This is a study of values and identity within the public relations profession in Malaysia.
Although the study has a national focus, its implications are global, because its context
is created by the intersection of three current areas of debate and examination: I) the
renewed focus on Asian values which seeks to articulate Asian values as a way of
supporting Asia's pathway to modernisation; 2) the open challenge to assumptions
about the transferability of theory between countries around the world, about whether
theory can be universal or whether different theories or different versions of theories
are needed to help explain practice in different parts of the world; and 3) the reemerging
focus on values underwriting the public relations profession.
Malaysia's growing public relations profession is playing a crucial communication role
in support of the country's move towards industrialisation. In Malaysia, issues of
culture, modernisation, Westernisation, and globalisation are both real and topical.
Through the values framework, the study aims to contribute in three ways: 1) To
develop and test an alternative, but equally useful, framework and method for
comparing public relations practice between countries; 2) to investigate the influence
of specific cultural and professional variables on public relations practice in Malaysia,
to hrther understand specific variables which might lead public relations practice to
differ between countries; and 3) to contribute to the definition of Asian values by
defining one component, that is, the personal and professional values of a sample of
public relations practitioners in Malaysia.
The research was undertaken in two parts. The first, using a survey and structured
interviews, examined the influence of two cultural variables (ethnicity and gender) and
two professional variables (years of experience and work environment) on values held.
Ethnicity and years of experience led to significant differences in the values held, with
each variable influencing different value dimensions. Gender and work environment
had some influence but generally in combination with ethnicity and years of experience
respectively. The study found a distinctive U-shaped curve related to years of
experience, which means that practitioners' value priorities change as they gain more
experience in the profession. All four of the variables studied could be significant in
accounting for difference in professional practice in other countries.
The second part, using repertory grid methodology, examined values and identity. It
identified core values central to public relations practice in Malaysia, and interpreted
these core values as statements of self-identity. The nature of identity as a public
relations practitioner may also account for differences in public relations practice
between countries.
Combining both parts, the study has revealed values that underwrite public relations
practice in Malaysia, the aspects of self-identity important to the profession, and the
way in which those values and identity have been influenced by cultural and
professional factors. It therefore leads towards the development of a theoretical
foundation for "culture-specific" public relations in Malaysia.
This exploratory study has generated findings which challenge the expectations of
Schwartz and Bilsky's values theory, on which the values analysis was based.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/221905 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | synmul@iinet.net.au, Gae Synnott |
| Publisher | Murdoch University |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://www.murdoch.edu.au/goto/CopyrightNotice, Copyright Gae Synnott |
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