Corporate Sustainability Communications: Aspects of Theory and ProfessionalizationSignitzer, Benno; Prexl, Anja
2007 Journal of Public Relations Research
doi: 10.1080/10627260701726996
Sustainable development, as defined in the Brundtland Report (Brundtland Commission, 1987), aims to meet the needs of both current and future generations. On the company level, implementing sustainability should guarantee long-term success and requires not only support of top management, but also networking of several other corporate systems. The aim of this article is to frame the role of communications in corporate sustainability processes. The authors notice that companies engage in communications about sustainability issues for marketing, business, and/or societal reasons. In addition to that, linkages between recent theoretical approaches to public relations and the concept of corporate sustainability communications are being established. Professionalization is recognized as important to secure the evolving field of action for public relations practitioners.
The People's Republic of China and FAPRA: Catalysts for Theory Building in Africa's Public RelationsPratt, Cornelius B.; Adamolekun, Whole
2007 Journal of Public Relations Research
doi: 10.1080/10627260701727002
Africa is experiencing an unusually high economic interest from the People's Republic of China, whose government has invested billions of dollars in schools, clinics, roads, railways, factories, and oil wells on the continent; has canceled more than $1.36 billion in debts owed to it by 33 African nations; and has pledged to provide Africa with $5 billion in preferential loans and credits through 2009. Its top party officials traverse the continent, seeking to develop business relationships and to reinforce others. While such efforts help place Africa on the cusp of significant economic growth, they also boost the programs and activities of the Nairobi, Kenya-based Federation of African Public Relations Associations (FAPRA), an umbrella body of all national public relations associations in Africa and a consultant to African governments and to the African Union. FAPRA has launched a 5-year action plan to improve the stature and social relevance of the public relations practice, largely through enhancing its efforts to professionalize it. Both China and FAPRA are, in essence, collaborating to create environments conducive to enhancing the practice in Africa, and to laying a foundation for an expansive view of public relations research—one that questions grand narratives, defines concepts, challenges orthodoxies, measures variables, and determines program outcomes or effects. And researchers and practitioners work together in creative ways to improve the practice. This article argues that questions and concepts are, in themselves, opportunities for a much-needed theory building in Africa's public relations. It, therefore, outlines 4 propositions as a template for such theory building, based on a 4-concept research agenda: culture, good governance and rule of law, economic freedom, and FAPRA's integrated programs and activities outlined in its 5-year action plan. The return of China … to global economic prominence in the twenty-first century is likely to reshape global politics and society. The overwhelming dominance of the West, which lasted half a millennium, is probably passé. We should view these developments not only with awe, but with anticipation. (Sachs, 2005, p. 187) We want to work in partnership with the international community, but we believe that it must be a partnership based on mutual respect and mutual accountability. (Former Namibian Prime Minister Geingob, 2006, p. 56)
Stakeholder Thinking and a Pedagogical Approach in Public Relations Processes: Experience From Transition SocietiesTampere, Kaja
2007 Journal of Public Relations Research
doi: 10.1080/10627260701727028
Public relations (PR) and communication management (CM) processes have mostly been studies in stable democratic societies. This article, focusing on the republics of the former Soviet Union in Central and Eastern Europe, takes a stakeholder analytical approach to the processes of PR and CM in such transition societies and the emergence of Western-style PR and CM concepts during the change from totalitarianism to democracy. Selected state institutions and businesses operating before, during, and after the transition period were examined; personal and questionnaire interviews were conducted, and policy documents and media texts were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative analysis and the innovative experience method. The results are presented in discussion format and indicate that if democracy, through the failure of PR and CM, does not match social expectations, the systems of totalitarianism are sufficiently durable in the public memory to return under democratic rules.
Public Relations in Japan: The Cultural Roots of KouhouCooper-Chen, Anne; Tanaka, Michiyo
2007 Journal of Public Relations Research
doi: 10.1080/10627260701727036
This article explores why Japan's PR industry remains under-developed compared to that of the United States. To explain how culture affects PR practice, it draws on the Hofstede (2001) dimensions of cultural variability. Long-term orientation results in stakeholders' patience in the face of new corporate directions (obviating the need for PR intervention) and stability in the choice of an agency, whether or not it performs spectacularly. High masculinity has meant the near absence of high-ranking women in corporate PR and indigenous agencies. Collectivism manifests itself in in-house rather than agency-based activities, a unique press club system and (slow) consensus decisions. (Slow reaction time and silence during crises can also be attributed to Japan's high-context communication style.) A specific aspect of collectivism—Japan's lifetime employment system—differentiates its PR practice from that of the United States; on-the-job rather than university-based training results in loyalty to the company, not the PR profession, as does life-long employees' movement in and out of PR duties. No system of professional accreditation exists in Japan.
Theory of International Public Relations, the Internet, and Activism: A Personal ReflectionWakefield, Robert I.
2007 Journal of Public Relations Research
doi: 10.1080/10627260701727069
With the increasing impact of globalization on public relations practice, it has been suggested that all public relations has become global. This article argues that there still is an important distinction between global and domestic public relations practices, and that understanding those differences will contribute to better global practice. The article defines international public relations and then explains the critical distinctions between practicing across borders versus purely domestic public relations efforts. The article then outlines theory building in the international realm of public relations over the past two decades. It concludes by suggesting needed refinements in this theory building so as to provide more adequate guides for those who are practicing or preparing to operate across the cultural, political, and economic boundaries that comprise comprehensive international public relations.