STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS AND E-BUSINESS

Strategic Relationships and E-Business

Strategic Relationships and E-Business

The period relationship administration refers to the method of managing the connections between an association and its interior and external publics. In this context, John Ledingham (2003) defined an organization-public relationship as “the state which exists between an organization and its key publics in which the actions of either can impact the economic, social, cultural or political well-being of the other” (p. 184). Moreover, the concept recognizes relationships as the core focus of public relations.

The notion of relationship management represents a pivotal change in the nature and function of public relations. That change involves a rethinking of the role of communication message production and dissemination in public relations. Whereas earlier practitioners saw communication as the central function of public relations, today's public relations managers recognize the management of key relationships as the core function of public relations. Within that context, communication is envisioned as a strategic tool of public relations, with program evaluation centered on the impact of program initiatives on key relationships. That is, in today's practice, program success or failure is determined by the quality of organization-public relationships rather than the quantity of messages produced or the number of messages placed in the mass media.

The notion of relationships as the core concern of public relations emerged in the mid-1980s and has been the subject of a great deal of systematic inquiry over the past 20 years. The framework for managing relationships is the traditional management process of situational analysis, planning, program implementation, and impact evaluation. Further, relationships are seen as an exchange designed to support understanding and benefit both for an organization and interacting publics. Experience has shown that mutuality of understanding and benefit engenders long-term relationships, whereas initiatives designed primarily to benefit an organization—with public interest secondary—are not sustainable over time.

It also has been found that managing relationships in such a way as to generate mutual benefit results in positive public perceptions of an organization, perceptions that are manifest in support for an organization's public positions. Moreover, mutually beneficial relationships encourage loyalty toward an organization's product and/or services, providing a marketplace competitive advantage. Also, mutually beneficial relationships have been shown to protect an organization's market share in a competitive environment. Similarly, developing positive relationships with internal publics—such as employees—builds organizational morale, an important element in employee productivity. For the study and teaching of public relations, the so-called relational perspective provides an overarching framework for scholarly inquiry and for developing educational curricula.

It has been said that the emergence of relationship management as a foundation for public relations practice was spurred by four key developments:

Recognition of the central function of connections in public relations. Recognition of the central role of relationships—rather than the organization, the public, or the communication process—provided a unifying concept for public relations and gave rise to a major shift in the core focus of the discipline.

Reconceptualizing public relations as a administration function. The notion of managing organizationpublic relationships introduced managerial concepts and processes to a practice previously ...