To date, limited means of accurately measuring the communal organisational public relationships between an organisation and its various publics have been developed. Researchers and practitioners have acknowledged the need for a more accurate measurement tool. Previous analysis of communal relationships has typically been done in an anecdotal or non-quantifiable way. This study explores a new method of quantifying the relationship between an organisation and its publics and identifies the key themes and components that are important to a successful organisation-public relationship (OPR); this method allows organisations to more accurately measure their OPRs, diagnose their strengths and weaknesses and quantify changes in the relationships over time. In so doing, organisations will be able to improve their relationships with their stakeholders and work more effectively to achieve mutually beneficial goals. The study's findings contribute to defining the components that can be used to develop a tool that can be used by the public relations profession to more accurately reflect the status of communal relationships, and, perhaps more importantly, the changes in the status of the relationships over time. Increased objectivity in reflecting the status of the relationships between an organisation and its publics is likely to enable the profession to elevate its perceived status by providing a better service to organisations and their publics. This, in turn, will allow senior management teams to see clearly the value that public relations can provide to maximise the success of the organisation. The data obtained from this research provide insights into the priorities and expectations that external stakeholder groups have of organisations and how these expectations can be grouped into three key areas - how they are treated, the value that the relationships represent to them and how effective the communication is. The results provide practitioners with a valuable insight into ways of improving these OPRs, which in turn could assist organisations in achieving their goals.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/212756 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Hawkins, David Richard, davidh@socom.com.au |
| Publisher | RMIT University. Applied Communication |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://www.rmit.edu.au/help/disclaimer, Copyright David Richard Hawkins |
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