Public Relations strategic roles

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Public Relations strategic roles

• REVISION
• Learning Units 2
• 25 March 2010

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Outcomes

• Revision of Learning Unit 2 to prepare for
  the mid-term test through
• questions and answers
• theory revision
• application discussions

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LU 2 Need for PRs strategic role

• Discuss concept of role and types of roles in
  strategic PR management pp 71-72
• Discuss the functional responsibilities of PR pp
  72
• Read and internalise the communication challenges
  article pp 73-74
• Differentiate between the different PR roles of
  strategist, manager, technician pp 74-75
• Discuss the theoretical framework of the
  strategist role of PR pp 77-78

• Discuss and apply PRs redefined roles at macro,
  meso and micro levels in an organisation in
  tabulated format pp 78-79
• Discuss and tabulate the roles of the strategist,
  manager and technician pp 75-77
• Discuss the metamorphosis of PR pp 77
• Discuss PR strategy p 78
• Read and internalise Lyme Bay case study pp 81-86

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Strategic Roles and PR 1

• Roles research aims to identify the types of
  practitioner roles that account for day-to-day
  activities of Public Relations
• 1970s PRPs seen as consultants to dominant
  coalitions (with power to make strategic
  decisions and change organisational structure)
  with each role providing distinct types of
  assistance
• Understanding PRP roles is essential to
  understanding PR
• Roles affect professional achievement and the
  structure and processes of the PR function and
  its organisational capacity to dominate or
  co-operate with its environments
• Roles enable performance measurement and
  determines how PRPs interact with environments
  and those with whom they cooperate

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Strategic Roles and PR 2

• Broom identified four theoretical roles
• expert prescriber conducts research, identifies
  problems, develops and implements programmes, has
  little/no influence on strategic decisions,
  passive in management
• communication facilitator go-between,
  interpreter, creates communication link between
  management and stakeholders, sensitive listener,
  information broker, removes barriers
• problem-solving process facilitator assists in
  problem solving, works with top management, part
  of strategic team
• technician provides communication and
  journalistic skills to implement
  activities/programmes, does not conduct research
  to plan or evaluate work

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PRs role in the organisation and society

• Public Relations role in an organisation is to
• Create mutual understanding and benefit, and
  beneficial relationships between organisation and
  publics
• Assist the organisation to achieve socially
  acceptable goals by creating a balance between
  commercial and social imperatives so that the
  organisation can adapt to or maintain its
  environments to help achieve strategic goals
• Manage reputation what the organisation says
  and does and what others say about it to help
  the organisation and its publics adapt to one
  another
• Source information to asses issues and advise
  management to integrate the knowledge into the
  organisations philosophy (the way in which the
  organisation functions and what it believes in)

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PRPs redefined strategist role 1

• Strategist
• Assists organisation to adapt to societal and
  stakeholder environments
• Feeds information into organisations strategy
  formulation process wrt strategic stakeholders,
  societal issues and the publics that emerge
  around the issues
• Monitors relevant environmental developments
• Anticipates consequences for organisations
  policies and strategies
• Fulfils the role of boundary spanner and windows
  and mirror roles
• Forms part of strategy formulation team
• Positioned at macro or top management level in
  organisation
• Tabulation on p 75 of Student Manual

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PRPs redefined manager role 2

• Manager
• Duties associated with middle management PLOC
• Functionally responsible for formulating
  communication strategy and implementation plan,
  counsel organisations leader about communication
  responsibilities and oversee PRs support to
  other functions
• Positioned at the functional, departmental or
  divisional level of an organisation
• Decides on communication to stakeholders to solve
  problems that developed in the relationship or to
  capitalise on opportunities presented
• Defines, differentiates and prioritises key
  strategic issues in strategy
• Conducts PR channel analysis and develops
  communication policy
• Develops strategic communication plan for all
  divisions

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PRPs redefined technician role 3

• Steyn Puth (2000) redefines this role as
• Technician
• Functions at implementation/operational level
  not management level role
• Responsible for implementing communication plans
  or campaigns directed at organisations
  stakeholders
• Skilled in the execution of Public Relations
  activities, such as writing, social media
  applications, event management, media liaison,
  website content management
• Traditional PRP role most often played by
  practitioners
• Assists PR manager in developing implementation
  plan/s from communication strategy

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Theoretical framework for Strategist 1

• PR is a dynamic and constantly developing field
  of study in a prominent and growing industry in
  SA
• Strategic Public Relations or strategic
  communication management (corporate
  communication) assumes PR has a strategic
  management function (Steyn, 2007)
• PR mandate is to function at strategic level of
  organisation
• Technology and new approaches to business led to
  metamorphosis in PR
• PRP strategist functions at top management level
  with responsibility for strategic PR management
• Done through environmental scanning, gathering
  info about stakeholder concerns and expectations
  to identify societal issues, interpreting the
  information and feeding the consequences into
  organisational strategies

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Theoretical framework for Strategist 2

• PR involved in both deliberate and emergent
  strategy formation Mintzbergs views (1987)
• As deliberate strategy pattern of decisions for
  using communication as strategic opportunity in
  organisational goal achievement
• As emergent strategy pattern of important
  decisions for using communication to solve
  problems in the organisation or in communication
  in unstructured situations or to capitalise on
  opportunities presented

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Macro, meso, micro levels

• Public Relations functions at macro, meso and
  micro levels in organisation
• Macro level looks at PRP role as that of a
  strategist
• Meso level looks at PRP role as that of a manager
• Micro level looks at PRP role as that of a
  technician
• Strategist role, through boundary spanning and
  environmental scanning provides input to top
  management levels and organisational strategy
  formulation processes
• PRP roles tabulated on p79 of your Student Manual

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Conclusion

• Role of PRP strategist highlighted to demonstrate
  the contribution that Public Relations makes to
  the organisation
• PRP roles at macro, meso and micro levels of
  organisation are implemented through mirror and
  window functions
• All three PRP roles therefore apply the mirror
  and/or window functions in a formal (information
  acquisition) or informal (information disposal)
  manner
• Inputs and outputs at strategic (top management),
  managerial (functional) and technician
  (implementation) levels of organisation

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LU 2 Questions PR strategic role 1

• Outline the functional responsibilities of PR
  with a strategic mandate p 72
• Discuss the redefined roles of PRPs as a
  strategist, manager and technician (in table or
  paragraph format) and give examples of
  implementation for each role p 75
• Explain the PRP role at the macro, meso and micro
  organisational levels (table or paragraph) p 79
• Discuss the functional responsibilities of a PR
  manager p 76
• Justify the need for a PRP to have a strategic
  role pp 78-79
• Explain boundary spanning as a Public Relations
  role p 76

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Answers Lyme Bay case study

• Lyme Bay case study pp 81-88
• Identify fulfilment of three different PRP roles
• Strategic role Environmental scanning, issues
  and consequences and identification of main key
  target and five strategic publics
• Managerial role Campaign planning, managing
  implementation and production of materials and
  approaches, partnership liaison (Marketiers),
  lobbying
• Technical/technician role Implementation of wide
  range of activities such as annual meetings,
  exhibitions, media campaign and website creation
  and tactics such as Lyme Bay Reefs report,
  postcards, running of e-petition, consultation
  responses, use of website

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Test 21 April 2011Assignment
6 May 2011Exam 6 June 2011

• Commitment to your studies gives you a
  conquerors attitude WIN IT ALL