· There is discussion question and respond of two students, I just need short response to each student respond 5-6 sentence for each respond.
Discussion 1 Explain how public relations is a strategic management function and how can you prepare for the practice in the future when the future is difficult to predict.
Student 1 response
Every organization’s management must include public relations as a strategic management function. The public relations function aids the organization in interacting with its stakeholders in order to meet its goals and act responsibly. Communication with top managers and the general public is controlled by communicators in strategic positions in a strategic management role. They coordinate management and public communication in order to create relationships with individuals who are most likely to influence or be affected by the company. Communication tools that promote conversation between management and the broader public impact organizational behavior.
I believe it is safe to predict that public relations will continue to thrive for many years to come, based on present trends. Inevitably, there will be a larger emphasis on online content and less on print.
In terms of public relations’ future, I believe we will see an increase in the number of individuals going to the internet for relatable information and organic, real-time reactions. There is and will continue to be a substantial shift away from journalist/writer-based public relations toward a customer-focused approach.
Public relations have changed to a more customer-focused approach in recent years, with customers playing a much larger role in how agencies pitch their clients to the media. I believe it is an important consideration, and strategies should be tweaked slightly to reach clients’ target customers with content that will result in a quick and valuable turnaround for the client, whether through product or service purchases, collaboration opportunities, impressions, or other means.
Student 2 response
In some organizations, Public Relations could be easily relegated to a functional communications role- simply responding to questions from reporters or the public and helping frame the conversation around a crisis. Strong organizations however know that Public Relations should have a seat at the table in terms of strategic management. PR teams at these types of organizations would be performing active market research to determine what the public thinks about their company/products, and could then inform other managing members so that adjustments could be made if needed. They could also determine what the public actually wants and steer the organization in that direction. And of course, they could be conducting proactive campaigns the help shape what the public wants and how the public perceives the organization/product.
Taking such a proactive approach can also help PR teams prepare for the future. They are actively helping to form attitudes before problems arise; essentially, they can control public opinion. Like with many things, studying the past can help predict the future as well. Looking back through the evolution of the PR practice and studying problems that cause it to come into existence can help prepare teams for the future, or even become future proof. They can learn about the tides of public option, delve into why prior strategies did or did not work, and learn from the mistakes and successes of others.
Discussion 2
Study the difference between the words public and stakeholder. Explain how they the function in public relations and public opinion.
Student 1 response
The word public is a catch all to describe the populace at large most directly affected by the user’s actions. It is typically the group that is most directly affected by the good, product or service being provided. A company, unless worldwide, isn’t typically going to refer to the population of the world as “the public”. Even in the event of the company being a worldwide company, they will often have companies and subsidiaries that directly interact with the various countries and communities of different regions.
A stakeholder is someone who has a vest interest in how the company does. A person who is regarded as an official stakeholder is typically a person who owns portions of that company called shares. They have a financial stake in said company. Whether they are hoping for the company to do well or terribly, they own portions of that company.
Student 2 response
A stakeholder is a person, group, or organization with a vested interest in an organization and value at risk of gain or loss based on corporate activities. Public is an interested person, group, or organization interested in an organization. Public includes current and potential customers, employees, vendors, suppliers, etc.
In public relations, the terms stakeholder and public are used interchangeably. However, Grunig and Repper differentiated the terms stakeholder and public. With public relations has evolved to meet the demands of evolving technology, stakeholder and public should be differentiated.
The terms stakeholder and public are more interchangeable when reviewing public opinion. Public opinion is a research of the perceptions of an organization by the stakeholder and public. The court of public opinion has become more evident, vocal, and volatile with the advent of digital communications. Social media bring events, issues, and personalities front and center around the world with 24/7 communications. Public relations teams measure public opinion to gauge what stakeholders and the public think about specific issues and what is needed to engage their support.
Discussion 3
What criteria should be used to determine public relations practitioners’ choice of a channel and medium to communicate with a specific public?
Student 1 response
The criteria used to determine public relations choice of channel and medium depend on several things.
The first is reach. Depending on the product good or service that the practitioner is peddling the reach could be anywhere from a few neighborhood blocks to nationwide. The practitioner will need to choose a channel and medium that will reach the audience that are targeting.
The second criteria is engagement. Placing an advertisement in the newspaper is unlikely to have the eyes hitting it today as it did in the 1940s. This is also true for magazines or newsletters. These items just do not have the engagement as a smartphone application or even a television advertisement.
The last, of this non-exhaustive list, is accuracy. The channel and medium should be reliable in their results. Websites like Vox.com are experiencing a decline in viewership and clicks where as Youtube has been described as replacing traditional media.
Student 2 response
The first thing a public relations practitioner must do when choosing a channel and medium to communicate with a specific public is to determine their specific objective, the actual message, the timeliness needed, and the budget. What are you trying to communicate, and how will the audience receive the message? Should it be funny or serious, brief or lengthy, public or private? Can your company afford a Super Bowl ad or is a strategically placed billboard more in your price range? Can your message wait to go out in the next edition of Time Magazine, or do you need to hold an immediate press conference with live news coverage? How much control do you need to have over the message, and can you afford someone skewing your message or taking you down a path you hoped to avoid in an interview?
Beyond just the budget, the public relations practitioner should also evaluate the cost effectiveness of the project. Just because you have the budget, do you really need to spend it? Will that Super Bowl commercial reach your intended audience effectively and get you the results you were looking for, and would have been able to find for a fraction of the cost through another medium. Your audience may not be concentrated in such a way that you can just take one shot at getting your message out; you may need to provide your message through multiple channels.
Discussion 4
What are editorial objectives and purposes of an employee publication and annual report.
Student 1 response
Communication is an essential aspect that many companies usually get wrong, especially when announcing changes. We all send and receive information differently. Employee publication helps connect executive leadership and the employee to drive the business. Communication should be early, concise, consistent, and correct. Employee publications are produced as town halls, new letters, fireside chats, and emails. The method of communication will depend on the message.
Publically traded companies are required to publish an audited annual report. The annual report is backward-looking and forward-looking at the company’s financial performance. The certified public accounting firm writes the notes to the financial statements. The company has little influence on how the information is presented to maintain the integrity of the audited data. The annual report does contain a letter to the shareholders, which is written by company leadership. The public relations team uses their expertise to craft a letter that explains the company’s performance and non-financial objectives and accomplishments.
Student 2 response
Mostly, the objectives of an employee publication is to communicate needed updates and policies to the rank and file of the organization that it is apart of. In a smaller company the application can be served by team meetings or human resources emails. In larger companies, the need for a publication is pronounced due to the possibility of a greater reach being needed. This is best used when there are various time zones and branches.
Annual reports serve a similar function to the employee publication but rather provided an overview of the previous year. It can provide insights into market fluctuations. It can provide relational information for those fluctuations and how they relate to the company. Annual reports also provide needed information to the shareholders, should the company have any, so they can make decisions that are informed. Annual reports also serve as an avenue for information for people and companies outside the organization to be used in their decisions.
Discussion5
Identify a crisis typology in Figure 12.1 and list an organization vulnerable situation. Develop a comprehensive list of publics/stakeholders and their impact of the crisis on them.
Student 1 response
I am a sports fan and enjoy watching baseball. With the strike at the beginning of the season, I used that scenario to build my crisis typology. With all the heartache in the world today, I chose a topic that is important to me.
The baseball strike would be unintentional and nonviolent. I chose unintentional and nonviolent as the baseball season was delayed, not canceled, and there were no damages.
Diehard Baseball Fans – the strike was a disruption and may have caused some anxiety about when the reason would start, but it was not a complete meltdown.
Casual Baseball Fans – the strike can turn public opinion away from watching baseball. We have seen in other major league sports strikes, viewership is lost. Since the strike ended with little disruption to the season, the casual baseball fan was not affected as much.
General Public – any Americans struggle to live paycheck to paycheck and work hard to provide for their family. Time and time again, we see major league players being rewarded with significant salaries. Yes, professional athletes have a unique skill that most do not; their demands can be excessive. At times, professional athletes have a negative public opinion because their perceived needs are outrageous and a turn-off for the general public.
Baseball Players – the baseball players had more to gain than to lose. The players were able to negotiate
· A new minimum major-league salary
· A $50 million bonus pool
· A draft lottery
· An improved luxury tax threshold
The list of public and stakeholders and how the strike affected them can go on and on and on. I would love to hear from my classmates about additional public or stakeholders and the impact from their perspective.
Student 2 response
While I was thinking through examples of the crisis typographies in Figure 12.1, it occurred to me that Hurricane Katrina is a kind of intersection of multiple typographies. At face value it could be identified as an Act of Nature crisis in the Violent category, but it was also an Unintentional crisis in the Violent category due to oil spills that accompanied it. For both the Act of Nature and Unintentional categories we saw them move to the Nonviolent stage as time went on. Here I am thinking of the businesses that were forced to close because of the displacement of residents and dip in the tourism industry, and residents who struggled to find help under FEMA.
So many different organizations were impacted or vulnerable in this situation, and some were both. If you google “the impact of Hurricane Katrina on___” the list that pops up is seemingly unending. I don’t think I can categorize anywhere near all of the publics impacted by this crisis, but below are a few of the major and unusual ones that I see:
Local Government – Local Government took a lot of criticism during this crisis, justifiably so, but they were also impacted by the natural disaster. Their economies were decimated, they had to deal with housing and feeding and a huge swath of the population, looting, rescue efforts, medical emergency management, and much more.
Federal Government – The Federal Government both contributed to and was hit hard by the devastating after effects of the hurricane. FEMA is still a four-letter-word after its mismanagement, The National Guard and US Army Corps of Engineers were deployed to assist in the situation, and New Orleans alone was granted $15 billion in federal funds just to bolster their flood-protection system
International Governments – Dozens of countries contributed funds and supplies, and Canada and Mexico deployed troops to the Gulf Coast to assist with cleanup and rebuilding.
Businesses and their stockholders – Insurance Companies were hit with tens of billions of dollars in claims, 25 % of all US oil & gas production ground to a halt in the wake of the hurricane and refineries were unable to operate in that part of the country, local business owners closed their doors due to property damage, resident displacement, and the hit to the tourism industry.
Farmers – The USDA and American Farm Bureau Federation estimated that Hurricane Katrina resulted in the loss of $882 million worth of crops, livestock, and aquaculture, and $2 billion in total damage to farmers when increased indirect costs like increased shipping rates and fuel prices were added in.
Public Residents lost their homes, their jobs, their friends, family, and pets. They were subjected to horrible situations in shelters like the Astrodome, and many became victims of crime. More than 800,000 housing units were destroyed leaving people with nothing to return to and nothing of their old lives. Not surprisingly mental health conditions and needs soared, also impacting the mental health community.
Animals – There are estimates that up to 70,000 household pets died during Hurricane Katrina, due to drowning, starvation, etc. Additionally, surveys showed that almost half of the residents who chose not to evacuate did so because they were not allowed to take their pets with them to shelters or wherever they were headed. There are also estimates that 200,000 to 600,000 pets were displaced during the disaster. Animal rescuers organized, PETA got involved, and the American public flooded Congress with letters over this situation. The fallout was so great that Congress passed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act almost unanimously to ensure this would not happen again. I believe that Animals/Pets would be a public here due to the way in which they were affected by the crisis, and the way in which the Federal Government was forced to respond to them. At the very least we could say that the special interest groups advocating for these animals are a public.
Nature – The oil spills that occurred as a result of Hurricane Katrina resulted in over 8 million gallons of oil spilling into the ground and waterways of Louisiana and Alabama. This obviously has a staggering impact on the areas’ wildlife as well. Although traditionally these groups would not be considered publics, they could start to become seen that way in the future due to situations like Lake Mary Jane that is suing to protect itself. If nature begins to have legal rights, they would absolutely be considered a public.
