Number: 9906 June, 1999

WORKING PAPER SERIES

 

 

 

Public relations strategy and planning - case study analyses

 

by

John Allert

 

 

School of Marketing

Curtin Business School

Curtin University of Technology

Perth, Western Australia

Tel: (+61-8) 9266 3882

Fax: (+61-8) 9266 3937

 

 

 

ISSN: 1327-8320

ISBN: 1 86342 753 8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Public Relations Strategy and Planning -

Case Study Analyses  

 

by

John Allert

 

ABSTRACT

In today's global business environment public relations impacts the strategic decision-making process by its involvement in the strategic design and by its central role in the dissemination across departments, borders, stakeholders and cultures. For the public relations function to be carried out with optimum outcomes, the public relations role must operate within the parameters of the decision-making dominant coalition. Examples are given from government and corporate public relations as to the structure, measurement and outcomes of professional public relations strategic practice.

Introduction

There is an urgency in the necessity for communicators to think and practice strategically in order to be relevant in today's organisation. This is not always as easy as it seems as communicators often aim for this goal in unfavourable, and at times, in an unsupportive environment. This is because many organisations do not see communication as being quantifiable or measurable in terms of results, therefore, communication may not be perceived as being strategic. Nevertheless, the communicator's role, as practiced through the discipline of public relations, does play a significant role in the national and international business world. The recent shift to strategic thinking and planning by public relations practitioners is a paramount reason why public relations is increasingly viewed as amongst the business professions.

In today's global business environment public relations impacts the strategic decision-making process by the dissemination of the strategy so that a full understanding can take place as a prerequisite for the building, consolidating and maintenance of relationships, that underpin the quintessential function of the public relations practitioner. Also, 'Strategic communication thinking

recognises the cause and effect relationship between our communication activities and the achievement of the organisation's mission. It means that communication programs support successful completion of the organisation's strategic activity in a measurable way' (Potter, 1998)

There are many different definitions of strategy, strategic thinking and strategic planning. There are also different types of strategies, such as long-term or classic strategic plans, emergent strategies and strategies designed for the implementation of business plans, public relations strategies for handle crisis management, issues, special events and industrial relations matters to name just a few. Strategies also exist at many different levels of an organisation and for many different purposes. In fact, the word 'strategy' confuses many students, as is evidenced by the submission of 'strategies' that are often nothing more than a list of good ideas, or campaign steps in chronological order of action.

Initially, strategy referred to the role of a military commander and his art and skill. It later came to mean managerial skill in administration, leadership, oration and power, for instance, and later was generalised to include all aspects of coordinating and planning intellectual and physical skills in order to best position oneself or organisation for the long-term purpose at hand. A simple but apt definition of strategy is that it is a series of planned activities designed and integrated to achieve a stated organisational goal. A more academic definition is that 'strategy is a pattern or plan that integrates an organisation's major goals, policies, and action sequences into a cohesive whole. A well-formulated strategy helps to marshal and allocate an organisation's resources into a unique and viable posture based on its relative internal competencies and shortcomings, anticipated changes in the environment and contingent moves by intelligent opponents' (Mintzberg and Quinn, 1991:5).

A public relations strategy, or strategic communication, is a process by which the leadership of an organisation deliberately manages its communications proactively so that they are open, candid, and focused on the marketplace and the customer as the first cause (D'Aprix, 1996:5). There are many ways in which one can define a public relation's strategy, such as simply instructing the involved public relations practitioner as to what to do and when to do it. The strategy orchestrates multiple messages to assure a harmonious flow of communication to produce optimum stakeholder/s response. The public relations strategy usually has two parts, these are the strategy statement, that defines primary objectives and organisational actions to be taken to achieve the strategic goals. The second part is the communications strategy, a list of communication efforts to be made, including a list of channels to be used for each. They should be accompanied by timetables that specify sequences of events and identify individuals responsible (Brody (1988).

 

Public Relations Strategy

Public relations strategy concentrates on the key role a public relations practitioner plays within the strategic decision-making process. For the public

relations function to be carried out with optimum results, the public relations role must operate within the parameters of the decision-making dominant coalition of the organisation.

This paper examines the long-term directions of an organisation through its strategic planning, and introduces the key concepts of goals, objectives, policies and programs, and the concomitant public relations strategies that should be either embedded in the organisation's major strategic plan or be compatible to it. From a public relations perspective, strategies need to be designed for communication with all target groups in mind, such as employees, government, pressure groups, community, and so on. Strategic decisions also need to be made to define an organisation's corporate image and ethical parameters, an order to determine how the organisation will respond to crisis and issues situations. Therefore, corporate culture, ideology, values and beliefs, systems and business processes influence the public relations strategic planning in social, economic and political contexts.

Before a strategy is devised, there are some basic questions that need to be asked such as: What business are we in? What is our purpose for existence? What are our aims? What do we stand for? How do we see ourselves? How do others see us? What values and beliefs do we hold? How can these be made manifest in our business? How do we view our clients? Each of these questions, and many more that could be added, should be seriously considered and satisfactorily answered before progressing in any business direction. Once a pattern emerges that clearly indicates where you should be heading, how you will proceed, why you are heading in your chosen direction and when you need to do what, you are ready to start building the framework of your strategic plan.

Vision and Mission

The first vital parts of this framework are your Vision Statement and your Mission Statement. These are essential components in defining what you are doing and where you are going. The Vision Statement describes the future state of the organisation at a selected time. It is best kept brief, only about two to four sentences and it should be quantifiable and agreed to by all member of the organisation, i.e. ideally it should be developed through group participation. The same principles apply to the Mission Statement. Once a future envisioned scenario is forecast through the Vision Statement, a Mission Statement is then formulated. A Mission Statement describes the broad practical steps of reaching the Vision. The Mission Statement tells who you are, what you do and why. The Mission Statement should be a brief, clear statement of the reasons for the organisation's existence, its purpose/s, the function/s it performs, its primary stakeholders, and the primary methods through which it fulfils its purpose. A Mission Statement is:

Consistent with and supports the organisation's Vision.

The roadmap that describes how the organisation will move to reach its visions

The means of telling people why the organisation is in business

The source of strategies that collectively create a business plan

When an organisation has an agreed Vision and Mission, it knows where it is going and how to get there. In other words, recent times have seen organisations developing strategic planning processes where management determines the best direction for the organisation and its ultimate destination and succinctly formulates these determinations into a Vision Statement. Once the Vision is developed, the organisation usually compares its present position with its desired future and determines ways to close the gap between the two - this process is often known as 'gap analysis'. The Mission Statement can then be formulated, which describes the broad practical steps to close the gap between the unsatisfactory present and its desired future - its vision. A note of caution is required here in explanation of the term 'unsatisfactory present'. If management sees the organisation as being currently perfect in all its aspects, then there is the danger of complacency setting in. Nothing stands still in the evolutionary process of life, this includes the evolution of an organisation, it either go forwards or backwards, if it stagnates it dies. Therefore, it is strategically sensible to acknowledge that one can always do better and that the present is fleeting and change is evident as soon as one tries to document a current situation. One of the great challenges for today's public relation's practitioner to be able to keep ahead of the rapid and dramatic changes that are taking place, particularly in relation to the strategic development of an organisation's future needs.

Here is an example of a public affairs mission statement, and public affairs strategies that clarify and define the mission, from Alinta Gas, a Western Australian government utility:

Public Affairs Mission - AlintaGas

'The Public Affairs Branch has a loyal and enthusiastic commitment to provide and facilitate effective and clear issues management, public relations activities, environmental management, corporate advertising and communications for AlintaGas employees, external customers and the media through the innovative use of visual, verbal, print and electronic means'.

The AlinaGas Public Affairs Strategies are divided into seven specific strategy sections that assist in further defining the Public Affairs Mission:

Strategy 1 - Internal communications

To establish and maintain a communications program with employees which promotes face to face dialogue, a well-informed, motivated and productive workforce.

Strategy 2 - Issues Management

Research, identify, monitor, manage and evaluate issues to minimise any adverse effects and to maximise positive opportunities for AlintaGas; develop and implement a media liaison program; manage communications in a crisis.

Strategy 3 - External Communications

To develop a working relationship and comprehensive program of communications with government, business and industry.

Strategy 4 - Environmental Management

To coordinate environmental activities through the Environmental Management Committee

Strategy 5 - Environmental Management

To enhance the corporate reputation of AlintaGas through the management and coordination of promotional activities and image development.

Strategy 6 - Community Relations

To develop effective communication and education programs which build a support base within the community and demonstrate good citizenship.

Strategy 7 - Professional Development

To pursue professional development opportunities and provide communication skills advise to the organisation. (Sweet, 1998)

Frequently, the Vision and the Mission will be associated with a set of corporate values summarising the expected attitudes and behaviour of employees. This brings us to an important and practical part of strategic planning and that is the development of key performance indicators (KPIs), also called key result areas, that most organisations use as measurable indicators of their progress towards achieving their mission.

Key performance indicators were developed to measure operational performance between one period and the next, measuring the most important performance results such as the number of product items manufactured and revenue. When it comes to public relations strategies, KPIs are less suited because much of public relations work can be intangible in nature and is not repeated on a regular basis and is therefore unsuited to statistical treatment. As a result, the public relations practitioner is often obliged to nominate KPIs that measure less important but more quantifiable areas of public relations. This may also mean that more inputs and outputs are measured rather than the more important outcomes, because inputs and outputs are easier to measure. This method of public relations evaluation is not very satisfactory, but often little choice is available, as the public relations strategy must fit into the prevailing management system.

There are couple of important points that a student of strategic public relations should be aware of in the area of management. Firstly, most executive directors, chief executive officers or their equivalents are people with a quantitative background, people with MBAs and from the sciences, therefore they look with their financial directors for percentages and statistics through what is known as the positivist methodology of research and evaluation, known also as the scientific method. On the other hand most public relations

practitioners and the type of findings that they are trying to ascertain belong more to the qualitative methodologies where units of meaning and understanding of the largely human factors of business are needed. This bias towards positivism is slowly changing as the importance of the human values of interaction and the global necessity of building international alliances are recognised. Management's increasing reliance on global reputation management is another reason for the acknowledgment of public relations practitioners' qualitative skills. However, it is important that the public relations professional understands both research methodologies, so that mutual understanding and constructive dissertations can be conducted.

The second point on management for the public relations students is that: you are likely to be only as good a public relations practitioner as your chief executive officer will allow you to be. Therefore, the first strategic move that one often needs to make is internally, i.e. educating management of the value of strategic public relation (the role for a professional public relations manager, not a public relations technician). The second strategic move relates to the first and that is getting yourself to be part of the dominant coalition in the decision-making arena, whereby you become influential in the shaping and development of the strategic plan rather than just the disseminator of other people's plans. It is important when devising the organisation's strategic plan that it is designed with its communication in mind, therefore the public relations practitioner's input into the design will influence its ability to be understood by all of the stakeholders. It should be noted that unless an organisation's strategy can be understood and hence accepted by stakeholders then it remains an unworkable document.

Strategic Planning

The public relations strategic plan is similar in format to other strategic plans such as a business or marketing plan so that management can readily relate to the format. One such format, is that of Lester Potter's (1997) Ten Step Strategic Communication Plan. This format, below, can cover situations ranging from an annual plan through to a specific or single issue over a shorter timeframe. The ten- point structure of the communication plan has been proven to meet the needs of many types of organisations.

The Strategic Public Relations Plan

1. Executive summary

2. The communication process

3. Background

4. Situation analysis

5. Main message statement

6. Stakeholders

7. Messages for key stakeholders

8. Implementation

9. Budget

10.Monitoring and evaluation

 

 

 

1. Executive summary

Write this section last, after all other sections have been finished. Concisely cover:

the problem or opportunity that forms the need for the plan and its effect on the organisation

any research on which the plan is based

what the plan is expected to achieve (the plan's goals and objectives)

how it will be implemented and the time frame

how it will be evaluated.

1. The communication process

Often people who must approve or implement the plan are not familiar with professional public relations techniques. The plan should therefore include an outline of the communication assumptions and the benefits to management ('what's in it for me') to assist their understanding and gain support. This section should could include the following:

an outline of communication as a management tool

an outline of management's role in communication

an outline of how communication can help solve organisational problems and exploit opportunities.

1. Background

This section seeks to establish the need for the communication plan and could include:

A 'bullet-point' format list of major events leading up to the plan

Linkages between the organisational mission, objectives and key performance indicators and the plan

1. Situation analysis

The situation analysis should focus on the heart of the real issues, to dig deeper than superficial problems and reach key causes not effects, therefore:

List the issues to be addressed in the plan

For each issue, list the facts for and against it (a SWOT analysis could be used here, i.e. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)

1. Main message statement

Decide the overall major message the plan needs to convey to stakeholders.

2. Stakeholders

Information should at least include:

Specific description and location of each stakeholder group

Realistic breakdowns of the groups

1. Messages for key stakeholders

It is important to remember that one must tailor-make each message - one size does not fit all in public relations communication:

Include variations of the main message specifically targeted to each key stakeholder group

Allow for two-way communication

1. Implementation

A planning worksheet can be prepared which incorporates the various elements of the proposed plan for implementation. The four main headings of the worksheet include:

Problem/opportunity

Research and analyse issues

Identify stakeholders

Strategy

Develop the strategy with its goals and objectives

Implementation

Messages

Media

Timing

Cost

Measurement

Monitoring

Evaluation

Adjustments to implementation

 

 

1. Budget

The main areas in public relations annual budgets include:

Operational

research, publicity, corporate advertising and sponsorship, printing, photography, videotape production, web site development, consultancy activity

media monitoring

displays, exhibitions

Administrative

staff salaries, including subcontract and temporary staff; annual leave; long service leave; sick leave; public holidays and overtime

motor vehicles

entertainment, gifts and corporate hospitality

travel expenses

staff training

subscriptions and memberships

equipment, eg furniture, computer hardware and software, photocopiers, facsimile machines including updates and upgrades, telephones, mobile telephones

stationery, office supplies

office sundries, eg, couriers, office maintenance, taxis, petty cash

1. Monitoring and evaluation

The outcomes to be measured

The measurement technique

Cost of the measurement technique

Timing of the measurement

Changes to the public relations activity based on the evaluation

Value of Strategic Public Relations

The importance of strategic public relations as a highly valued function in the typical organisation is highlighted in a major survey conducted by the International Association of Business Communicators in the United States of America(Grunig, 1997: 286-300). The extensive survey of 5,000 people in 300 organisations, conducted Grunig, found that chief executives believed that corporate public relations is well worth investing in - in their view they assessed that a typical public relations department provides an average of 185% return on investment to the organisation. In other words it provides value worth about twice its cost. The return is even higher, about a 300% return on investment, when the chief executive officer supported a well-performing public relations department.

The study found that public relations tends to be valued more highly than the typical department in an organisation. One of the main reasons for its high standing was that it helped the organisation deal with major social issues - but only if the head of public relations was in a strategic management role. The study found that the single greatest determinant of communication excellence was having the expertise required of a strategic manager.

The Grunig-led study discovered that the top executive and the 'dominant coalition' of senior management understood the strategic role of communication and wanted to involve the communication function in strategic decision-making. However, it appears the greatest barrier in making this happen is the knowledge level, or what management perceives to be, the knowledge level of the top communicator. The study found that too many senior public relations practitioners still perceive themselves to be technicians or communicators concentrating on the technical, rather than the policy aspects of the function. This greatly reduces their effectiveness, this is why it is imperative that public relations students understand strategy, both from a management perspective and from the communication or public relations perspective. However, one must learn to think strategically before one can act and plan strategically.

The Grunig study outlined 12 characteristics of excellent communication departments (Grunig, 1992). In practical terms, the main five characteristics are summarised in the view that the excellent communication or public relations department:

1. is run by managers who make communication policy decisions and accept responsibility for the success or failure of the programs.

2. contributes significantly to the organisation's strategic plan and organisational decision-making.

3. works with top management to solve organisational problems that involve communication and relationships

4. facilitates two-way communication between top management and key stakeholders, helping them understand each other and developing win-win situations.

5. uses formal and informal research techniques to understand the environment inside and outside the organisation to identify key issues.

Chief executives set the tone for corporate communication. They spend up to three quarters of their time on internal and external communication. The head of public relations can only be truly effective with the backing of the chief executive and should have a direct line to that person, if not an actual reporting relationship.

Deciding on who should head the public relations function depends on the size of the organisation, the nature of its business and its objectives. Each organisation has to define its communication strategy in the way best geared to these needs.

The public relations role within these management structures is to influence the behaviour of people in relation to each other, through two-way communication. It should be noted that although the strategy discussion has been centred on organisational strategy in the sense of a corporation, there is no difference if the public relations consultant is dealing with a client out of a public relations consultancy. The public relations consultant still has to understand the business strategy of the client's organisation and work within the same or a similar framework to that of an internal public relations department head. A survey conducted by the author some years ago (Allert, 1992) indicated that the public relations practitioner was held in fairly high esteem by chief executives as far as the practitioners' skills of communication, media relations and publicity were concerned but too many of them simply did not understand business. This boils down to a lack of strategic understanding of how a business operates, its aims, its objectives and its reason for existence.

Grunig's definition of public relations is 'the management of communication between an organisation and its public's' (ibid;484). The word publics is an artificial contrivance of USA academics, does not exist in dictionaries and is never used in the business world. A better term is 'stakeholders'. It is crucial for the public relations function to directly support the goals of business, so the following definition provides the extra link:

Public relations is the management of communication between an organisation and its stakeholders to assist the organisation to achieve its mission (Harrison, 1996)

My own definition, "public relations is concerned with the building, consolidation and maintenance of relationships" centres the function more on the relationship and on communication as the tool that helps to achieve that relationship. There are, of course, many definitions, cited in a range of books, the importance is that you understand what you need to know and do strategically to achieve your public relations goal/s. The organisation must also be clear about its mission, direction, values and objectives and that it must be certain that what it says is consistent with what it actually believes or does.

Harrison's extension of Grunig's definition of public relations implies a significant role for the public relations function in developing a strong corporate reputation for the organisation, which translates into a stronger

presence in the marketplace. A good reputation pays off because well-regarded organisations generally:

command premium prices for their products

recruit better calibre staff

attract greater loyalty from internal and external stakeholders

have more stable revenues

face fewer risks of crisis

are given greater latitude to act by their constituents (Frombrun, C.J.(1996:72)

Today, public relations is largely a management function and its role in building relationships, which are in essence another form of valuable resource, should be managed in the same way as other resources are managed (White and Mazur, 1995).

One way of pulling these practical and theoretical strategy pieces together is to give an insight into how Australian companies are using strategic public relations to help build better organisations through building better relationships. The first example is from a Western Australian Government department, the Ministry of Justice, which is a change management communication's strategy, and the second is from the international alumina company, Alcoa of Australia, demonstrating how the public relations function assists the corporate strategy in a Total Quality Management (TQM) company. These two examples have been chosen as they illustrate how strategic public relations can be implemented across the board from government to commercial enterprises.

Case Study No.1. Change Communication Plan for the Offender Management Division, Ministry of Justice (Sinclair, 1998)

The Rowland Company, a corporate communications management company was retained by the Western Australian Government's Ministry of Justice to prepare a strategic communications plan to support substantial change in the Offender Management Division, called the Prison Improvement Program (PIP), which focused largely on prison operations. During the period of the writing of this strategic communications plan, there had been substantial pressure put on the Ministry of Justice by the media by their negative reporting on suicide, deaths in custody, and overcrowding in Western Australian prisons.

Situation Analysis

Internally, one of the key goals of PIP was to effect the cultural change required to support reformed business practice. Considerable employee resistance to reform was expected and it was considered that the existing culture did not support sound communication practice. There were perceived to be considerable barriers to effective communication relating to issues such as status, power, authority; cultural and sub-cultural norms; implicit assumptions; loss or distortion of information; training and education.

The Rowland Company's consultancy brief was to capitalise on the progress of developing a communication plan, by incorporating overall improvements to employee communication in the Division, for on-going application. It was clear that separate communication plans would be required for the overall (macro) change program, directed at a broad base of stakeholders; and to support each individual project at the stakeholder level. Research to inform the initial communication planning document consisted primarily of desk research and semi-structured in depth interviews, including:

review of all the existing documentation with regard to the reform program; corporate and divisional strategy, structure and values

interviews with key personnel such as the Director-General, Executive Offender Management, PIP Project Manager and public affairs staff

stakeholders and issues identification workshops with Ministry of Justice executives and the PIP manager

Confidential, semi-structured one-on-one interviews with a broad cross section of 35 key internal opinion formers, designed to test the efficacy of existing communication practice and to identify organisational barriers to effective communication, including employee resistance, cultural and political issues.

Key feedback from the interviews was presented in a workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss the gap between best practice in employee communication and current practice within Offender Management; and to obtain an insight into the business/ operational imperatives impacting on the approach to communication - so that the communication objectives set and the plan design, were realistic, achievable and appropriate

Two key pertinent points made by the leadership at this workshop were that:

there is recognition in the top management team, of the role of communication and the principle for effective organisational communication. In addition, there is a commitment to demonstration of open and honest communication and a willingness to participate appropriately in the communication of PIP.

There is a strong imperative for rapid change, to be conducted on a broad front.

Communication Objectives

These considerations then informed the establishment of the communication objectives, below, and the design of the communications plan. These communication objectives are:

The Principles for Effective Change Communication

The first communication task is to ensure that the change imperative is clearly understood and accepted. This may parallel the task of communicating the nature of the change itself.

Major organisational communication barriers … political, cultural/subcultural, structural, historical, communication overload, status/power differences must be progressively alleviated.

There must be strong leadership, 'walking the talk; by demonstrating synergy, consensus of vision and commitment to honest and open communication.

The rhetoric - the key change messages - must match the reality … formally and symbolically.

There must be a strong consultative component to communication - an emphasis on two-way, symmetrical processes/tools involving and empowering those effected by the change or whose active support for change is required.

Communication must be research-based and responsive.

Communication must be integral to change planning and management.

There must be strong positive reinforcement for progress - communication of quick hits sustains change momentum and reduces fatigue.

Communication must be adequately resourced and vigorously managed.

It must have both 'macro' and 'micro' components, to be tailored and target audience specific.

Stakeholders

The degree of impact of the change is different across stakeholder groups and the desirable level of involvement among stakeholders varies, with different communication approaches achieving different outcomes. It was important that at all times the communication approach matched the business objectives and outcomes as laid down in the business strategy through the corporate plan. The corporate plan, of course, being the expansion of the vision and mission statements.

The stakeholders, and their concomitant levels of involvement can be divided broadly into four groups:

1. Those from whom commitment and active support is sought to make the change happen quickly and effectively, eg: project leaders and participants, prison superintendents, prison officers.

2. Those whose tactic support or cooperation is required, eg: union representatives, the prison population, prison support services, key personnel in other directories within Offender Management.

3. Those from whom awareness, understanding and acceptance of the improvements is required, eg: employees at large, key external opinion formers and special interest groups.

4. Those who need to be kept informed, eg: Project Officer, Public Affairs, some external stakeholders.

Supporting the Organisational Objectives

To improve the effectiveness of communication (downward, upward, lateral) within the Division, between the Division and the Ministry and between the Division and key stakeholders, a communications strategy was designed to support the Division's strategic objectives by:

Promoting understanding of the need for reform and the value of the change initiatives among all stakeholders - internal and external.

Establishing the level of commitment and active support of internal stakeholders, that will facilitate the timely and successful completion of change initiatives.

Achieving incremental progress towards the internal cultural and behavioural change required to support new business practices.

Improving the reputation of the Division among key external stakeholders.

This strategy was designed to be implemented by the Ministry's Public Affairs branch and that the responsible person would assume overall responsibility for management and coordination of the communication aspects of PIP and Offender Management employee communication in general. This person would:

Maintain the stakeholder database.

Develop and maintain current core information on the improvement program.

Be responsible for the development, distribution and monitoring of all communication tools.

Be the central repository for feedback from the internal and external stakeholders.

Assume responsibility for continuous improvement of employee communication within Offender Management.

The Communication Process

The communication strategic process is based on a continuous and ever-improving cycle of activity phases:

Starting with research/ evaluation to determine current stakeholder attitude relative to the Division's strategic direction and the efficacy of communication practice.

Progressing to determination of key messages and communication content, through to

Choice of communication tools, implementation, and so on again to research, repeating the cycle.

An integral part of the communication process is that of Key Communication Messages. The following core messages were suggested as being potentially powerful and universally appealing:

We are working towards re-establishing ours as a first-rate prison service; that is comparable to Australia's best; in we can all be proud to work; and to which has the full support of Government and the community.

Our ongoing improvement program is operationally based. It relies on the input, knowledge and efforts of our people, throughout the Division.

The improvement program is being facilitated and supported by an independent Project Office, housed in the Ministry.

For the key message statements to be effective, it is crucial that there is demonstrated commitment to these messages - that the rhetoric matches the reality - especially in the actions of the 'top team'.

Note: The entire communication strategy in this case study far exceeds the space available, therefore it should be noted that others aspects taken into the strategy, but listed here only be headings are: Core Communication Materials, Branding (of the project), Methodology, Employee Communications, Media Relations, Communications with other Stakeholders, Issues Management, Feedback, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Communication Matrices.

The final two points when devising a communications strategy is to be conscious of the

Principles of Effective Communication by:

Being open and honest - there needs to be a willingness on behalf of the communicator to share information freely, unless it is legitimately sensitive/confidential, in which case I this should be made clear to the listener.

Being two-way and responsive - communication works best if it is two-way, because people are more likely to listen to us if we listen to them.

Being receiver-oriented - It is not what our message does to the listener but what the listener does with our message that determines our success as communicators.

Being timely - people are more likely to support a change which affects them if they are consulted before the change is made.

Being clear and consistent - your communication should be based on clear consistent messages that are keyed to the success intent of your strategy.

Being comprehensive - make sure that everyone who has an interest in the project is included in your communication, and ensure that communication flows upwards, downwards and laterally.

The second point is to incorporate some basic steps into your communications plan:

Step One - Establishment of Objectives - these objectives must align with the objectives of the project. Objectives should be outcome based and measurable.

Step Two - Stakeholder Identification and Analysis - define and list your stakeholders. Ideally you would establish a modest data base of stakeholders with correct titles and current contact details, then it will be necessary to define their communication needs, preferences and /or concerns in relation to the project.

Step Three - Development of Key Messages and Core Material - as a resource you need a current body of information that is continually updated and kept on disc for ready application to the range of communication tools that you will use during the life of the project. You can draw on this material readily to 'cut and past' a memo, newsletter, answer a question or presentation notes , for example. Core information will generally include:

A set of key messages, generally highlighting the benefits o and reflecting the objectives of the project, for consistent application in all communication forms.

A basic fact sheet describing the project and explaining key aspects of it (what it is, where it fits in the overall strategy, how it will be run, who will be involved).

A question and answer document, which is a list of all the questions you anticipate or have received in relation to the project, and the answers.

Now to examine a different approach to strategic communication through Alcoa of Australia.

 

Case 2: Strategic Planning in Public Relations

Alcoa of Australia

Introduction

Alcoa of Australia Ltd is a part of Alcoa World Alumina, a global alliance between Alcoa Inc and WMC Limited. It operates two bauxite mines and three alumina refineries in Western Australia and two aluminium smelters in Victoria. It is the world’s biggest bauxite miner and alumina refiner, and sells its alumina and aluminium commodity products worldwide. Alcoa employs more than 5000 people in Australia, its balance sheet exceeds $3 billion, and it is one of Australia’s top 10 exporters.

The Public Relations Group comprises 19 FTEs (full-time equivalents) including dedicated administrative support, operating from six locations. The senior PR professional at five locations reports directly to the most senior line manager, and the Corporate Relations Manager reports direct to the Managing Director.

Alcoa’s strategic public relations planning is linked directly to the company’s business plan, and this case study describes through examples how the former is tailored to support the latter.

Note

The PR plan is a navigable document relying heavily on internal hyperlinks (MS-Word 7 or above) and is maintained as an electronic document accessible across Australia on Alcoa’s wide area network. As such, there are some practical problems in representing it in a printed format. Word underlining has been maintained to indicate where hyperlinks are being used, and are explained in the text.

Who is the Customer?

As the question implies, Alcoa Public Relations has built its planning architecture on Total Quality Management (TQM) principles. As such it must be capable of answering the key Quality questions:

Who is the customer

What does the customer want?

How can I meet or exceed the customer’s expectations?

The customer is Alcoa’s line management. Line management are those who are involved in a sequential production chain from accessing the bauxite lease through mining bauxite, refining alumina, smelting aluminium, and selling product, with a super-ordinate objective of creating value for our shareholders. Shareholder value can be defined as paying dividends, increasing the return on assets, and creating an expectation of rising share values.

What Does the Customer Want?

The customers have their own customers: shareholders, government, employees, public groups – anyone who is a stakeholder in Alcoa’s present and future. In most cases, PR planning looks past the primary customer to those stakeholders, and works to assist line management in satisfying legitimate stakeholder needs.

However, it is important in strategic planning that stakeholders are not confused with customers. By avoiding any confusion, Alcoa Public Relations (APR) maintains a consultancy attitude towards Alcoa line management, despite being almost totally an in-house function.

The customer wants an assured business horizon built on its vision:

Alcoa of Australia is a growing company, dedicated to excellence and to creating value for customers, employees, shareholders and the community through innovation, technology and operational expertise.

As an integral part of Alcoa World Alumina, we contribute to its aim to be the supplier of choice in the world alumina industry and a superior performer in its other business activities, generating stable and growing economic returns for its shareholders.

We pursue this vision in a manner consistent with our corporate values.

Our customers look to APR, along with other service functions in the company (legal, human resources, accounting etc), to support the company’s vision and objectives.

How Can We Meet or Exceed our Customer’s Expectations?

Alcoa management has accepted and endorsed advice from APR that to assure long-term business success, it requires six business enablers that are outcomes of PR processes. These are:

1. An Informed Public

Defined audiences and the general public have delivered to them the information they need to understand Alcoa’s operations and objectives.

2. A Supportive Public

Alcoa’s publics support the Enterprise’s operations and objectives, with measured positive attitudes substantially exceeding negative views.

3. An Informed Workforce

Alcoa’s employees are provided with efficient and comprehensive communications processes and content to ensure that they have delivered to them the information they need to understand and respond to Alcoa’s operations and objectives, and their role in the enterprise.

4. A Supportive Workforce

Alcoa’s employees support the Company’s operations and objectives, with measured positive attitudes substantially exceeding negative views.

 

 

5. A Responsive Management

Alcoa’s management have delivered to them the information and analysis they need to understand, predict and respond appropriately to changing standards and expectations amongst all the Company’s stakeholders.

6. A Facilitative Government

Government and Government Departments at Federal, State and Local levels understand Alcoa’s operations and objectives, and work with Alcoa to create an environment in which mutual goals can be attained.

APR works to build these business enablers, using a variety of planning, process and assessment tools, which collectively are characterised by:

Standardisation

Processes are standardised across all operating locations and managed within upper and lower control limits. APR will maintain these control limits at Current Best Method levels.

Continuous Improvement

In-control processes are managed to ensure continuous improvement in both the appropriate outcomes, and the cost-efficiency of operations within the control limits. Improvements in outcomes will be measurable and defined in consultation with our customers.

Teamwork

Standardised processes are developed by APR working as a team, ensuring ownership and level knowledge of all processes by its members.

Best Method

There are no barriers between members of the APR Group. Best Method transfer will be encouraged and recognised, both between Alcoa’s world-wide operating locations and by import from external sources.

The APR Toolbox

Alcoa Public Relations bases its strategic architecture on a series of planning and process tools, many of them sourced from those elements of TQM that have become embedded in a worldwide corporate template, known as the Alcoa Business System. The key tools comprise:

o A balanced scorecard.

o SIPOC charts.

o Process flow charts.

o Current best method work instructions.

o Outcomes measurement.

Each of these is examined in turn, with examples given. The linkages between each tool are explained, and some outcomes described.

Balanced Scorecards

The balanced scorecard is the top of the planning heirarchy, giving a single-document summary of the APR plan for the year ahead. The concept of a balanced scorecard is simple: it is not sufficient to do some things extremely well and others poorly, to give a "good average." Everything required of the function must be undertaken with the same level of success. A metaphor is the golfer’s scorecard, which shows equal success in driving, approach, putting etc. The following layout shows the elements of a balanced scorecard.

GOAL STRATEGIC

MILESTONES

LAGGING

INDICATORS

LEADING

INDICATORS

INITIATIVES

         

         

       

         

Goal

A simple statement of the objective. It answers the question: "When you have undertaken all the of actions you intend, where will you have got to?" In the case of APR there are six goals – to achieve the six business enablers described above. Thus a goal of APR is:

 

 

ALCOA WORLD ALUMINA – AUSTRALIA

BALANCED SCORECARD: PUBLIC RELATIONS

GOAL STRATEGIC

MILESTONES

LAGGING

INDICATORS

LEADING

INDICATORS

INITIATIVES

Supportive Publics

Alcoa’s publics will be supportive of our operations and objectives.

       

         

         

         

         

Note there is a slight difference between the goal statement and the business enabler statement. This is because the latter incorporates measurement, whereas in the balanced scorecard format the concept of measurement requires greater detail. The goal statement is clear and unambiguous – we know we will have achieved our destination when the various publics important to us are supportive of our operations and objectives.

Strategic Milestones

Quite clearly, these major goals are unlikely to be achieved overnight. Some of them are set on horizons a number of years away, and in that sense are the equivalent of vision statements. We know what it will be like when we get there, but there will be a number of stages to the journey. In some cases, different stages will require different tactics. Strategic milestones are designed to establish the completion of each stage, to provide a time-based monitor of planned progress. One such milestone might be:

GOAL STRATEGIC

MILESTONES

LAGGING

INDICATORS

LEADING

INDICATORS

INITIATIVES

Supportive Publics

Measured positive attitudes substantially exceed negative views by end-1999.

     

         

         

         

         

The hyperlink measured in the chart takes the user direct to a definition of the parameters of the measurement – which audiences are being measured, sample size, frequency, questions asked etc. Depending on the intensity of forward planning to reach the stated goal, there might be four or five such strategic milestones. If the balanced scorecard is being used as an annual plan, or if the goal is a near objective, there might be only one or two milestones.

Control limits

All measures should have upper as well as lower control limits. For example, if it is agreed that the ratio of positive public attitudes to negative attitudes should be no less than 65:35, an upper limit should also be set. It might be argued that in a typical population success is assured if four people support your operations and objectives for every one that is opposed – thus the results should always fall between 65:35 and 80:20. A process is "in control" if it always delivers a result between the upper and lower limits. It is just as much out of control if it delivers too many favourables as if it produces too few – too many means that shareholder funds, for example, have been wasted on programs that expensively win over those most resistant to the organisation’s position.

Capability

A program, plan or process is "capable" if the outcome is that which is necessary for the goal. McDonald’s is famous for its processes being both in control (each hamburger is produced precisely within tight upper and lower component and time limits) and capable (the products meet or exceed customer expectations, evidenced by McDonald’s producing more than 35 million services worldwide per day). Quality management demands that all critical process be both "in control" and "capable." The unrivalled record of Qantas as an airline demonstrates that the critical process of delivering passengers safely to their destination is in control and capable. (The less

successful record of on-time departures indicates higher variability for some critical processes!)

Lagging Indicators

The need for all strategic plans to incorporate measurable outcomes is well established. The balanced scorecard refines measurement into leading and lagging indicators, of which the latter is more familiar. Simply stated, a lagging indicator measures progress during our journey through time past successive milestones towards the final goal. In this context, the public survey gauge is very familiar.

GOAL STRATEGIC

MILESTONES

LAGGING

INDICATORS

LEADING

INDICATORS

INITIATIVES

Supportive Publics

Positive attitudes

Results of public attitude surveys.

   

         

         

         

         

The hyperlink leads directly to the results of the latest public survey, either within the same document or in a folder accessible to the link. The establishment of the balanced scorecard as a "one stop shop" for the APR strategic plan is an important feature of this tool, providing an access point to a wide range of supporting documents and records. The navigable facility of current word processing software allows users to easily jump to a related point, and then use a "back button" to return to the prior path. As will be shown, the linkages can extend as far as individual progress, performance review and career path planning – all based on actions to support business objectives.

Leading Indicators

New users of the balanced scorecard tool often find this column the most difficult to understand and complete. A lagging indicator measures something that has happened – thus the measured event is past, and though action can be taken to offset any undesired outcome, the event will always exist as something that has occurred.

It is preferable to be able to measure ahead of undesired events, so as to facilitate action that might prevent those outcomes. The predictive measure is a subtle tool, but without it a strategic plan amounts to not much more than a series of "if – then" scenarios. For example, using only lagging indicators, one would be forced to wait until it started to rain before bringing in the washing. Using the (tautologically labelled) leading indicator of weather forecasts, one would tend to not hang out the washing until a dry period was predicted.

Simply expressed, leading indicators are warning signs of undesired outcomes or, in their positive form, harbingers of success.

GOAL STRATEGIC

MILESTONES

LAGGING

INDICATORS

LEADING

INDICATORS

INITIATIVES

Supportive Publics

Positive attitudes

Survey results

Balance of good news / bad news articles in local media.

 

         

         

         

         

Once again, the hyperlink will lead to an updated record of that balance and can be integrated with the newsclip file system to allow rapid reference to past stories or tapes. Other leading indicators might be the range of publics helped through sponsorship programs, the number of awards won for critical items such as environmental performance, and the number of people from given stakeholder groups who ask to remain on a mailing list. In each case, these inputs must be just as measurable as outcomes.

Initiatives

This is familiar territory. It is a list of activities that will be undertaken over the period of the plan, through which it is expected that the leading indicators will all be green lights predicting that the lagging indicators will measure successful progress through the planned milestones to the stated goal. A list of initiatives is sometimes presented as a strategic plan, or is sometimes developed as the initial document leading to measurable outcomes. As has been shown, preferred strategic planning has the list of activities four steps downstream from the goals.

GOAL STRATEGIC

MILESTONES

LAGGING

INDICATORS

LEADING

INDICATORS

INITIATIVES

Supportive Positive Survey Media Assess portfolio of

Publics attitudes results balance sponsorships for gaps and equity.

Assess congruence of sponsorships with business objectives.

Ensure that national pollutant inventory data is accompanied by appropriate contextual information at source and at time of publication.

         

         

         

         

The hyperlinks in the initiatives column all lead to a particular person. That person will have a variety of initiatives to support different goals in the plan – some to build the informed employee enabler, some to build the facilitative government enabler etc. Those who specialise in a particular area such as government relations can expect more of their initiatives to be directed towards this enabler, but there is no reason why that specialist should not also have initiatives in other areas.

It is important that a person be responsible for completion of each initiative. Many initiatives will require teams to achieve the outcomes, and some of those teams will include other members of APR, other employees and external stakeholders and consultants. In those cases, the APR member will often be the team leader. But for the balanced scorecard to be effective as a strategic plan, an individual person must be accountable for each initiative. This supports Alcoa’s accountability value:

We are accountable - individually and in teams - for our actions and results.

Each individual’s set of initiatives becomes part of that person’s performance review, and the progress against plan is assessed at year-end through the Alcoa Performance Management process. While for obvious reasons the individual assessments are not part of the strategic document, the collated objectives of each APR member are part of the strategic plan. This allows all other APR members to develop a total view of the plan for the year, to learn from the progress of others, to see initiatives that they might not otherwise have thought of, and to transfer best method.

SIPOC Tool

Once an individual and an initiative have been linked, and an assessment made of an individual’s workload for the year (checking for under/over utilisation, or duplication of initiatives), each initiative is planned through the SIPOC process. A SIPOC is simply a chart used to determine for any given process:

The Suppliers

The Inputs

The Process

The Outcomes

The Customers

The following example involves the process of employee communication. The relevant elements of the balanced scorecard will have been:

 

 

 

Goal

Informed Workforce

Employees will understand and respond to Alcoa’s operations and objectives, and their role in the enterprise.

Milestones

Measured awareness of key initiatives will exceed 60%

Lagging Indicators

Results of awareness survey

Leading Indicators

Number of internal media stories which focus on business goals and initiatives.

Percentage of Employee Communication Officer’s time spent in measuring and raising levels of awareness of key initiatives.

Initiatives

Review all internal communication processes and content to ensure that they deliver to employees the information they need.

Deploy agreed process for measuring and raising levels of awareness.

Publish plant newsletters to include stories which focus on business goals and initiatives.

Publication of plant newsletters is an established process designed to facilitate communication objectives. The hyperlink publish leads to a SIPOC which details the elements involved in this process.

PROCESS: Newsletter production and distribution.

SUPPLIERS INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES CUSTOMERS

MANAGEMENTPERSONNEL

EQUIPMENT

FUNDING

APPROVALS

TRAINING

RESEARCH

WRITING

PHOTOGRAPHY

CLEARANCES

EDITING

LAYOUT

PRINTING

DISTRIBUTION

Every employee provided with a newsletter every month.

Newsletters conforming to style & content guidelines.

PRIMARY:

Location Management

SECONDARY:

WA Ops Mg’t

AofA Mg’t

AWA Mg’t

    PROMOTION    

EMPLOYEES

CONSULTANTS

LOCATIONS

INFORMATION

CLEARANCES

SURVEYS >85% of employees regularly reading newsletters.

Primary customer agrees that newsletters support

AUDIENCES

PRIMARY:

Employees

Emp. Families

      Location objectives. SECONDARY:

Local community

SECRETARIAL TYPING

FORMATTING

    Local Gov’t

Suppliers

        Customers

DEVELOPER PHOTOS      

PRINTER LAYOUT

PRINTING

     

PR GROUP STANDARDS

STYLE GUIDE

     

A SIPOC causes the process manager to think about more than just the central element of the process itself. Customers are downstream of all processes, and suppliers are upstream. The process manager is part of the chain – he or she is a customer of the suppliers, as well as the supplier of the customers. Where goods or services are involved, there is a wider context of the Alcoa Production System, with the over-arching principles:

Customer pull – make to use.

Eliminate waste – inventory management

People linchpin the system.

 

Process Flow Chart

The central column of a SIPOC briefly describes the process itself. This is taken to two further levels, designed to ensure:

o The process is in control and capable.

o The process is amenable to continuous improvement (Kaizen).

o All the knowledge in the process is retained in the business.

The standard format is a process flow chart, with newsletter production being again used as the example. Flow charts can have any level of complexity, and a judgement needs to be made about how exhaustively a given process should be described. The Alcoa standard is that a flow chart should be sufficiently simple that it can be understood and followed by a new PR professional without hesitation (this it has gaps that will rely on experience and professional knowledge to bridge); and that it should be sufficiently complex to ensure that the outcome is assured. All processes are deliberately described as CBMs (current best methods) to stimulate the view that they are open to continuous improvement, not set in stone.

 

NEWSLETTER PRODUCTION CBM

Newsletter Production and Distribution Work Instructions

Public Relations will research, write, edit, publish and distribute regular location newsletters. The content will vary to answer the needs of location managements, whilst the style will conform to agreed overall guidelines. Newsletters will be aimed to provide the general information needs of all Alcoa employees, while specialist newsletters may be published to meet the needs of specific employee groups.

The objectives in publishing internal newsletters are:

To provide a reliable and authoritative medium that has the acceptance of employees and the confidence of management.

To establish common goals and identity within each location.

To assist in communication and focus attention on location changes and events, workforce changes, safety, productivity and efficiency, and performance achievement.

CBM FLOWCHART STEPS

1. Develop Round

Identify a person within each major location area or workgroup who can be relied on the provide news of events, activities, achievements etc that could be of interest to the newsletter’s audience.

 

2. Program Time

Allocate and diarise time on a regular basis to research, interview, write and produce stories and photographs for the newsletter. Give this programmed time a high priority. Do not accept other appointments or tasks in its place unless the time is rescheduled. Strong stories and good production are impossible to achieve if attempted at the last minute. As a general guide, it will take at least a full day of elapsed time to produce a four-page newsletter.

3. Contact Correspondents

Check each person in the "round" for each edition. Most correspondents will not volunteer stories on a regular basis, but can discuss what is happening in their departments, from which will come the news lead. The more often they are contacted, the more likely they are to start volunteering story ideas, and perhaps undertaking some research and writing. Use the contact process to comment on (recognise) the publication of that correspondent’s latest story.

4. Obtain Story Leads

Apart from correspondents, there are many potential sources for stories. Personnel appointments, management meetings, authorised projects, news items from other locations etc will all provide leads for stories. Surveys show employees are particularly interested in personal and corporate achievements, in health and safety issues, and in information about new starters. People stories are always more widely read and remembered than

impersonal accounts. Newsletter content should include material from the location’s Social Club and provide space for employee classifieds.

 

 

5. Research or Interview

Research may involve contacting external sources, using the company library, developing an understanding of complex processes, or simply verifying material from established data. Good research avoids the need for subsequent corrections to stories. Journalists use five standard questions to cover each story, and they are particularly important for interviews.

Who did it?

What did they do?

How did they do it?

Where did it happen?

When did it happen?

Why did they do it?

Always check spellings, and specifically the correct spelling of a person’s name and their job title. Ask the person themself - do not rely on secondary sources. During the interview, ask questions that require more than a "yes" or "no" answer. Give the interviewee time to relax and feel comfortable about discussing the topic. Many people need to talk about an issue for some time before they get to the bottom line. Some people are nervous about talking "on the record." Always offer to check the story back with the interviewee, so that they will feel they retain control over the information. Interview in their office or workplace, so they feel "at home" and because often they will need to access a document.

6. Commission Stories

At times someone else might want to or need to write a newsletter story, because they have an important personal message, for example, or because they have technical expertise in the area. The newsletter editor needs to give correspondents help and guidelines around content, style and expression, and should always edit these contributions to ensure their readability. In many cases the stories will need to be subbed back to a suitable length, which will require some diplomacy with the contributor.

7. Write Stories

The beginning of an article - the "lead" - is as important as the whole story. The lead acts as a hook, enticing readers to read the rest of the piece. The lead must tell the reader what the story is about. Many people skim

publications, and only read the first one or two sentences unless they are involved in the topic.

Newsletter articles follow the same rules as a news story. Follow the pyramid rule, where information in the story is told in order of importance - the most important first and the least important last. The bottom line must be the top line.

Quotations are always important. They keep the reader interested and bring a human aspect into the story. Good quotes add credibility and immediacy to the article.

Short sentences are important. Each paragraph should contain a maximum of two sentences. Try setting an upper limit of 20 words per sentence, and ruthlessly break up longer sentences. As in the preceding sentence, learn to spot connective words such as "and".

The writing style should be friendly and informal, without being folksy, using easily comprehensible language. Avoid technical words and jargon. Spell out acronyms in first reference.

 

8. Edit Copy

Editing should produce a newsletter within the standard style. This style has been approved by senior management and the PR Group has agreed that proposed style changes will be referred to that group for endorsement. Elements of this style are:

Masthead "Location" Newsletter (e.g. Pinjarra Newsletter).

Frequency: Once a month.

Content: News items will target one or more of the PR enablers.

News items will have a specific communication objective.

Emphasise safety, quality improvement, environment.

Advertising can be included for Alcoa-supported events, non- commercial community groups and non-commercial employee classifieds (except "work wanted").

Social Club notes as provided by the clubs. Discounts or services to members should be news references only - not advertisements - and no commercial logos.

A standard box on the back page will include the address, Editor’s name and Australian Company Number (ACN).

Content must not include production costs, raw production data (some indexed data is OK), political comment, items protected by copyright.

Typeface: Body copy: 12pt Times New Roman.

Pic Captions: 12pt Times News Roman italic.

Headings: Times New Roman, covering the copy.

Paragraphs: No indent, flush left, ragged right.

Colour: One plus black.

Size:A4 portrait, minimum 4 pages (numbered), no maximum.

 

Conclusion

Strategic planning in Alcoa Public Relations is supported by a structure designed to cover the entire field, from the broad vision of half a dozen critical goals, through to the detail of the colours used in plant newsletters. The structure is built around Total Quality Management tools and is intended to be a framework for all planning. The content is dynamic, changing from year to year in terms of necessary initiatives, and evolving year after year as processes are steadily improved. Some areas of content have yet to be planned in detail, while others are already highly evolved. Alcoa Public Relations works as a team on standardising and improving processes, and works as an in-house consultancy in servicing the needs of its customers. The APR team is constantly looking for new initiatives and process enhancement, and welcomes all comment, advice and criticism.

Alcoa of Australia Limited.

Summary

Having developed some of the issues and concepts pertinent to organisational and public relations strategic planning, through theory, practice and case studies it may be helpful to recap on what has been discussed. On a thorough reading of this chapter, you should have a reasonable understanding on how one would be able to:

1. Define, understand and apply strategies in terms of public relations principles;

2. Identify the various ways public relations strategies fit into organisations, and the effect of corporate culture and ideology in the relationship;

3. Develop effective strategic vision and mission statements;

4. Understand the various strategic principles relevant to corporate reputation building and an ethical ethos;

5. Apply the knowledge of public relations strategies to projects, plans; for example, those relevant to corporate and government affairs.

6. Recognise the need for strategic evaluation and be capable of conducting audits and budget evaluation, and finally,

7. Think strategically in all aspects of public relations applications.

Further Readings

Many books have been written devoted solely to the discussion of strategy, therefore this chapter does not claim to be totally inclusive of all that you need to know on the subject of strategy, so in conclusion, here is a short list of books that will add to this introductory knowledge:

Caywood, C.L.ed. (1997) The Handbook of Strategic Public Relations & Integrated Communications, McGraw Hill, New York.

Kendall, R. (1996) Public Relations Campaign Strategies - Planning for Implementation, 2 ed. Harper Collins, New York.

Heath, R. L.(1997) Strategic issues Management - Organisations and Public Policy

Challenges, Sage, California.

McElreath, M. (1993) Managing Systematic and Ethical Public Relations, WCB Brown & Benchmark, Dubuque, Iowa.

Potter, L. (1997) The Communication Plan - The Heart of Strategic Communication, IABC Strategic Communicator Series, IABC, San Francisco.

Spicer, C.(1997) Organizational Public Relations - A Political Perspective, LEA, New Jersey.

White, J. and Mazur, L. (1995) Strategic Communications Management - Making Public Relations Work, E.I.U. Addison Wesley, Wokingham.

See reference page for additional titles.

 

References

Allert, J. (1992) A Delphi Study on Chief Executive's Attitudes to Public Relations' Practitioners' Competencies, non-published private survey.

Brody, E.W. (1988) Public Relations Programming and Production, Praeger, New York.

D'Aprix, R. (1996) Communicating for Change - connecting the Workplace with the Marketplace, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.

Frombrun, C.J (1996) Reputation. Realizing Value from the Corporate Image, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.

Grunig, J.ed.(1992) Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, New Jersey.

Grunig, L. 'Excellence in Public Relations' in The Handbook of Strategic Public Relations and Integrated Communications, ed. Catywood, C. L. , McGraw-Hill, New York

Harrison, K.(1996) Developing a Public Relations Strategy, cited in Public Relations 300 lecture, Curtin University of Technology, Perth.

Heath, R. L. (1997) Strategic Issues Management - Organisations and Public Policy Challenges, Sage, Thousand Oaks

Mintzberg, H. and Quinn, J.B. (1991) The Strategy Process - Concepts, Contexts, Cases, 2nd ed. Prentice Hall, New Jersey

Potter, L. (1997:39) The Communication Plan - The Heart of Strategic Communication, IABC Strategic Communicator Series, IABC, San Francisco.

Potter, L. Strategic Communication: Dead or in Demand as Never Before? Communication World, Special Edition, September 1998

Sinclair, M. (1998) Change Communication Plan for the Public Affairs Branch of The Ministry of Justice, Rowland Company, Perth.

Sweet, D. Public Affairs Manger, AlintaGas, Public Affairs Management, presented at a Curtin University, Public Relations 300 lecture, August 1998, Perth.

White, J. and Mazur, L. (1995) Strategic Communications Management - Making Public Relations Work, E.I.U. Addison Wesley, Wokingham.