Week 10 (Chapter 6) - Research & Evaluation

This week's readings investigates on the needs and various techniques used for research, the ethical issues involved and the appropriate time for research.

Why research? Research is a human activity based on intellectual investigation and aimed at discovering, interpreting, and revising human knowledge on different aspects of the world. With no exception in the PR field, research is important at all stages of any PR process. It is used to identify the requirements for a communication program, to assist in establishing,checking of progress and evaluating the effectiveness.

I think the key points to remember from this week's readings would be the considerations and ethical considerations during the research process.

During the research process, PR practitioners will be faced with obstacles that might disrupt their decision. Time, money and availability of HR are the main obstacles that will be standing in the way of a thorough research program. As the research process gets long-term, it will be costly to continue. The budget set aside for the research program should be enough throughout the period of the research process. Tight deadlines drive PR practitioners attempting to "skive" and used short-cuts. Deciding on what to research is also another consideration, as there must be a balance between enough useful research instead of conducting irrelevant overflowing research. This will create the depletion of the budget and time set aside for the research process.


As PR practitioners, they should always practise no signs of dishonesty or hurtful manner, be conscious of coercion, no manipulation of data just to achieve their aims.

PRIA's Code of Ethics provide good guidelines for the practitioner:
- Full disclousre of the research procedure
- Make sure results are accurately reported and distributed freely and widely.
- Keep respondent information confidential as promised.
- Do not promise clients and sponsors what cannot be delivered.
- Do no harm.

Week 9 (Chapter 8) - Tactics

This week's readings investigates about the various types of tactics used in the PR industry.

Oh, it seems that the terms 'strategy' and 'tactics' have differences and yet interlinked to fit together.

By referring to the definitions on these 2 terms from this week's readings, strategy refers to an overarching plan that allows a PR practitioner to help ensure that organisational goals and objectives are achieved. On the other hand, tactics must relate directly back to its defined purpose: achieving the strategic outcome.

I think the key points to remember from this week's readings would be the grouping of tactics and the selection of tactics.

Tactics are being broken into two major groups: controlled and uncontrolled.

Controlled : No manipulation of any aspect of the process by anyone except the PR practitioner.
E.g. Advertising.

Uncontrolled: Can be altered or even be blocked completely.
E.g. Media Relations

When it comes to the selection of tactics, it is important to consider all the possible outcomes or consequences of using it. However, some PR practitioners seem to limit the tactics' effectiveness by applying them indiscriminately.

I agree with the concluding paragraph in the readings that there is no guaranteed correct set of tactics that will ensure successful implementation of a PR campaigns. Instead, it is important for the PR practitioner to be analytical and display creativity in considering tactics in the light of a complex range of impacting factors in order to achieve success.

Week 8 (Chapter 13) - Sponsorship and Event Managements

When people talk about sponsorship, it's natural that they will have an image of the sponsoring organisation trying to boost their image and reputation in their mindset.

This week's readings investigates about how organisations go about using specific tactics of sponsorship and special events in order to achieve their goals.

As mentioned in the readings, Sponsorship refers to the purchase of specific rights and benefits associated with an event, organisation or individual. It is one of the most expensive and popular tactics chose around in any industry. It usually requires a return, creates goodwill and provides opportunities to enhance the image and reputation of an organisation. Being simplistically regarded in the past, sponsorship has become a visible manifestation of community partnering.

I think the key points to remember from this week's readings would be the types of sponsorship and the management of events.

Basically, there are three types of sponsorship - Philanthropic, Corporate and Marketing. From my own point of view, I felt that philanthropic sponsorship is the most beneficial to any organisation. It not only generates community goodwill, it also generates goodwill in employees. On the other hand, marketing sponsorship are often seen as "spin-off" as it only aims to boost the sales by offering cash and goods in return for tangible revenue-oriented results.

It is important how the PR practitioner chooses the right event that will most suit the purpose of creating "fresh & juicy" news that will get the attention of the media. In addition, carefully managed events help to create platform for product demonstration, corporate/client entertainment and revenue generation.

When planning and carrying out of events get expensive, it is inevitable to look for good sponsorship support and achieve credibility in the eyes of the sponsor. However, sponsorship is not an one-way lane! It requires responsibility for positive benefits from the event organiser and the sponsor.

Week 6 (Chapter 10) - Media Relations

People often relate public relations practitioners dealings with the media as a part of publicity. Media is one of the best-known elements to implement public relations because the work is visible to the public daily. At any level, dealing with the media is an integral part of much public relations activity, and we should never under-estimate its impact and power.

The key points to remember from this week's readings would be on knowing your media and the hosting of a media conference.

In the media industry, it is common to have tight and inflexible deadlines. It is necessary for PR practitioners who deal with different media become familiar with all styles and deadlines and work well and smart to tackle the complexity. They should make use of the available opportunities to gain maximum exposure for their organsation, and to provide the media with readily available information.

It is important for the PR practitioners to understand the newsroom hierarchy, and crucial to know the names and roles of the journalists within the newsroom as they will love to be referred to as individuals.

I felt that it was rather surprising that the PR practitioners will get to work with journalists. It is perceived that PR practitioners will only let the journalists know what they want the public to know, instead of providing information what the public should know. In order to improve the bonds between these two contradicting professions, it is important to foster positive working relationships to eliminate negative stereotypes.

As mentioned in the readings, media conferences are not part of the daily routines for PR practitioners, but it is essential to establish a basic understanding towards media conferences. I felt that media conferences are important for clarifications and clearing up of doubts on happened events or news story. Although there are alot of considerations to be done when organising such conferences, I agreed with the readings that time will be the most important factor.

In order to achieve strong communication with the media, there must be mutual understanding of, and respect for, each other's roles and responsibilities.

Week 5 (Chapter4&5) - Legal Environment & Ethical Practices

I think the key points to remember from this week's readings would be the public relations practitioner's understanding of intellectual property law and important characteristics of the PR legal environment; role of ethics in public relations.

Intellectual property refers to the holder of one these abstract "properties" has certain exclusive rights to the creative work, commercial symbol, or invention which is covered by it. It is important to note that public relations decision must be made in context of the 'legal environment'.

As quoted in the textbook, Hoger and Swen (2000: 3) categorise differences into four areas: understanding of time and timing; traditionals and strategies; audience relationships; and approaches to message construction.

Pactitioners should always assess the possibility of involing legal risks in order to respond fast and minimise harm. Laywers should be roped in in order to brainstorm on the possible strategies to prevent public relations outcomes being compromised. Before this, PR practitioners need to develop good working relations with their legal advisers.

It is important to negotiate a settlement or seek some alternative means of resolving a conflict, than to expose clients to public scrutiny which might lead to legal issues such as defamation, etc.

The readings made me think more about how the acts of intellectual property protection works.

1. Copyright Act - protects ideas expressed in works & subject-matter other than works
2. Designs Act - Look & shape of product
3. Patents Act - New and inventive industrial products & processes
4. Confidential Information - commercial information that is secret & has value
5. Trade Marks Act - Distinctive marks
6 Passing off - Reputation in a distinctive designation & get up

I felt that a PR officer should select a legal practitioner who respects the professionalism of their client and can ensure the best outcomes from both the legal and public relations perspectives.

The word Ethics, by definition, refers to limitation of specific acts and defined moral codes, but encompasses the whole of moral ideals and behaviors, a person's philosophy of life.

In the public relations industry, ethical practice applies to both the practitioner and organisations. The roles of a PR practitioner in today's society is to develop bridges and alliances with different publics to create a conducive environment in which businesses, government, voluntary agencies, hospitals and other institutions can operate.

Week 4 (Chapter 7) - Strategy, Planning & Scheduling

The key points to remember from this week's readings would be the essential stages of devising a PR strategy.

There are a few stages of strategic process in PR which a PR practitioner has to follow suit. There must be careful planning for the strategies. Each stage has to be duly completed before proceeding to the next stage.

The stages

1. Organisation's vision and mission statement
2. Public relations vision and mission statement
3. Establishment of performance indicators
4. Budgeting
5. Write-up of a strategic PR plan
6. Scheduling of a PR plan activities

These strategies not only should be able to disseminate messages to the internal publics, it should apply to the external publics (government, pressure groups, local community) too.

I believed that budgeting is the most important element of the strategic process. Inaccurate budgeting can lead to the failure of a well-planned strategy. Appropriate proportion of an organisation's budget should be set aside for the PR department for them to execute their strategies. If the PR strategy's operational cost exceeds the given budget, there is no way for them to make it a success.

On the other hand, the organisation's vision and mission statement are also important. They need to determine the organisation's future state and to assist in closing the gap in between the unsatisfactory present and the more perfect future. It also promotes internal PR at the same time (with reference to week 3's readings), for it allows the employees to participate with the development of the statements. The internal publics will be aware of the organisation's PR plans, which make them feel important to be part of the organisation.

The strategic and systematic design of PR plans is helpful to the effective identification, implementation and management of the PR goals and objectives.

Week 3 (Chapter 11) - Internal and Community Relations

I think the important points to remember from this week's reading is managing internal publics well using public relations practices.

The readings make me feel that internal publics should be the top priority in the field of public relations. Although external publics are important too, but it seems that the internal publics have been slightly neglected over the years. Internal publics are employees of an organisation or members belonging to an association. It is important to maintain employee goodwill, in order for an organisation/association to function well. By exposing and maintaining communication links with the management level, positive employee relations can be developed.

In order to maintain healthy relationships within an organisation, the employer should not only respect its employees, but also their identities as 'thinking individuals' (Jane & Clara 2004). In return, employees will perform at a satisfactory rate and loyalty to the organisation.

The past's one-way information dissemination has evolved into today's two-way symmetric form. It has become a mixed breed - combination of traditional and contemporary. The examples given in the textbook are: newsletters, company newspapers, noticeboards, memos, awards, events, intranets, interpersonal communication. I believe that giving awards to well-deserved employees is the best way to motivate their working performance. In addition, nothing can be more effective by using interpersonal communication which allows the employees to interact with their immediate supervisors for information, etc. How amazing to realise today's advanced technology has enabled employers of organisations to have more alternatives of communicating with their internal publics!

Calling to all employers of any organisations!
Please be reminded that having happy internal publics will be one important factor to boost the growth of the organisation. :D