
6) Protect and promote trademarks
and logos.

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2.4 Issue Management

Issue management is the capacity to understand,
mobilize, co-ordinate, and direct all strategic and
policy planning functions and all public
affairs/public relations skills, toward achievement
of one objective: meaning participation in creation
of public policy that affects personal and
institutional destiny. (Reilly, 1998,p449)

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- Public relations practitioners job is to

identify political, economic and social issues
which have impact on the organizationals
performance and profits.
- An issues can effect an organization in
three different ways:

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1) Those that effect an individual

organization
2) Those that affect a whole industry
3) Those that affect public interest,
taste or moral, such as toll increase for
roads.

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Seitel (1998, p.449) identified a five step-process for

issues management:

1) Identify issues with which the organization

must be concerned
2) Analyze and delimit each issue with respect to
its impact on constituent publics
3) Display the various strategic options available
to the organization
4) Implement an action programme to
communicate the organizations views and to
influence perceptions on the issue
5) Evaluate its programme in terms of reaching
organizational goals.
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There are three strategies to control issue:

1) Containment, for an emerging issue
2) Shaping, for one that has media attention, and
therefore, is on the public agenda
3) Coping for issues that face legislative,
regulatory or interest action.

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- The role of PR practitioner in issue

management:
The PR person is the most suitable person
to mange issues faced by the organization
because he/she has access both to the top
management and to the outside information.

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2.5 Crisis Management

-a crisis can come in any form or size and to any
type of organization.
-According to Steven Fink (1986, p.15):
A crisis is an unstable time or state of affairs in which a
decisive change is impending either one with the
distinct possibility of highly desirable and extreme
positive outcome. It is usually a 50-50 proportion, but
you can improve the odds.
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-According to Fink, if a crisis is handled well, it can

bring positive outcome.
- There are several warning signs about an
impending crisis including:
1) Escalating in intensity
2) Falling under close media or government
scrutiny
3) Interfering with the normal operations of
business
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4) Jeopardising the positive public image

presently enjoyed by a company or its
officers.
5) Damaging a companys bottom line in any
way.

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Principle in Crisis Communication (Seitel,

1998, p.459)
1) Speak first and often
2) Dont speculate
3) Go off the record at your peril
4) Stay with the facts
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5)

Be open, concerned and defensive

6) Make your point and repeat it
7) Dont war with the media
8) Establish yourself as the most
authoritative person

9) Stay calm, be truthful and co-operative

10) Never lie.
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