Public Relations as a Strategic Consulting Function

Larissa A. GrunigProfessor Emerita

Department of CommunicationUniversity of Maryland

A Premise of the Excellence Study

The organization is best served by the inherent diversity of perspectives provided by marketing and public relations when those functions remain distinct—coordinated yet not integrated.

Propositions on the Organization of the Public Relations Function

The function should be located to have ready access to the key decision-makers of the organization and to participate in strategic management.

All communication programs should be integrated into or coordinated by the public relations department or a senior executive with a public relations title.

More Propositions

Public relations should not be subordinated to other departments such as marketing, human resources, or finance.

Public relations departments should be structured horizontally to reflect strategic publics and so that it is possible to reassign people and resources to new programs as new strategic publics emerge and other publics cease to be strategic.

Summary of Excellence Results Related to Organization of the Public Relations Function

It makes little difference whether public relations and marketing are housed in separate departments or one department.

The relative size of the budgets also makes little difference.

However, when marketing communication dominates how senior managers think about public relations, excellence in public relations declines.

Overall Excellence by Support for Public Relations

-0,25

-0,2

-0,15

-0,1

-0,05

0

0,05

0,1

0,15

MarketingGreater

PR Greater Equal

Z-Score

Public Relations in Strategic Management, by Relative Support

-0,2

-0,15

-0,1

-0,05

0

0,05

0,1

0,15

MarketingGreater

PR Greater Equal

CEO Estimate

PR Head Estimate

Conclusions from 25 Qualitative Cases Public relations seldom was sublimated to

marketing, human resources, or other management functions.

Sublimation occurred mostly at the bottom of the Excellence scale.

A few excellent departments demonstrated marketing thinking; but emphasis was on customers, sponsorships, and asymmetrical communication.

Related Research by Thomas Hunter on Fortune 500 Firms Public relations and marketing work together well

in most companies and do not compete. Public relations and marketing generally are

found in separate departments. Marketing communication programs are

integrated into public relations through a senior vice-president of corporate communication.

The GAP Studies From USC

Results mirror those of the Excellence Study. 2005 data show that increasingly, the public

relations function reports directly to the C-Suite (64% vs. 25% that report to marketing).

Including public relations in organizational strategic management leads to a higher level of support and more serious consideration.

Movement Among IMC Advocates Duncan & Moriarty: From IMC to Integrated

Marketing (IM), which emphasizes the importance of symmetrical communication and of building relationships with all stakeholders.

Caywood: IMC has become integrated communication (IC), which is essentially the same concept as public relations.

So: What do we have?

Chicken manure?

or

Chicken salad?---Anders Gronstedt