Overtime, public relations has been defined in many different ways by different people, such definitions include:
Late Sam Black, a professor of public relations defined public relations as “the establishment of two-way communication to resolve conflict of interest by seeking common ground or areas of mutual interest and the establish of understanding based on truth, honesty and full information”.
The chartered institute of public relations, UK defines public relations as “the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics”.
Rex Harlow also defines public relations “as a distinctive management functions which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understand acceptance and cooperation between an organisation and its publics; involves the management of problems or issues; helps management to keep informed on, and responsive to public opinions; defines and emphasizes the responsibility of management to serve public interest; helps management to keep abreast of and effectively utilize change; serving as an early warning system to help anticipate trends; and uses research and sound ethical communication techniques as its principal tool”.
It is important to note that the globally accepted definitions of public relations was propounded in Mexico city in 1978 which is “ public relations is the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting consequences, counseling organizational leaders and implementing planned programme of action which will serve both the organization’s and public interest”.
Having considered the various definitions of public relations we could practically deduce that public relations is life encompassing and even the common man on the street takes part in one form of public relations activity or the other. It is important to note that public relations involves everything in life, from the sciences and Arts and to social sciences and as such it will be mistaken to say that public relations is just propaganda, sales promotion or event management as many people call it. Professionally there are a couple of prospects that public relations is known for i.e. to positively better the society. Some professional functions or prospects of public relations include the following;
1. Corporate Relations: The public relations person is one that is dependable, progressive, law abiding, and a truly useful member of a community such that a company or firm would be able to entrust certain task without fear of crashing.
2. Government Relations: Public relations proffer means of effective communication with the three tiers of government in order to win acceptance and goodwill.
3. Community Relations: These simply refer to ways and methods of fostering cordial business environment between an organization and the community. Public relations brings with it the social responsibility of an organisation to members of the community where such organization exist by sponsoring community relations programmes which can help to develop such community and as such making the citizens become more aware of the company’s strengths, resources, failings, needs and possible future development
4. Media Relations: The public relations practitioner aims at maintaining the confidence and goodwill of members of the mass media. The public relations person should understand how the journalist work, the pressure they undergo to meet deadlines of newsworthy stories and as such relate to them with patience in order to achieve his aims.
5. Employee Relations: This is the term used to describe the internal relationship between an organisation and its employees. Public relations aim at formulating and implementing formal policies for the internal publics of an organization in order to win and maintain goodwill and cooperation of the employees. The public relations can serve as a safety valve to cushion an organization against industrial unrest. Some of the materials that could be used to facilitate togetherness between an organisation and its staff are
a) Company handbook
b) House journals/newsletters
c) Management intercom
d) Bulletin boards/notice boards
e) Conference/seminars
f) Suggestions boxes and the likes.
6. Financial Relations : Public relations also aims at creating a virile relationship and understanding between an organisation and its financial stake holders such as share holders, stock exchanges banks, insurance brokers, financial analysts etc
Also from the definitions of public relations we could say that public relations concerned with activities like.
- Monitoring Changes
- Analyzing trends
- Predicting their consequences
- Counseling organisation leaders
- Implementing planned policies
- Identifying the organisations target publics
- Projecting appropriate images
According late Peter Onomo former public Relations Adviser of Nigeria Breweries Plc in order to improve professionalism the public relations person must also be involved in marking meaningful managerial discussions at various levels, which will enable his/her initiate actions that will project the Plus-Points of the organisation.
The A G M
Although, the Annual General Meeting is essentially a statutory activity under the direct supervision of the company’s secretary, it has public relations implication because of the involvement of third parties such as the shareholders, stock e.t.c it is therefore necessary for the public relations person to evolve a programme that will best project auchience.
CORPORATE MISSION
The public relations function to bring to bring up a concise mission statement that carries the company’s objectives and instills in the business, what the company stands out to achieve.
INFORMATION POLICY
The public relations person also takes part information policy formation and as such he should prepare a POLICY STATEMENT on whatever issue is agreed upon at various levels of management and becomes a standard answer.
RELATIONS AS A MANAGEMENT FUNCTION
Public relations as a management function should be placed within the management structure of any organization in order to get good result. This is because public relations practitioners are counselors or adviser, and they can only successfully counsel or advise decision makers if they know the true position of things.
Late Peter Onono submitted that “professionalism is the art of attaining the highest level of competence in one’s chosen field. Public relations has meant so many different things in the minds of different people but the basic fact remains that public relations perform the role of a LINK between an organization and its various TARGET PUBLICS. It is no exaggeration to say that of a CATALYST in the industrial operations of the organized private sector”.
Since management involves the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling an organization’s human, financial, physical and information resources to achieve organizational goals in an efficient and effective manners”. All of these functions of management are a part of public relations. The public relations person helps in the following:
Marketing: marketing embraces the whole process of finding out what the customers want, providing specification for manufacturing, packaging the Product, and distributing them. By this definition, public relation helps to create an understanding that will help to nurture the delicate plant of goodwill. This is an important support to the total marketing strategy. When customers know about your company through a systematic public relations programme, the goals and services are likely to be sold faster.
Public relation helps to establish a better communication link with the company’s diversified public, including the trade. By so doing public relations helps to project a favourable image for the economy. Also as a management function, public relations encompasses the following:
Anticipating, analyzing and interpreting public opinions, attitudes and issues that might impact, for good or ill, the operations and plan of the organization.
Counseling management at all levels in the organization with the regards to policy decisions courses of action and communications, taking into accountant their public ramifications and the organizations’ social responsibilities.
Researching, conducting, and evaluating on a continuing basis, programmes of action and communication, to achieve the informal public understanding necessary for the success of an organization’s aims.
Planning and implementing the organization’s effort to influence or change public policy.
Setting objectives, planning, budgeting, recruiting and training staff developing facilities.
Public relations provide an organization with new opportunities because the people involved in public relations interact with internal and external audiences than anyone else in the organization.
The public relations person also involves internal motivation which affects the bottom line by building morale, enhancing productivity and creating team spirit. It also helps to recruit qualified people and retain them
the publicity and promotional aspects of public relation pave the way for the sale of products or services, so much so that some companies have placed sales quotas on their product publicity people.
Public relations help to overcome isolation, something that affects every organization sooner or later. An inescapable function of the public relations practitioner is opening the eyes and ears of management to what’s really happening “out there”.
PUBLIC RELATIONS AS AN ANTI-CORRUPTION TOOL
One attribute of the public relations person is that he should at all times say the truth and nothing but the truth.
Peter L. Walker FCIPR at the recent “Awareness and Engagement campaign” on corruption stated that
“Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It hurts everyone whose life, livelihood or happiness depends on the integrity of people in a position of authority”.
(Wikipedia- Transparency International 2003).
When it comes to levels of awareness of corruption as the abuse of power of private gain, by advertising industry standards, the anti-corruption lobbies have done pretty well. Awareness is high; very high, so high that it has almost become accepted as a price society has to pay. But the question is; how can professionals in public relations and professional programmes as the important tools known to man in the 21st century build a corruption free society to which we aspire. How do public relations professionals use the methodologies, the processes, the technical tools and skills they have developed in this campaign.
Firstly, these public relations professionals would have to capitalize on the high level of awareness. This means working along side the technology and the specialist who currently create national and international anti-corruption measures. When this becomes meaningful it serves as a basis for a public relation management and campaign brief to die for. This professionals who have been trained on the principles of truth and honesty insist on transparency and accountability of the government, private organization and NGOS, such that this
Late Sam Black, a professor of public relations defined public relations as “the establishment of two-way communication to resolve conflict of interest by seeking common ground or areas of mutual interest and the establish of understanding based on truth, honesty and full information”.
The chartered institute of public relations, UK defines public relations as “the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics”.
Rex Harlow also defines public relations “as a distinctive management functions which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understand acceptance and cooperation between an organisation and its publics; involves the management of problems or issues; helps management to keep informed on, and responsive to public opinions; defines and emphasizes the responsibility of management to serve public interest; helps management to keep abreast of and effectively utilize change; serving as an early warning system to help anticipate trends; and uses research and sound ethical communication techniques as its principal tool”.
It is important to note that the globally accepted definitions of public relations was propounded in Mexico city in 1978 which is “ public relations is the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting consequences, counseling organizational leaders and implementing planned programme of action which will serve both the organization’s and public interest”.
Having considered the various definitions of public relations we could practically deduce that public relations is life encompassing and even the common man on the street takes part in one form of public relations activity or the other. It is important to note that public relations involves everything in life, from the sciences and Arts and to social sciences and as such it will be mistaken to say that public relations is just propaganda, sales promotion or event management as many people call it. Professionally there are a couple of prospects that public relations is known for i.e. to positively better the society. Some professional functions or prospects of public relations include the following;
1. Corporate Relations: The public relations person is one that is dependable, progressive, law abiding, and a truly useful member of a community such that a company or firm would be able to entrust certain task without fear of crashing.
2. Government Relations: Public relations proffer means of effective communication with the three tiers of government in order to win acceptance and goodwill.
3. Community Relations: These simply refer to ways and methods of fostering cordial business environment between an organization and the community. Public relations brings with it the social responsibility of an organisation to members of the community where such organization exist by sponsoring community relations programmes which can help to develop such community and as such making the citizens become more aware of the company’s strengths, resources, failings, needs and possible future development
4. Media Relations: The public relations practitioner aims at maintaining the confidence and goodwill of members of the mass media. The public relations person should understand how the journalist work, the pressure they undergo to meet deadlines of newsworthy stories and as such relate to them with patience in order to achieve his aims.
5. Employee Relations: This is the term used to describe the internal relationship between an organisation and its employees. Public relations aim at formulating and implementing formal policies for the internal publics of an organization in order to win and maintain goodwill and cooperation of the employees. The public relations can serve as a safety valve to cushion an organization against industrial unrest. Some of the materials that could be used to facilitate togetherness between an organisation and its staff are
a) Company handbook
b) House journals/newsletters
c) Management intercom
d) Bulletin boards/notice boards
e) Conference/seminars
f) Suggestions boxes and the likes.
6. Financial Relations : Public relations also aims at creating a virile relationship and understanding between an organisation and its financial stake holders such as share holders, stock exchanges banks, insurance brokers, financial analysts etc
Also from the definitions of public relations we could say that public relations concerned with activities like.
- Monitoring Changes
- Analyzing trends
- Predicting their consequences
- Counseling organisation leaders
- Implementing planned policies
- Identifying the organisations target publics
- Projecting appropriate images
According late Peter Onomo former public Relations Adviser of Nigeria Breweries Plc in order to improve professionalism the public relations person must also be involved in marking meaningful managerial discussions at various levels, which will enable his/her initiate actions that will project the Plus-Points of the organisation.
The A G M
Although, the Annual General Meeting is essentially a statutory activity under the direct supervision of the company’s secretary, it has public relations implication because of the involvement of third parties such as the shareholders, stock e.t.c it is therefore necessary for the public relations person to evolve a programme that will best project auchience.
CORPORATE MISSION
The public relations function to bring to bring up a concise mission statement that carries the company’s objectives and instills in the business, what the company stands out to achieve.
INFORMATION POLICY
The public relations person also takes part information policy formation and as such he should prepare a POLICY STATEMENT on whatever issue is agreed upon at various levels of management and becomes a standard answer.
RELATIONS AS A MANAGEMENT FUNCTION
Public relations as a management function should be placed within the management structure of any organization in order to get good result. This is because public relations practitioners are counselors or adviser, and they can only successfully counsel or advise decision makers if they know the true position of things.
Late Peter Onono submitted that “professionalism is the art of attaining the highest level of competence in one’s chosen field. Public relations has meant so many different things in the minds of different people but the basic fact remains that public relations perform the role of a LINK between an organization and its various TARGET PUBLICS. It is no exaggeration to say that of a CATALYST in the industrial operations of the organized private sector”.
Since management involves the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling an organization’s human, financial, physical and information resources to achieve organizational goals in an efficient and effective manners”. All of these functions of management are a part of public relations. The public relations person helps in the following:
Marketing: marketing embraces the whole process of finding out what the customers want, providing specification for manufacturing, packaging the Product, and distributing them. By this definition, public relation helps to create an understanding that will help to nurture the delicate plant of goodwill. This is an important support to the total marketing strategy. When customers know about your company through a systematic public relations programme, the goals and services are likely to be sold faster.
Public relation helps to establish a better communication link with the company’s diversified public, including the trade. By so doing public relations helps to project a favourable image for the economy. Also as a management function, public relations encompasses the following:
Anticipating, analyzing and interpreting public opinions, attitudes and issues that might impact, for good or ill, the operations and plan of the organization.
Counseling management at all levels in the organization with the regards to policy decisions courses of action and communications, taking into accountant their public ramifications and the organizations’ social responsibilities.
Researching, conducting, and evaluating on a continuing basis, programmes of action and communication, to achieve the informal public understanding necessary for the success of an organization’s aims.
Planning and implementing the organization’s effort to influence or change public policy.
Setting objectives, planning, budgeting, recruiting and training staff developing facilities.
Public relations provide an organization with new opportunities because the people involved in public relations interact with internal and external audiences than anyone else in the organization.
The public relations person also involves internal motivation which affects the bottom line by building morale, enhancing productivity and creating team spirit. It also helps to recruit qualified people and retain them
the publicity and promotional aspects of public relation pave the way for the sale of products or services, so much so that some companies have placed sales quotas on their product publicity people.
Public relations help to overcome isolation, something that affects every organization sooner or later. An inescapable function of the public relations practitioner is opening the eyes and ears of management to what’s really happening “out there”.
PUBLIC RELATIONS AS AN ANTI-CORRUPTION TOOL
One attribute of the public relations person is that he should at all times say the truth and nothing but the truth.
Peter L. Walker FCIPR at the recent “Awareness and Engagement campaign” on corruption stated that
“Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It hurts everyone whose life, livelihood or happiness depends on the integrity of people in a position of authority”.
(Wikipedia- Transparency International 2003).
When it comes to levels of awareness of corruption as the abuse of power of private gain, by advertising industry standards, the anti-corruption lobbies have done pretty well. Awareness is high; very high, so high that it has almost become accepted as a price society has to pay. But the question is; how can professionals in public relations and professional programmes as the important tools known to man in the 21st century build a corruption free society to which we aspire. How do public relations professionals use the methodologies, the processes, the technical tools and skills they have developed in this campaign.
Firstly, these public relations professionals would have to capitalize on the high level of awareness. This means working along side the technology and the specialist who currently create national and international anti-corruption measures. When this becomes meaningful it serves as a basis for a public relation management and campaign brief to die for. This professionals who have been trained on the principles of truth and honesty insist on transparency and accountability of the government, private organization and NGOS, such that this
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