LESSON - 6: INTERNAL & EXTERNAL PUBLICS OF ORGANISATION & IMPORTANCE

B A (JMC) (3-YDC), SEMESTER SYSTEM

SEMESTER –IV

SEC III: PUBLIC RELATIONS AND EVENT MANAGEMENT

Unit -1: PUBLIC RELATIONS

LESSON - 6: INTERNAL & EXTERNAL PUBLICS OF ORGANISATION & IMPORTANCE

Objectives:

Differentiate general public and concerned publics

Identify and segregate targeted publics

Know about internal publics

Know about external publics

Understand the need and importance of PR publics

Introduction:

PR practitioners communicate with different groups of people. It is necessary therefore to identify concerned publics from among the general public and then choose the strategy and media to reach them effectively.

Community means the people around and outside the organisation or its location; Opinion Leaders that command influence, such as the politicians, bureaucrats, social workers and others; Media that includes Print, Electronic and Social media; Employees who work for the organisation from the top management level to the lowest workers; Potential employees means those who work for rival organisations; Suppliers of raw material and services; Customers and users of present, past and future; Traders i.e. distributors, wholesalers, dealers, agents etc and Financial contacts such as Bankers, shareholders, investors, brokers and insurers are all the publics. This list is a basic list, but for any one organisation, there will always be a special list of all the groups of people with whom the organisation does or should communicate.

These specified groups of people are called target publics or concerned publics or simply PR Publics with whom the organisation needs to communicate because general public is a myth in public relations practice.

PR Publics

Public Relations and Publics are inseparable. Without publics there cannot be any public relations. To be precise, “publics” means a group of people who share a common interest, characteristic or behavior. For example, a company might have different publics they are trying to reach with their marketing efforts, such as customers, investors, or employees. On the other hand, “public” refers to the general population or society as a whole. To lump together entire population of India under the umbrella of “public” is to misconstrue and oversimplify the term. For convenience, PR practitioners prefer to segmentise publics into broad, general groups. These are referred as employees, stockholders, customers etc. In short, “a public may be defined as any group of people tied together, however loosely, by some common bond of interest or concern”.

In PR parlance, publics are divided into two categories – External and Internal. External publics are those outside an organisation that have some relationship to the organisation and can have widespread impact on its functioning. Internal publics are those which an organisation most closely relates to one that shares the institutional identity.

Organisation and its publics

An organization is an entity such as a company, an institution, or an association. There are a variety of organizations, including corporations, governments, non-governmental organizations, political organizations, international organizations, charities, not-for-profit corporations, partnerships, cooperatives, and educational institutions etc. Each organisation will have its own publics. As mentioned earlier, the nature of an organisation usually dictates its publics and one can draw some major distinctions applied to the nature of organisations and its publics.

1.    Organisation with similar goals and purposes have similar publics. For instance, every daily newspaper in the country sustains itself by attracting readers and advertisers, hence reading and advertising publics are basic publics for daily newspapers.

2.    The unique nature of an organisation can often make its publics different from organisations which seem similar to it. For instance, all colleges exist for the purpose of educating students, but some college admit only women like the Kasthurba Gandhi College for Women and some offer co-education while some draw students from the entire country like IGNOU or any Open University.

3.    As organisations change in nature and purpose, so do their publics. For instance, if a textile manufacturing firm which hitherto produced only cloth switches over to readymade garments, the nature of its publics also changes from cloth stores to readymade garment stores.

4.    It should also be noted that there are publics within publics and many of them are hidden from you. As issues arise which affect them, these latent publics begin to stir, surface and organise. For instance, booksellers are the immediate public for a college. But the people who supply paper to these booksellers form a latent public i.e. the public hidden from the view. Suddenly, due to government policy there may be a crisis in the paper industry. These paper merchants may then create problems for the booksellers and therefore for the colleges indirectly.

5.    Similarly, public utilities like Municipalities, Water supply boards, Power distribution companies, Railways, Airlines, Road Transport Corporations, Industrial establishments, Business houses, Hospitals will have their own publics.

Identification of publics

Public is ever changing and virtually infinite in number. Also, the multiplicity of publics can cause internal conflicts as different publics have different interests and needs. These conflicts cannot be easily resolved. For example, the employees as a public are interested in knowing more about an organisation, its personnel policies, wage policies, incentives for the work force etc. The customers want to know the product range, quality of products, prices, after sales service etc. What is true of the divergence of interests among these two publics, such as employees and customers, is also true of other publics.

The PR practitioner must carefully identify each public pertinent to a particular project and determine other publics that might affect it. To achieve this, the PR practitioner will have to undertake research to find out who these publics are, what they think and what they want in order to communicate appropriate messages effectively. Also, PR should not assign importance to major public alone. While it must gauge the majority opinion, it must also consider the view point of the smaller or minor publics. Sometimes, the public relations practitioner has to study the emotional and behavioural characteristics that define each group. The identification and segmentation of publics is an important step to effective and meaningful communication. Having identified internal and external publics, let us list them out.

Internal Publics

1.    Management/Board of Directors: Management is the administration of organizations, whether they are a business, a non-profit organization, or a government body. It is management of employees, resources of businesses, governments, and other organizations. According to George R Terry, “Management is a distinct process consisting of planning, organising, actuating and controlling, utilising in each both science and art and followed in order to accomplish pre-determined objectives.” Peter Drucker says “Management is a multipurpose organ that manages a business and manages managers and manages workers and work”. According to FW Taylor “Management is the art of knowing what you want to do and then seeing that they do it in the best and the cheapest way”. In this context, management as internal public of an organisation means the Board of Directors occupying higher management positions that take policy decisions and manage everything related to that organisation including employees. Individuals in the management hierarchy are reckoned as internal public.

2.    Employees/Workers: Joseph Juran, the management consultant says that “Organisations have both internal and external customers and that internal customers have a direct link to a positive external customer experience.” The internal customer plays a strategic role in the achievement of high quality standards throughout the organisation. Employees are the individuals employed by the management for work either in production or service and are paid for their work. They may work in a full time on regular basis or on contract or outsourcing basis or on a part-time. They can be permanent or temporary. Employees first and Customers next. Employees are the ambassadors of the organisation. Employees are the assets beyond balance sheets etc are the statements indicating the importance of employees. Employees or Workers of the organisation are internal publics.

3.    Shareholders/Stockholders: A stockholder or shareholder is someone who owns shares of a Corporation. Shareholders are a part of stakeholders of a company. If stakeholders are those who have some interest in the organisation such as employees, consumers, suppliers, government etc the shareholders represent those who have purchased shares. In fact, shareholders are the owners of the company. Shareholders meet once a year in an Annual General Meeting of the company. The Annual Report is the key publication that gives information about the performance of the organisation, balance sheet, profit and loss account etc. It is essential to keep the shareholders aware of financial aspects of the company which will make them active partners in the functioning. Thus, these people form part of internal publics.

4.    Dealers: An individual or a business concern involved in the activities of buying goods and then selling it off from their stock is known as Dealer. In simple, a dealer is someone who deals in the trading of a particular product. The dealer is the middleman between the distributor of goods and the consumer. They are the authorized seller of those commodities in the particular area. A dealer can attract the customers of another dealer or a different area. In this way, there is a fierce competition between various dealers and they have to behave nicely with customers to retain them for a long time. The dealer sells goods of competing brands. He realizes a profit, by selling the goods at a price higher than what he paid for the commodity when he purchased it. Dealers are thus internal public.

5.    Distributors: The distributor is an intermediary between the producer of the products and its dealers. They are the one who is responsible for supplying the goods in the market. He acts as an agent, in a way that they have a direct contact with the manufacturing entities. He purchases goods from those entities and sells the commodities on their behalf to various other parties. Distributors are appointed and authorized by the companies to sell their products in a particular area. Except the distributor, no other person has the right to sell that product in the specified area, so he is the only source for retailers and dealers to purchase that product. Distributors buy the products from the company in bulk and sell them in small lots to other businesses and stores. They offer some services to the customers like after sales services, replacement service, technical support, etc. Distributors belong to internal public category.

6.    Marketing personnel/Sales representatives: Sales representatives are responsible for selling a company's products by identifying leads, educating prospective buyers on products through calls, trainings, and presentations, and providing existing customers with exceptional support. Sales representatives are either inside or outside sales reps. Inside sales reps sell products over the phone and online, while outside sales reps sell products through face-to-face meetings. Sales reps span almost every industry. Marketing staff and Sales representatives are internal public.

7.    Trade Unions: A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages and benefits, improving working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees etc. The union representatives in the workforce are usually made up of workplace volunteers who are often appointed by members through internal democratic elections. The trade union bargains with the employer on behalf of its members, and negotiates labour contracts with employers. Unions may organize a particular section of skilled or unskilled workers, a cross-section of workers from various trades or organize all workers within a particular industry. The agreements negotiated by a union are binding on the employees and the employer. Trade Unions or Labour Unions or Officers Forums or Employees Associations are meant for the welfare of employees and thus belong to internal public category.

8.    Volunteers: Volunteers are the individuals who dedicate themselves for a service without expecting anything in return. Volunteering with an NGO allows individuals to align their efforts with a specific cause. NGOs are often dedicated to addressing pressing social issues, such as education, healthcare, environment, and poverty alleviation etc. This focused approach enables volunteers to make a meaningful impact in areas that resonate with their values. These volunteers are internal public.

External Public

1.    Customers/Consumers: A customer is an individual or business that purchases another company's goods or services. Customers are important because they drive revenues. Without them, businesses can neither survive nor thrive. All businesses compete with other companies to attract customers, either by aggressively advertising their products, by lowering prices to expand their customer bases, or by developing unique products and experiences that customers love. Customer and Consumer are generally used interchangeably. However, there is a slight difference between customer and consumer. Primarily, a Customer is a client whereas the Consumer is the ultimate user of the goods. According to Mahatma Gandhi, “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.” That is the importance of a customer. Therefore, this category falls under external public.

2.    Stakeholders: A stakeholder is someone who has an interest in a business. A stakeholder is a party that has a stake and can either affect or be affected by the business. The primary stakeholders in a typical corporation are its customers and suppliers. However, with the increasing attention on corporate social responsibility, the concept has been extended to include communities, governments and trade associations. Stakeholders can be internal or external to an organization. Internal stakeholders are people whose interest in a company comes through a direct relationship, such as employment, ownership, or investment. External stakeholders are those who do not directly work with the company but are affected somehow by the actions and outcomes of the business. Suppliers, creditors and communities are all considered external stakeholders. This group belong to external publics.

3.    Suppliers: A supplier is a person or business that provides a product or service to another entity. Suppliers act as intermediaries and bridge the gap between manufacturers and retailers by offering the raw materials, products, or services. The relationship between a business and its suppliers is symbiotic. Businesses rely on suppliers for the necessary inputs for their products or services, and suppliers depend on businesses to purchase their offerings. This interdependence forms the basis of the supplier-customer relationship. Suppliers belong the category of external public.

4.    Retailers: Retailers are the mediators between wholesaler and customers. They purchase goods from the wholesaler and sell them to the ultimate customers in small quantity. Retailers offer a wide variety of goods and are in direct communication with a large chain of suppliers, giving them an opportunity to manufacture and develop more sustainable goods. A retailer does not manufacture any product they sell, but they are the final link in the distribution chain and the one who connects and delivers the goods and services directly to the customers. These retailers also belong to the category of external publics.

5.    Bureaucrats/Government officials: Government attempts to shape the business practices directly and indirectly, implementing rules and regulations. Govt influences organizations by establishing regulations, laws, and rules that dictate what organizations can and cannot do. To implement legislation, the government generally creates special agencies to monitor and control various aspects of business activity. Governments sometimes take an indirect approach to shaping the activities of business organizations through their agencies. Therefore, maintaining cordial relations with the Govt employees by the Organisations is necessary.

6.    Elected representatives/Nominated non-officials: In a representative democracy, elected representatives represent their constituent public in the law or policy making bodies like Gram Panchayats, Mandal Parishads, Zilla Parishads, Nagar Panchayats, Municipalities, Legislative Assemblies, Parliament. They are called Sarpanches, MPTCs, ZPTCs, ZP Chairpersons, MLAs, MLCs & MPs. Govt also nominate non-officials to hold the positions in some public utilities and corporations as Chairpersons and Directors. These people wield a great influence in the Society as well as Government. It is always good for the organisations to keep them in good books.

7.    Media: Print and Electronic media are the mass media of communication. Media relations is a form of public relations. The goal of media relations is to educate the media like newspapers, radio, television, and other forms of journalism to report on a company’s objectives, accomplishments and also periodical events. Although media relations and public relations are sometimes used interchangeably, they are distinctly different. PR entails communication to multiple channels and, ultimately, consumer and business targets. It is necessary for PR or CC Departments to maintain good relations with the reporters and representatives of media houses. Media is an important segment of external publics.

8.    Competitors: A Competitor is a person, business, team, or organization that competes against a company. If somebody is trying to beat in a race, that person is the competitor. In business, we call a close competitor a rival. In other words, rivals are the same size and make similar products. If two companies are leaders in their field, we refer to them as competitors and arch rivals. Closely watching the competitors and their employees is a must for any business.

9.    Investors: An investor is any person or an entity who commits capital with the expectation of receiving financial returns. Investors rely on different financial instruments to earn a rate of return and accomplish important financial objectives or merely accumulating additional wealth. A wide variety of investment methods exist to accomplish goals, including stocks, bonds, commodities, mutual funds, etc. Investors typically generate returns by deploying capital as either equity or debt investments. Maintaining relations with Investors both present and prospective is important for any business and hence investors form part of external public segment.

10. Bankers/Creditors/Financial Institutions: Financial institutions play an important role in the overall development of the country. The Govt of India, in order to provide adequate supply of credit to various sectors of the economy, has evolved a well-developed structure of financial institutions in the country. These institutions have long been providing a variety of financial products and services to fulfill the diverse needs of various sectors. Besides providing mid-term loans at reasonable rates of interest these financial institutions subscribe to the debenture issues of companies, underwrite public issue of shares, guarantee loans etc. There are 12 public sector banks, 22 private sector banks, 11 scheduled small finance banks, 3 scheduled payments banks, 43 scheduled regional rural banks and 46 scheduled foreign banks in India. Also there are 12 major financial institutions like IDBI, SIDBI, LIC, HDFC etc and several investing financial institutions

11. Local community organisations/Public groups: Community organization or community based organization aim at making desired improvements to a community's social health, well-being, and overall functioning. Community organization occurs in geographically, psychosocially, culturally, spiritually, and digitally bounded communities. It is a commonly used model for organizing community within community projects, neighborhoods, organizations, voluntary associations, localities, and social networks, which may operate as ways to mobilize around geography, shared space, shared experience, interest, need, and concern.

12. Trade Associations: A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association participates in activities such as advertising, education, publishing, lobbying, and political donations, but its focus is collaboration between companies. Trade associations may offer other services, such as setting industry standards, holding networking or charitable events, or offering classes or educational materials. Many associations are non-profit organizations. 

Importance of PR publics

Internal publics are the first and foremost because, they provide service to the public. Human resource alone makes everything move. These publics are the manpower in the organisation. Also coming in this category are people and establishments living/or operating in and around the vicinity of the organisation. All management disciplines perform their assigned role, through the organisation’s manpower, upgradation of skills and overall human resource development is vital for the organisation. The staff morale has to be kept high so that they perform well. Then good work needs to be publicised through the mass media, first to recognise their work and then to tell the outside world that the organisation is staffed by excellent human resource which is an asset for any organisation.

Public Relations or Corporate Communication has to have continuous interface with HR and other Departments to gather information about performance of men and machines, make it usable or publishable and get it across to the people through the mass media – print, electronic, web, IT new media, social media and so on. Such a wide and sustained projection helps boost the morale of employees’ families who in their own way contribute to the satisfaction level of the employers. Some of the organisations bring out house journals, newsletters, e-magazines, corporate and unit films and also use media for video conferencing to keep the top management and the employees together as contributors to the organisation’s progress. PR has the responsibility to inform, educate and motivate employees.

External publics are very vast as explained earlier.  These publics are vital for the organisation. PR or CC reaches out to these publics through many media. Each communication from PR or CC has to be tailor-made. For example, for reaching out to peoples’ representatives, the organisation has to select very vital aspects and the organisation’s performance, challenges and problems so as to elicit their cooperation and muster their support. Similarly, for reaching out to the present and prospective customers, users and investors, PR has to devise different strategies and media so as to communicate in an effective manner.

Summary                    

Every organisation, business or service will have to identify and segregate the concerned publics into two categories i.e. internal public and external public in order to communicate with them because general public is a myth in the practice of public relations. There is no strict compartmentalization between categories of public but PR publics are identified and broadly divided into internal and external publics. Board of Directors, Employees, Shareholders, Stockholders, Dealers, Distributors, Marketing Personnel, Sales Representatives, Trade Unions, Employees Associations, Volunteers etc are identified as internal publics. Customers, Consumers, Bankers, Stakeholders, Suppliers, Retailers, Media, Govt officials, Elected Representatives, Competitors, Investors, Financial institutions, Local Community leaders, Trade Associations etc are identified as external publics. Together, both internal and external publics are called specified publics or targeted publics or concerned publics and become PR publics of the organisation. It is important to establish meaningful connection and maintain relationship with these segmented publics for a two-way communication and for seeking their favorable opinion towards the goods and services of the organisation and also for its survival.

FAQs

1.     Describe general public and PR publics

2.     How do you identify and segment publics of an organisation?

3.     Briefly explain internal public

4.     Tell about external public

5.     How do PR or CC Department reach out to publics and why? 

Model Answers

1. General public constitute the entire population of India. General public is a myth in the practice of public relations, because an organisation need not communicate with the total population. Therefore, every organisation will identify and segregate publics related to it for communication and for maintaining relations. These people are variously called as targeted public, segmented public, concerned public or specified public and PR publics. These publics are broadly divided into two categories i.e. internal public and external public.
2. Identification and segmentation of PR publics is an important exercise of every organisation. It is needed for establishing and maintaining relations with them and for communicating with them. Identification and segmentation of public into internal and external is the exercise of PR / CC Department in consultation with the Management of the Organisation. Internal public are those who are directly involved in the organisation. They produce goods and extend services for consumption by the external public as well as general public. External public are those who are indirectly connected yet play a key role for existence of the organisation.
3. The nature of an organisation usually dictates its publics. The products and services of a business entity decides the publics of that entity.  Internal publics are Board of Directors, Employees, Shareholders, Stockholders, Dealers, Distributors, Marketing Personnel, Sales Representatives, Trade Unions, Employees Associations, Volunteers etc. Public are ever-changing in nature. Sometimes, some categories of segmented publics serve the purpose of both internal and external depending on the circumstances.

4.    The size of external publics is usually bigger than internal publics. They are Customers, Consumers, Bankers, Stakeholders, Suppliers, Retailers, Media, Govt officials, Elected Representatives, Competitors, Investors, Financial institutions, Local Community leaders, Trade Associations etc are identified as external publics. The organisation finds support as well as market for its goods and services in the arena of external publics.

5.    PR or CC Department of an organisation communicate with internal and external publics through print, electronic, web, IT new media, social media and so on. Organisations bring out excellent house journals, newsletters, e-magazines, corporate and unit films and also use media for video conferencing to keep the top management and the rank and file of employees together as contributors to the organisation’s progress. To communicate with external publics, a medium that is suitable to the context or a media mix is adopted.  PR has the responsibility to inform, educate and motivate its targeted publics.

Multiple Choice Questions

1.      Public Relations or Corporate Communication is concerned with _________

a.       General public

b.      External public

c.       Internal public

d.      Internal and external publics

2.      Employees fall in the category of _________

a.    External public

b.    General public

c.    None

d.    Internal public

3.      Public Relations and Publics are __________

           a.  Different

b.    Separable

c.    Inseparable

d.    Divisible

4.      Customer is the purpose of business, said ___________

a.       Peter Drucker

b.      MK Gandhi

c.       FW Taylor

d.      Joseph Juran

5.      Shareholders of an Organisation meet in __________

a.    Board Meetings

b.    Executive Committee Meetings

c.    Annual General Meetings

d.    All the above meetings

 Keys to Multiple Choice Questions: 1. (d)  2. (d)  3. (c)  4. (b) 5. (c)

Glossary

Public: Ordinary people in general; the general public

Internal public: The people that work for the organisation and directly related to it.

External public: The people that are outside the organisation yet connected to it.

PR Public: Public with whom PR or CC Department will establish relationship and two-way communication.

Media: Communication channels viz Print, Electronic, Web, IT new Medium and Social Media

Organisation: An entity such as a company, an institution, or an association

Key Words:

Publics, Internal, External, Organisation, Management, Employees, Customers, Media, Shareholders, Stakeholders, Stockholders

Y. BABJI

Academic Counsellor, Public Relations (since 1989)

AP Open University/Dr BR Ambedkar Open University

Editor, Public Relations Voice

 

 

 

 

 LESSON - 5: PR Models & Process, PR & Planning

B A (JMC) (3-YDC), SEMESTER SYSTEM

SEMESTER –IV

SEC III: PUBLIC RELATIONS AND EVENT MANAGEMENT

Unit -1: PUBLIC RELATIONS

LESSON - 5: PR Models & Process, PR & Planning

Objectives:

Explain Indian models of Public Relations

Learn about Western PR models

Know the PR process involved in a communication campaign

Understand the role of PR in Planning & Development

Introduction:

During the course of history, many PR models have evolved. Indian models starting from the state of propaganda to independent public relations with a global perspective, have their uniqueness for each period in history. Western PR models evolved through press agentry model, public information model, two-way asymmetric model and two-way symmetric model.

PR practitioners have long spoken about the intangible character of their discipline, which in their view cannot be measured easily. According to many practitioners and academics from the field, more research is needed to build a body of knowledge and gain credibility about this indispensable discipline, which unfortunately is reckoned as spin-doctoring by the critics. This laid back attitude is now changing. Mapping the audience before a PR campaign and post testing the campaign have become essential ingredients of any public relations process and planning. Good and effective PR just does not happen in vacuum. At the heart of every successful campaign is research process, planning, communication, evaluation and the use of strategies.

In this lesson we will learn different Indian and western PR models, learn about the four stages of PR process and the Role of PR in planning & Development.

Indian PR Models

A model is simply an example for comparison. Here, PR model means a representation of the system or the communication process under which PR profession is practised. Any communication process is based on certain models of communication. The five broad public relations models in relation to the Indian context are (1) the Propaganda Model (the state of propaganda) from 1500 BC to the end of East India Company rule in 1858 (2) the Publicity/Public Information Model (the era of publicity) during the era of British rule in India from 1858 to 1947 (3) the Gandhian Model (public communication model) 1947 to 1991 and (4) the Indian PR model (with global perspective) from 1991 to date.

Propaganda Model:

Propaganda is to propagate things. PR was born out of propaganda. It is very difficult to determine the origins of public relations in India because it is as old as human civilisation. Employing professional lyricists to sing the glory of the king was an ancient custom in India. Much of what is known today about the exploits of the kings and ancient civilisations is the result of scribes seeking to glorify the achievements of a royal patron. The great religious teachers from Jain Mahavira, Gautama Buddha and Sankaracharya to Nanak and Kabir were master communicators. They preached through parables, small stories with a moral and in idiomatic language which the common people found easy to understand. The rock inscriptions of emperor Ashoka were written in local dialects for easy communication. A unique contribution of Indus valley civilisation was the introduction of seals made of terracotta and stone. Such seals were means of communication.

Mahavira travelled the country barefoot and taught Ahimsa, Satya, Brahmacharya (chastity), Aparigraha (non-attachment) and Asteya (no stealing). Buddha set forth four noble truths namely the truth of suffering; the truth of the sense of suffering; the truth of the end of suffering; the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. Aadi Sankara, founder of Advaita Vedanta was an excellent communicator. The mutts established by him were the source of information and propaganda. In propaganda model the purpose is to promote a point of view or ideology or religion among the public with motives. It was propaganda of their faiths.

Kings in the propaganda age like Chandragupta Maurya attempted through information dissemination to create a massive wave of faith amongst the masses. His minister, Chanakya through his work “Arthasasthra” gave an exposition on dissemination of information and collection of people’s reactions through an intelligence network. Emperor Ashoka reached out to his subjects through rock edicts, stone pillars, iron pillars, copper plate inscriptions, stupas, paintings, music and dance.

Mughals introduced Jharoka Darshan or window audience for hearing the grievances of the people. The bell of justice was introduced by Jehangir to redress public grievances. All these were different means of propaganda adopted during the timeline of history to remain in power.

Publicity/Public Information Model

Publicity means giving out of information about a product, person or company for promotional purposes. When the Mughal empire became weak due to infighting, Robert Clive of East India Company defeated them and established British East India Company in India. Later Christian missionaries came and had their own methods of propaganda. The press was suppressed for most of the period. Raja Ram Mohan Roy excelled in social communication by targeting societal ills. He started newspapers and became the father of social communication and Indian language journalism. 

After sepoy’s mutiny in 1858, the British Govt put an end to East India Company and ruled India through Viceroys till 1947. The East India Company always kept citizens in the dark as they refrained from giving out any information. After the British Govt took charge, public information got importance and information flow commenced. The Viceroy Lord Cannings founded the Editors Room wherein journalists could come and peruse Govt papers of public interest. In 1876, Viceroy Lord Lytton wanted to better the relations with the media. He suggested the establishment of a Press Bureau for developing rapport with newspapers.

The First World War and the Second World War required much publicity and propaganda. The Govt set up Central Publicity Board during First World War to develop cordial relations with journalists who were till then looked down as anti-government. Later in 1919 Publicity Cell came up. Journalists were taken to battlefields for first-hand reporting. Towards the end of 1920, the name of Publicity Cell was changed to Press Information Bureau. Publicity machinery in India was strengthened during the period of the two World Wars and the year 1941 saw the government using the word “public relations” for the first time.

Public Communication Model

Public Relations played an active role in Indian Independence. Public communication system and the Indian Independence movement were closely linked. Most freedom fighters who turned into journalists used their newspapers as communication vehicles to carry the message of freedom movement and to mobilize public opinion against the British.

Mahatma Gandhi’s entry gave a boost to journalism and public communication. On his return from South Africa in 1917 Gandhi went to almost all the parts of the country for gaining experience and to understand the land and its people. His tour was akin to the situation analysis stage in public relations process. Many agitations were launched by Gandhi between 1919 and 1947. He launched Satyagraha movement in 1919. In 1930 he took a pledge for Purna Swaraj and organised the Dandi march to break Salt law. Alongside Swadeshi, in 1942 he gave a call for Quit India. He launched his own newspapers Youngh India, Navajivan and the Harijan weekly. His ITM model of communication comprise Interpersonal, Traditional and Mass Media. This model was successful because of two-way communication for mobilizing public opinion.

Public Relations Model

When India became independent, the Govt felt the need of keeping the citizens well-informed about its policies and programmes. As a result, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was established in 1947 with mandate to inform, to educate, to motivate and to entertain the people as active partners in the democratic and development process of the country. The media units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting such as PIB, Publications Division, Photo Division and other units were strengthened to disseminate public information. As such the concept of publicity began in India during British rule and graduated into public relations in Independent India. Thus began the era of public relations in independent India.

Multinational companies operating in India for several years felt the need to communicate with the Indian people more meaningfully. In order to adjust their corporate policies to the democratic set up, these companies increasingly turned to public relations. The public sector has however made a significant contribution to the birth, nurturing, growth and professionalism in public relations. PR in its true sense started with PSUs like HMT, BHEL, NTPC, IndianOil, VSNL, ONGC to name a few.

Public Relations Society of India set up in 1958 is a national association for professional development of PR practitioners and communication specialists. It seeks to promote PR as an integral function of the management. There are, however, certain areas where PR has yet to make a full dent. These include strengthening the programmes for training in this field, publication of literature on PR, equipping PR departments with professionally trained personnel and above all continuous trust and support by the management.

Global Public Relations

PR model of India entered into global public relations in early nineties as the new industrial policy 1991 that envisaged liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation has opened Indian doors to foreign capital and foreign companies. This resulted in global competitive market environment and. Corporate public relations got fillip to meet the growing competitive marketing environment and as such Indian public relations is now passing through a public relations model with global perspective.

Western PR Models

There were no public relations theories that had been formulated specifically. So, early practitioners had little or no guidelines for directing them to crafting communications, plans, tactics and strategies. James Grunig and Todd Hunt have suggested models that have helped tremendously to create awareness in the field of public relations. Their theories have guided practitioners to become better and more professional in their field. The four models evolved by Grunig and Hunt are (1) Press Agentry/Publicity Model (2) Public Information Model (3) Two-way asymmetric model and (4) Two-way symmetric model. Let us look at them one by one.

Press Agentry/Publicity model

During the 19^th century press agents laboured to create news to influence public opinion. Press agents wanted to manipulate the behaviour. Accuracy and credibility were not their priorities. Newspapers were the key media. This is a one-way communication from the press agents to their publics that uses persuasion and manipulation to influence behaviour of audiences. This method is usually employed by practitioners for one-way communication to sell products or services without any quantitative analysis of the results. There was no scope for feedback in this model.

Public Information Model

From press agentry, there developed public information model in the second stage of growth of public relations in the early 20^th century. The purpose is to disseminate information through newspapers based on accurate information about a cause, product or service. This model is still a one-way communication method but accuracy of the message has become vital. In the early 20^th century there was a move among some enlightened public relations practitioners towards more truthful and accurate messages. In this model “public be informed” got prominence. The move away from half-truths and outright falsehoods was the precursor to increasing ethical practices. Although this model still does not have any methods for quantitative analysis of the results practitioners are slightly more inclined to gather feedback from their audiences. This model is used mostly by government agencies, military units and Not-for-Profit organisations.

Two-way asymmetric model

Feedback is more important to practitioner but the aim is not to improve organisational practices but rather to influence attitudes of their audiences. After World War I there was no increase in consumer products which also dictated the need for marketing that was targeted specifically for a definite demographic or audience. This model is called asymmetric because communication is slanted towards organisation than public. Although this model advocates two-way communication, practitioners are hardly thinking about balanced communication. The power is vested with the sender whose intention is to persuade the receiver to accept and support the senders organisation, products or services. It is a scientific approach but the goal is to get into the psychology of their audience so that messages can be tailored to get the most effective reaction. The customers’ reaction is used to determine what the public attitudes are towards organisation and its products or services. This is the method most used by advertisers all round the world.

Two-way symmetric model

During the 1960s when the US was confronted with Vietnam war protests, civil rights movement and environmental movement, this model was widely used. This is probably the most ethical method of all the models. The aim of this model is dialogue not monologue. The feedback that the organisation gathers is used to change organisational practices. Negotiation, resolution of conflict, mutual understanding, and mutual respect between the organisation and its publics are the desired results of this model. This model attempts to find a mutually advantageous solution to a problem. Unlike two-way asymmetric model, two-way symmetric model is a two-way communication process between an organisation and its publics. In this model the sender and the receiver both are capable of being pursued to adjust and modify their attitudes and behaviours according to their needs.

PR Process

Process means a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end. Be it a PR campaign or an Advertising campaign, it is a communication campaign or exercise and has to go through the stages, commonly referred to as the RPCE i.e. Research, Program, Communication & Evaluation. This four-step process states that to be effective, public relations must be used as a management function.

Research

Research process involves fact finding. This is also called situation analysis. The first step in the PR process is to define the problem and why it is a problem. There are various kinds of problems for which public relations solutions are increasingly sought. The problem could be growing absenteeism in an organisation, drug use, smoking at work place, political interference in union activities, exodus of the core human resource to competitors, critical media, adverse activities of special interest groups, lack of confidence of the shareholders etc. While defining the problem, it is easy to rely on the gut feelings, but these rarely help in the long run. Problem definition must begin with listening to the views of the concerned stakeholders. According to Wilbur Schramm, feedback is a powerful tool. Research is one method of structuring symptomatic listening into the communication process. Ron Smith points out that “public relations without research is like shooting in the dark”. Research provides the foundation for strategic communication planning. Therefore, PR needs research on people’s attitudes, organisational image, political and social issues and media perception about its policies and achievements. Research assumptions or hypothesis must be worked out carefully. In PR, research is conducted to answer specific questions like Who is the target audience? What is the demographic and psychographic profile of the target audience? Which are most effective and expensive channels of communication? What is the public perception of the organisation? Who are the influencers and opinion leaders? etc

Research helps define a problem. Research can both be informal and formal. Informal research techniques of gathering information are by personal contact, through gatekeepers of information, through mail analysis, through field reports and formal research techniques. They include both surveys and qualitative search that encompass benchmark studies, stakeholder mapping, communication audits, social audits, community studies, attitude/opinion studies, survey of social issues, focus group discussions, media content analysis etc

Programming

Programming includes planning. Strategy forms an integral part of planning and programming process. In fact, it is the organization’s overall plan i.e. what the organisation wants to achieve and how it wants to achieve. Keith Butterick defines PR strategy as the “foundation on which the tactical program is built and moves the company from where it currently is to where it wants to be by the end of the programme.” A strategy can be divided into different stages i.e. at corporate level, at business level, at the operational level. Having defined the problem through research, the practitioner would be in a position to define the target audience and communication objectives. Now the stage is set to develop the most appropriate mix of PR campaign elements that include (1) suitable persuasive propositions (2) message packages (3) selection of media of communication (4) media strategies (5) campaign time table and (6) the budget.

Communication

Having designed a programme, it is the turn for implementation alongside communication programme. The job is still not accomplished. It involves thorough communications management. The public relations practitioner will have to ensure that the proposed message package reaches the target audience. Merely sending press releases may not be enough. It should be followed up with the concerned media to ensure the receipt of press release and ensure publication. Action plans and messages must go hand in hand for effective implementation. Ray Eldon suggests a four pronged guidelines for developing a message. First, determine what people think about the issue. Second, establish what the problem is. Third, establish the desired image you wish to achieve and Fourthly choose the most suitable communication media to say what you want to say. To be acceptable, the communication has to be credible in context, clear, consistent and compatible with the receiver’s value system. Media strategy is a part of communication strategy. Media strategy would aim at answering the questions like which media are most suitable to reach out to the desired publics fast and at the lowest cost per opportunity? which media are considered more credible? Which media would prove more impactful on the audience? The ways through which information is disseminated to the news media are news factsheet, event listing, interview notes, press release, feature release, soundbite for Radio, audio news release, soundbite for TV, video news release, media kit, online newsroom, social media etc

Evaluation

The fourth and the last stage of PR process is evaluation. It includes feedback. Evaluation will reflect whether the objectives of the campaign were achieved or not. For long drawn programmes, it is advisable to conduct a mid-term appraisal so that adjustments, if any, can be made before carrying on with the exercise. The exercise has to be circular. If the situation after the launch of a campaign reflects that the problem is not solved to the management’s satisfaction, better to go back to the beginning of the exercise. Let us take the example of evaluation of a company’s house journal and see what the evaluation should ideally aim at.

Reach: What percentage of employees received the publication on a timely basis?

Exposure & Recall: How well did employees recall important issues covered in the publication?

Credibility: Were the views of both the management and employees taken? Did the employees consider the journal trustworthy?

Understanding: Did the readers understand company’s position on important and critical issues, which may concern the employees, themselves?

Readability: Were the employees able to comprehend the contents without difficulty?

As a result of this evaluation, management can understand the utility of house journal as part of internal communication. The PR Practitioners need to follow the PR process broadly. No two programmes or campaigns can be the same.

Planning – Development PR

Planning has always been an important part of public relations. Planning is to draw up an action plan to achieve certain set goals or objectives. It is the pre requisite for development. Planning is a continuous process of formulating, reformulating and implementing a set of plans, programmes, activities and tasks for realising selected objectives in a prescribed time schedule is called planning. Planning is the primary function of management that involves formulating a future course of action for accomplishing a specific purpose. Planning enables deciding what task to do, how to do the task, when to do the task and by whom the task has to be done.

Different authors have defined planning in different ways. However, the meaning and substance of these definitions are the same for the purpose of development. Development is a process whose goals are to realise the human potential for global societies and for the total human beings. Development planning is a scientific discipline that studies the mechanisms of mobilisation and reallocation of resources with a view of optimal attainment and pursuance of a global process of change tending to a self-reliant, self-centered, needs-oriented and sustained development.

The information and publicity aspect of planning and development schemes have now become part of the media units of the Central Government, Information Departments of State Governments and also the PR wings of the respective public sector undertakings. The dissemination of information about development schemes also came to be known as development support communication or simply development communication. PR has to shoulder this stupendous task of giving out information to bring about the required transformation in the society. PR here acts as a catalyst for change. The scope for development communication, in other words, development Public Relations arises in different agencies like (1) the Planning commission (2) State level planning boards (3) all Development departments both in the Centre and in the States (4) Democratic institutions like Urban Local Bodies and Rural Local Bodies (5) Central and State PSUs and (6) Media units of Govt of India charged with responsibilities for disseminating development information. To implement development and welfare programmes, there is every need to give out information to the public concerned and gather feedback from them. For this, PR planning that involves identifying the targeted public, preparing the literature, selection of media and feedback mechanism are essential.

Summary                    

Five broad public relations models in relation to the Indian context have been discussed namely Propaganda Model, Publicity Model, Public Information Model, Public communication mode, Public relations Model and with global perspective. Western PR models have helped tremendously to create advances in the field of public relations. Indian as well as Western models have guided practitioners to become better and more ethical.

In the four stage “RPCE” process of public relations, the four key elements such as research, planning, communication and evaluation have been described which influence the PR practitioner in designing and implementing the public relations programme. People who are professionals in public relations use different methods for analysing the results of their work such as focus groups, surveys, and one-on-one interviews. These methods are used in defining what medium of communication will be used in the process of strategy and what tools will be used in relaying the message, such as press releases, brochures, web sites, media packs, video news releases, news conferences and in-house publications.

To implement development and welfare programmes, there is every need to give out information to the public concerned and gather feedback from them. PR planning shall ensure this.

FAQs

1.     List out Indian PR Models

2.     What are Western PR models developed by Grunig & Hunt?

3.     Write about Global Public Relations

4.     Explain RPCE Process

5.     What is planning and development PR?

 

Model Answers

1. The 5 broad Indian PR models are in relation to the Indian context. They are (1) the Propaganda Model (the state of propaganda) from 1500 BC to the end of East India Company rule in 1858 (2) the Publicity/Public Information Model (the era of publicity) during the era of British rule in India from 1858 to 1947 (3) the Gandhian Model (public communication model) 1947 to 1991 and (4) the Indian PR model (with global perspective) from 1991 to date.
2. There were no public relations theories that had been formulated specifically. So, early practitioners had little or no guidelines for directing them to crafting communications, plans, tactics, strategies or programmes. However, James Grunig and Todd Hunt have developed models that have helped tremendously to create awareness in the field of public relations. Their theories have guided practitioners in their field. The four models evolved by Grunig and Hunt are (1) Press Agentry/Publicity Model (2) Public Information Model (3) Two-way asymmetric model and (4) Two-way symmetric model.

3.    Independent India entered into global public relations in the early nineties as the new industrial policy 1991 that envisaged liberalization, privatization and globalization has opened Indian doors to foreign capital and foreign companies. This resulted in global competitive market environment. Corporate public relations/Corporation communication got fillip to meet the growing competitive marketing environment and as such Indian public relations is now passing through a public relations model with global perspective.

4.    RPCE stands for Research, Planning, Communication and Evaluation. Process means a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end. Be it a PR campaign or an Advertising campaign, it is a communication campaign or exercise and has to go through a process that is commonly referred to as the RPCE i.e. Research, Program, Communication & Evaluation. This four-step or four stage process states that to be effective, public relations must be used as a management function.

5. Planning gives scope for development communication, in other words, development PR through agencies like (1) the Planning commission (2) State level planning boards (3) Development departments of the Centre and the States (4) Urban Local Bodies and Rural Local Bodies (5) Central and State PSUs and (6) Media units of Govt of India for disseminating information. To implement programmes, there is need to give out information to the public and gather feedback from them. For this, PR planning that identifies targeted public, prepare literature, select media and feedback mechanism are essential.

 Multiple Choice Questions

1.      _________ developed Western PR models

a.       Ivy Lee

b.      Edward Bernays

c.       Grunig & Hunt

d.      Osgood & Schramm

2.      ITM theory of communication belongs to_________

a.    Jawaharlal Nehru

b.    Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

c.    Subash Chandra Bose

d.    MK Gandhi

3.      ___________ is not a stage in RPCE Model

           a.  Evaluation

b.    Propaganda

c.    Communication

d.    Research

4.      ___________ model ensures a two-way communication process.

a.       Two-way symmetrical

b.      Two-way asymmetrical

c.       Press Agentry

d.      Publicity

5.      Public Relations Society of India was established in __________

a.    1947

b.    1956

c.    1958

d.    1962

 Keys to Multiple Choice Questions: 1. (c)  2. (d)  3. (b)  4. (a) 5. (c)

Glossary

Propaganda: It is a deliberate attempt to persuade people to think and then behave in a manner desired by the source and is intended to enhance the relationship between an organisation and the public.

Publicity: The giving out of information to media about a product, person or company for advertising or promotional purposes.

Public Information: Information that is collected, assembled or maintained under a law or in connection with the transaction of official business

Press Agentry: During 19^th century press agents labored to create news to influence public opinion. This is a one-way communication from the press agents to their publics that uses persuasion and manipulation to influence behavior of audience.

Two-way asymmetric model: A scientific approach where the goal is to get into the psychology of the audience so that messages can be tailored to get the most effective reaction but tilted towards the organisation.

Two-way symmetric model: An ethical method where the aim is dialogue not monologue where the feedback is used to change organisational practices.

Campaign: An organized effort to change the opinion of a group or groups of people on a subject

Key Words:

Propaganda, Publicity, Press Agentry, Two-way asymmetric model, Two-way symmetric model, Campaign, Situation analysis, Research, Planning, Communication, Evaluation

Y. BABJI

Academic Counsellor, Public Relations (since 1989)

AP Open University/Dr BR Ambedkar Open University

Editor, Public Relations Voice