Public relatives Methods for Multinational Business

Introduction

Many attempts have been made at defining the term public relations and many times it has been confused with the related fields of marketing and advertising. Although there are clear distinctions between the fields they are all intertwined. The lines are not always clear when it comes to defining the term, public relations draws on expertise and experience from many fields; it overlaps with other disciplines and tend to integrate rather than exclude which is one of its strength as a practice.

Defined Public Relations

Rex Harlow defined public relations as a distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation between an organization and its publics; involves the management of problems or issues; helps management to keep informed on and responsive to public opinion; defines and emphasizes the responsibility of management to serve the public interest; helps management keep abreast of and effectively utilize change, serving as an early warning system to help anticipate trends; and uses research and ethical communication techniques as its principal tools.

This definition gives us the general idea of public relation looking at it from many perspectives and we can see them being employed in many aspects of business and society today. For an enterprise, social organization or a government office the definition above can apply to any of their needs.

It was further defined as the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organization leaders and implementing planned programmed of action that will serve both the organization's and the publics interest.

The Merriam Webster dictionary characterises public relatives as the business of inducing the public to have comprehending for and goodwill in the direction of a person, firm, or organisation; furthermore : the degree of comprehending and generosity achieved.

Edward L. Bernays, nephew of Sigmund Freud defines it this way, 'Public relations means exactly what it says, relations of an organization, individual, idea, whatever, with the publics on which it is dependent for its existence. The public relations counsel is the practitioner, a professional, equipped by education, training and experience to give counsel to client or employer on relations with the publics on which the subject depends. He sets about his task by analysing the relations of the subject and the public on which it depends, for it social goals. He finds out the adjustments and maladjustments between the subject and these publics. He then suggests on the attitudes and actions essential to attain the communal goals, and then interprets the subject to the public. Public relation counsel functions on a two way street. He understands public to purchaser and purchaser to public.

Public relations gains an organization, individual, product or cause exposure to their intended audience using topics of public interest and news items that provide a third party endorsement. It usually involves public speaking, working with the media and internal communication within an organization or within departments. Public relations is not always having to deal with eh public ...