NATURE AND SCOPE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
NATURE AND FORM OF PUBLIC RELATION
No one can provide a magic formula for figuring out what form and nature of PR and organization will need. The approaches are many but the time constrains and budget limitation will prevent the organization or the PR person from pursuing all the avenues at one and the same time. It would be sensible to decide about specific jobs which are relevant to particular PR programmes for an organization. In any kind of human activity may it be in industry, commerce, education, health, local government or social service, they need to understand and use public relations and communication. Public relations involve two-way communication between an organization and its public. It requires listening to the constituencies on which an organization depends as well as analyzing and understanding the attitudes and behaviors of those audiences. Only then can an organization undertake an effective public relations campaign. Public relations should be seen as a management function in any organization. An effective communication, or public relations, plan for an organization is developed to communicate to an audience (whether internal or external publics) in such a way the me ssage coincides with organizational goals and seeks to benefit mutual interests w henever possible. Form of communication that is primarily directed to image building and that tends to deal with issues rather than specifically with products or services. Public relations uses publicity that does not necessitate payment in a wide variety of media and is often placed as news or item s of public interest. It would be better to make a checklist to find out the exactly the o rganization wants and what the PR person himself wants to achieve.
1) Extent of PR function To what extent the o rganizations use public relation? The PR function should be recognized as central to good management and able to act as a unifying force within the organization and in the way it’s itself. That way a schedule of activity can become campaign and a campaign can become a programme. 2) Level of PR function
This depends on the nature of business or services being provided by the organization. The point to think is corporations can be longer operating in an environment of confrontation. They must have the acceptance of the government and the citizens. Moreover, in handling sensitive issues, corporate management cannot do away with social, cultural, economic and political ethos existing in the community. 3) Target public ‘How to handle the target public’ is a frequently raised question for PR person. It has been acknowledged by the management that the PR person is a necessary link between the management and the various publics (audience). Fortunate this trust has arisen out of the services rendered by PR as a professional.
4) Maintaining goodwill In the long run goodwill always pays. In the early days business and industry could function in total secrecy without public scrutiny. In the present competitive society all sections of the economy i.e. private or public are under constant public gaze. It is equally important to guard the reputation once earned.
5) Evaluation of work PR person should always evaluate himself in his work environment. He should always appraise his own competence, acknowledge potential weakness and thereafter seek e xpert advice. One should be aware of and be sensitive to cultural environment or which one is working. While improving his professional capability a public relation person has to recognize his organizations re sponsibility
6) General areas of objectives It is mainly known as which and what are t he particular PR objectives do we tend to achieve. It mainly consists of changes we want to bring about. Terms like market standing, innovation, work performance and attitude and Public responsibilities are mainly comes in PR.
7) Communication skills Managing the strategy and skills of communication are an integral part of business policy and decision making. Ultimately, PR is involved in the management of organization behavior and also of the public
important to them. PR decides about the met hods and media of communication and when and how to use the target public. THE SCOPE OF PUBLIC RELATION
Public relation is a window of the corporation through which management can monitor external changes and simultaneously a window through which society can affect corporate policy.
Today most social conflicts are caused by changing values and higher expectation from the superiors.
We find regular conflicts between employer-employee consumer-manufacturer, managementshareholders, citizens-government and so on due to misconception and misunderstandings. These are generally the major challenges where public relation practitioners can play a crucial role. They should get to know the psychology of the public mind and acquire skill in solving and also avoiding such conflicts.
In our market economy there are information gaps which cannot be filled by the interaction of supply and demand via . cost, wages or prices. Here public relations activity steps in. It provides relevant information on planning technical and organizational developments, inventions and their potential utilization, etc.
The relations activity is becoming more and more important for the procurement of economically essential production factors. It makes it easier to tap the money-market or financing their projects by issuing bonds or shares.
If the corporation cultivates public relations, it is easier for them to acquire land from a community and bring in own interest in harmony with these o f the community. Today the public relation profession has even entered into the fields of non-commercial organizations, government departments, hospitals, universities and other non profit organizations. According to Edward L. Bernays, the fundamental laws and the necessity of public relation may be expre ssed in three words, information, adjustment and integration.
The scope of public relation is wide and also include political filed. Entrepreneurs, teachers, political leaders, social workers, religions, leaders are a ll involved in public relations day in and day out.
In business public relation is tool of management like marketing, production and finance. It is investing and creating asset for an organization which is finally reflected in improved performance profitability, and growth of the organization.
Successful public relation can be measured by its ability to convert negative situations into positive ones.
Public relations can do the following:
(a) Help win friends, influence people, persuade individuals, groups and in difficult situation bring about goodwill where needed and maintain goodwill where it is existing. (b) Create and build up image and reputation of individual, organization and nation.
(c) Public relations can bring out reward of mutual understanding and risks involved in misunderstanding between individuals, groups, government and nation. (d) Help the public to love life and work for better or for worse without condition.
(e) Forestall attacks by opponents or competitors. (f) Counsel employees to recognize that as human beings they are more of a complete structure.
(g) The possible areas where public relation plays its role. Promotional opportunity, new image, competitive challenge, rumour, crisis, conflict of interest, ineffective communication.
