Public Relations
Hoorcollege 1
What are public relations?
- Management of communication of the organizations for example negotiation on points of
view and bridging interests.
- The development of relationships to help communicate about an organization, an issue, a
product or a person.
- Management of mutual understanding between an organization and its publics.
Terminology
Organizations: implies a boarder range of institutions than “firm” or “company”.
- When we talk of a company, we discuss a commercial entity.
-Organization implies a number of other institutions that don’t necessarily sell something,
but that might still be involved in public relations.
Pr vs. marketing vs. advertisement: the differences are very subtle. The core in the word pr is
in the word relation. The other two disciplines are not that focused on establishing
relationship with the press, people etc. Pr is also about your reputation.
Five themes
Crisis communication: how organizations frame communications in order to limit the
damage from crises depending on the origin of the crisis
- Media effects: how does the media influence public opinion and how can organizations
influence the media agenda
- Webcare: how can organization use social media to build and maintain a relationship with
their relevant audience
- Corporate social responsibility: what we are an organizations responsibility beyond print
and how can they be effectively communicated to the public
- Internal communications: how does the media influence public opinion and how can
organizations influence the media agenda
Kennisclips
Theme session: crisis communication
What is a crisis?
A crisis is a turning point in a situation, where an important change takes place, that could
determine a negative outcome.
For organizations, crises include:
- natural crises (floods, earthquakes, fires)
- political crises (corruption, changes in government
- internal crises (misconduct, abuse).
A crisis is the perception of an unpredictable event that threatens important expectancies of
stakeholders related to health, safety. Environmental, and economic issues and can
,seriously impact and organization’s performance generate negative outcomes
Without stakeholders there is no pr, there has to be a relationship.
Stakeholders in a crises can be defined as individuals, groups, communities or organizations,
who may affect, be affected by or perceive themselves to be affected by the crises.
Stakeholders are interconnected with eachother.
Why do we care about stakeholders?
- Interest around stakeholders comes from stakeholder theory. That is an economic theory
that posits that organizations are embedded in a series of relationships with other
organizations, communicties, and institutions such as governments.
according to this theory, the goal of an organization should be the mediation of eveyone’s
interest (and not just making profit)
“an organization’s success is dependent on how well it manages the relationships with
key groups such a customers, employees, suppliers, communities, financiers and others that
can affect the realization of its purpose”
If stakeholders (f.e. employees) are not happy about your brand this can have a spillover
effect and can affect your reputation.
Stakeholder classification: why and how?
Organizations as networks
- Most organizations, no matter if NGO or commercial, are involved in a number of
relationships that include people inside and outside of the organization. Not all the
stakeholders are equally important for your organization.
When thinking of how to respond to crises, organizations should understand:
- which stakeholders are affected
- how seriously they are affected
- what are the consequences of the stakeholders being affected
… This requires
, Figuring out who your stakeholders are and what your reaction should be is called
stakeholder management
At the center of establishing and maintaining relationships with stakeholders is
communication. Organizations should:
- be aware of whom to relate to in case of a crisis
- involve stakeholders in pre-crisis preparedness, for crises that can be prevented
- establish appropriate communication channels for each stakeholder
Step 1: identify stakeholders
Step 2: analyze stakeholders
Step 3: plan stakeholder communication
Step 4: engage stakeholders
Stakeholders management answers two questions:
Primary stakeholders: those who are directly, significantly or potentially affected by the
activities of the organization (employees, customers, suppliers etc.). This can also mean
those who are directly, significantly and potentially affected by a crisis.
Secondary stakeholders: those indirectly affected or for whom the impact is not that direct,
such as the media, special interest groups and authorities. People who are only involved
when there is a crisis.
Internal stakeholders: directly affected and take part in the organization’s decision making
and operation. F.e. managers, owners, employees.
External stakeholders: not involved in the organization’s operations. F.e. customers,
suppliers, authorities.
Hoorcollege 1
What are public relations?
- Management of communication of the organizations for example negotiation on points of
view and bridging interests.
- The development of relationships to help communicate about an organization, an issue, a
product or a person.
- Management of mutual understanding between an organization and its publics.
Terminology
Organizations: implies a boarder range of institutions than “firm” or “company”.
- When we talk of a company, we discuss a commercial entity.
-Organization implies a number of other institutions that don’t necessarily sell something,
but that might still be involved in public relations.
Pr vs. marketing vs. advertisement: the differences are very subtle. The core in the word pr is
in the word relation. The other two disciplines are not that focused on establishing
relationship with the press, people etc. Pr is also about your reputation.
Five themes
Crisis communication: how organizations frame communications in order to limit the
damage from crises depending on the origin of the crisis
- Media effects: how does the media influence public opinion and how can organizations
influence the media agenda
- Webcare: how can organization use social media to build and maintain a relationship with
their relevant audience
- Corporate social responsibility: what we are an organizations responsibility beyond print
and how can they be effectively communicated to the public
- Internal communications: how does the media influence public opinion and how can
organizations influence the media agenda
Kennisclips
Theme session: crisis communication
What is a crisis?
A crisis is a turning point in a situation, where an important change takes place, that could
determine a negative outcome.
For organizations, crises include:
- natural crises (floods, earthquakes, fires)
- political crises (corruption, changes in government
- internal crises (misconduct, abuse).
A crisis is the perception of an unpredictable event that threatens important expectancies of
stakeholders related to health, safety. Environmental, and economic issues and can
,seriously impact and organization’s performance generate negative outcomes
Without stakeholders there is no pr, there has to be a relationship.
Stakeholders in a crises can be defined as individuals, groups, communities or organizations,
who may affect, be affected by or perceive themselves to be affected by the crises.
Stakeholders are interconnected with eachother.
Why do we care about stakeholders?
- Interest around stakeholders comes from stakeholder theory. That is an economic theory
that posits that organizations are embedded in a series of relationships with other
organizations, communicties, and institutions such as governments.
according to this theory, the goal of an organization should be the mediation of eveyone’s
interest (and not just making profit)
“an organization’s success is dependent on how well it manages the relationships with
key groups such a customers, employees, suppliers, communities, financiers and others that
can affect the realization of its purpose”
If stakeholders (f.e. employees) are not happy about your brand this can have a spillover
effect and can affect your reputation.
Stakeholder classification: why and how?
Organizations as networks
- Most organizations, no matter if NGO or commercial, are involved in a number of
relationships that include people inside and outside of the organization. Not all the
stakeholders are equally important for your organization.
When thinking of how to respond to crises, organizations should understand:
- which stakeholders are affected
- how seriously they are affected
- what are the consequences of the stakeholders being affected
… This requires
, Figuring out who your stakeholders are and what your reaction should be is called
stakeholder management
At the center of establishing and maintaining relationships with stakeholders is
communication. Organizations should:
- be aware of whom to relate to in case of a crisis
- involve stakeholders in pre-crisis preparedness, for crises that can be prevented
- establish appropriate communication channels for each stakeholder
Step 1: identify stakeholders
Step 2: analyze stakeholders
Step 3: plan stakeholder communication
Step 4: engage stakeholders
Stakeholders management answers two questions:
Primary stakeholders: those who are directly, significantly or potentially affected by the
activities of the organization (employees, customers, suppliers etc.). This can also mean
those who are directly, significantly and potentially affected by a crisis.
Secondary stakeholders: those indirectly affected or for whom the impact is not that direct,
such as the media, special interest groups and authorities. People who are only involved
when there is a crisis.
Internal stakeholders: directly affected and take part in the organization’s decision making
and operation. F.e. managers, owners, employees.
External stakeholders: not involved in the organization’s operations. F.e. customers,
suppliers, authorities.
