Managing Communication between the Public and the Organization - Assignment Example

Public relations Introduction Public Relations basically deal with maintaining a good public image for an organization or business (Seitel, 2006). Others consider it as a process of managing communication between the public and the organization. This is directed at ensuring that the organization maintains a good relationship with the community it serves as well as the general public. It is apparent that any organization that is associated with some level of discipline and good conduct, has taken some initiative to employ a good public image, which in essence defines what public relation is all about. However, Public Relations is not only applied in the organizations and business, it can also be applied at personal levels as it basically concerns maintaining a good reputation. This paper will consider three cases in order to illustrate how Public Relations are applied. Question 1 The world of business today is very competitive and therefore most organizations are implementing practices that will make them stand out among the rest in the competing industry, as well as making them appealing to the media and the general public (Seitel, 2006). Looking at this case for instance, one company, Mountain Spring Bottled Water has decided to sponsor the netball competition at the Forest Springs Community Sports Centre for a period of three years. Mountain Springs Bottled Water Company’s initiative to sponsor the race contains some significance both to the community and the company itself. First, such a process acts as a promotional strategy whereby the company can take the opportunity to market its products and make them known within the community. Thus, at the end of the race the company will have increased its market share as its products will have been known within the community. It might as well acquire higher sales. Second, the company will attain a good image from the community. The community will come to appreciate the efforts done by the company to sponsor the race and in turn change the community’s perception about the company as most of them will view the company as a philanthropic one that is ready to support the community. How research could be used to plan a campaign to launch and promote the relationship between the company and the community Research entails collecting information, and the amount of information determines the decision making process. Effective decisions are built on extensive information. In this case, Mountain Spring Bottled Water Company can conduct a research to identify the needs and the priorities of the community so that it can launch a campaign that will be directing at meeting the identified needs and priorities. In this way, the community will appreciate the activities of the company and in turn generate a good relationship between the community and the company. Therefore, research will enable the company identify the needs and the priorities of the community, and thus the company can implement the necessary measures to counter the identified needs in order to build a good rapport with the community. The company can also use research to identify effective intervention strategies that could be used to establish a good relationship with the community (Seib and Fitzpatrick, 1995). For instance, the community might have its cultural and religious beliefs and thus the company can apply approaches that respect these beliefs in order to promote a good relationship. Question 2 The major goal as to why businesses exist is for the purpose of making profits (Center and Jackson, 1995). However, it is also important for such businesses to be socially responsible. This means that the company takes responsibility of its actions such that it does not only make profits without taking consideration of its practices, but engages in practices that are harmless to the community its serves and the general public. Social responsibility calls for the organization to behave in an ethically manner and be sensitive to the cultural, environmental, social and economic issues. This helps the organization maintain a positive impact on the community and the general public. Lately, many people have been upset by activities of various organizations such as production of harmful products and the use of production approaches that contain harmful effects on the environment. As a result, most people have become conscious of the type of products they buy and more so, they type of companies producing such products (Stoykov and Valeria, 2005). Therefore, companies that are out for long-term profitability and consistence in the market have to be socially responsible (Macnamara, 2005). Consequently, increased globalization has increased consciousness among the consumers since most consumers today are conscious of what they purchase, with special consideration to the type of companies producing such products. Therefore, the only way companies can seek profitability and good public image is through being socially responsible. Indeed, effective organizational decisions are not only those that direct the company to attaining short-term profitably, but also consider the impact such decisions will have on the opinion of the general public, both at present and in the future (Seib and Fitzpatrick, 1995). It is also important for businesses to maintain good relationships with groups or individuals who do not have a direct relationship with the business. Maintaining good relationships with the public ensures the business acquires a general good image from the public (Stoykov and Valeria, 2005). Moreover, it is every business’ initiative to obtain a larger markets share as possible by targeting more and more customers. The public represents the potential customers and therefore the only way to persuade the public to consume your products is through maintaining a good relationship. In addition, maintaining a good relationship with the public gives a company a competitive advantage over the other companies (Macnamara, 2005). Consumers often tend to go for product from companies that have a general good image since their products are often considered the best over the others offered in the market (Center, and Jackson, 1995). Question 3 Public relations priorities of an organization versus those of the media in the event of a crisis There is a big difference when it comes to the public relations priorities between the media and the organization in the event of a crisis. For the organization, its main concern is to protect its image. It will therefore employ measures that will try to put the crisis under control, for instance, it can have one of its leaders to try to provide their side of story, illustrating measures that have been implemented to put the crisis under control. Even if it has to incur costs to implement measures that will ensure the organization will not enter into such crisis in the future. The major goal is to ensure the organizations image is protected in order to protect its customers. On the other hand the media’s priority is to make a good and exciting story that will capture the public’s attention and be able to sell amidst other stories (Biagi, 2005). They are not into maintaining the organization’s reputation, but their focus is to make a selling story. There have been numerous cases about the media exaggerating their reporting in an aim to capture the public’s attention (Biagi, 2005). Some organizations have even engaged in battles with the media since in most cases, the organization will have their own side of the story which is totally different from what the media is reporting. We can therefore conclude that the organization’s priority is to maintain its reputation while the media seeks to create an exciting story that will sell without considering the organization’s reputation. The reasons for these public relations priorities The organization’s priority is to control the crisis in an aim to protect its image and therefore maintain a good relationship with the public. This is based on the fact that maintaining a good relationship will enable the company to remain profitable and credible (Stoykov and Valeria, 2005) The organization will attempt to implement all it takes to ensure its reputation is maintained and that it continues being influential in the market. On the other hand, the media is interested in making an interesting story that will capture public attention. This is an aim of promoting the popularity of the media and certainly to attract more customers that will make the media company attain profits. The media does not have to maintain the reputation of any organization, but they are concerned at proving exciting stories that will capture public attention in order to make more sales. Conclusion Public Relation is mainly concerned with maintaining a good relationship between the organization and the general public. Organizations are constantly required to implement practices that are socially responsible. Socially responsibility means that the organization’s takes responsibility for its actions to ensure that the public is not harmed by the organization’s practices. Furthermore, social responsibility enables organizations to attain long-term responsibility as well as credibility. In the event of a crisis, the public relations priorities of the organization differ from those of the media. The organization’s priorities are directed towards maintaining the reputation of the organizations so that the public does not lose confidence in the organization, while the media is concerned with coming up with an interesting story about the crisis that will earn more sales for the company. Public Relation is thus concerned with how people relate with the organization. References: Biagi, S. 2005. Media/Impact: An Introduction to Mass Media. Chicago: Thomas Wadsworth Center, A, and Jackson, P, 1995. Public Relations Practices. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle Macnamara, J. 2005. Jim Macnamara's Public Relations Handbook, 5th Ed. Melbourne: Archipelago Press. Seib, P, and Fitzpatrick, K, 1995. Public Relations Ethics. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace and Company. Seitel, F. 2006. The Practice of Public Relations. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs Stoykov, L, and Valeria, P, 2005. Public Relations and Business Communication. Sofia: Ot Igla Do Konetz. Read More