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COM 215.800. Taejin Jung, Ph.D. Week 4: Organizational settings. Humble beginnings. In organizations Answering customer letters Writing an ad Preparing an annual report Giving a plant tour, handling visitors Liaison between organization and neighborhood. Economic change.
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COM 215.800 Taejin Jung, Ph.D. Week 4: Organizational settings
Humble beginnings In organizations • Answering customer letters • Writing an ad • Preparing an annual report • Giving a plant tour, handling visitors • Liaison between organization and neighborhood
Economic change affects organizational structure • Reorganization - Acquisitions, mergers - Divestitures - Downsizing - Reengineering • Downsizing - Layoffs, outsourcing • Globalization
Toward an “Integrated Perspective” • Downsizing and reengineering of organization. • Tight budget lead to avoid “advertising” - Building buzz word of mouth - Targeting influentials - Web marketing - Grassroot marketing - Media relations and product publicity - Event sponsorship “PR creates the brand. Advertising defends the brand” • Marketing of products and services can be affected by public and social policy.
Importance of Organizational Structure • The type of organization - Large & complex organization (e.g., IBM, GM…) - Small-scale with low complexity • Perception of top management • The capability of PR executive - Knowledge base in research - Environmental scanning - Problem solving - Managing total communication strategies
We report to . . . Internal counsel • Directly to CEO (55 percent by PRWeek) • Human resources • Marketing officer (39 percent by PRWeek) • Legal officer External counsel • Agency – the client-firm relationship → Tailor-made to suit a particular organization
The Internal Department • Advantage - Team membership - Knowledge of the organization - Economy to the organization - Availability to associates • Disadvantage - Loss of objectivity - Domination/subservience - Confused mission and roles
The Outside PR Firms Advantages - Variety of talents and skills - Objectives - Range of prior experience - Geographical scope of their operations - Ability to reinforce and upgrade a client’s internal staff - Media contact - Industry insiders • Disadvantages - Costs - Resistance to outside advice - Unforeseen conflicts of personality or conviction - Lack of understanding of PR by clients - Unavailability of client - Superficial grasp of organization’s unique problems
Playing well with others • Marketing - May not understand PR, just “publicity” or “journalism” - Customers vs. publics • Advertising - “Will it increase sales?” vs. “Will it make friends?” • Legal counsel - Court of law (no comment) vs. court of public opinion (virtues of openness) - Communication styles (esp. writing) - Ex) Labor contract negotiation, product recalls, layoffs… • Human resources - Turf wars (who is responsible for employee communication !!!) Be aware of “encroachment”
Management sets the tone • Integrity, social responsibility • Ex) Source Perrier’s bottle water / Exxon Valdez / TWA vs. Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol crisis • Commitment to PR • Retains PR counsel • Incorporates PR perspectives in policy making • Two-way symmetrical communication • Clearly defined goals, objectives
Staff Role • Line vs. staff functions - Line function: Engineering, production, and marketing - Staff function: Finance, legal, human resources, and public relations - A compulsory-advisory position (Johnson & Johnson vs. Enron) • Qualities of PR pro - Loyal - Counsel in decision making - Communication skills - Inspiration to help others - Honest, trustworthy, discrete
Needed to do the job • R-E-S-P-E-C-T • Inclusion of PR in planning, meetings, etc. • Cooperation, teamwork • Budget $$$ • Proximity • Access
Organizational charts • Top PR executive’s place on the organizational chart and reporting relationship to CEO • Reporting relationships & job function (pp. 65-66 in text)
Mega Agencies • Young & Rubicam, Inc. http://www.yr.com/yr/ • WPP Group http://www.wpp.com/ • Omnicom Group Inc. http://www.omnicomgroup.com/ • Boutique agencies vs. mega agencies
Organizational Chart Workshop
What are . . . Some organizational settings where PR is practiced?