PR as a discipline and practice has had a chequered history. It has been loosely substituted for marketing, advertisement, publicity, personal selling, etc. and hence has been defined from different perspectives. This makes one issue very clearPR has been and will be a very crucial element for healthy existence of an organization. Pankaj Priya evaluates the PR's role that makes or breaks corporate image.
There are many interest groups in the society, which are directly and indirectly affected by a company's activities. They are the stakeholders. This stakeholder theory is based on the following premises.
PR does formative research to scan the environment and the behavior of organizations to identify these consequences.
The importance of PR stems from the fact that it involves communication with all the groups that come in contact with the company and hence it has a direct bearing on the overall image of the organization among all the concerned stakeholders internal as well as external.
An organization is akin to a ship being guided in an unpredictable high sea and PR is supposed to keep the sailing smooth by providing the right navigation. This ensures that the ship is on course and simultaneously steering away from any turbulence which may occur without any forewarning i.e., PR not only provides information to the public concerned with the organization to reinforce the IMC (Integrated Marketing Communication) plan of the organization, but also reacts to any shift in the stance of the public to bring them back to the positive aspects of the company's activities. This brings to fore the proactive approach of PR. |
