International Public Relations (IPR) Lecture Notes

UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES

CMS 409: INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS

THEOPHILUS NARTEY

DEFINITION OF IPR

  • Globalization: Refers to the increasing economic, social, and political interdependencies around the world.
  • Public Relations (PR): Charged with managing communication and relationships between organizations/nations and their stakeholders on an international level.
  • Actors in Public Relations: Increasingly diverse, with more stakeholders utilizing PR in a global context.
  • Importance of Global Description: Essential for understanding the global landscape of PR.

Definitions of International Public Relations (IPR)

  • Wilcox & Cameron (2009): IPR is described as the “planned and organized effort of a company, institution, or government to establish and build relationships with the publics of other nations.”
  • Tench & Yeomans (2006): IPR is defined as the “planned communication activity of a (multinational) organization, a supra- or international institutional or government to create a positive and receptive environment through interactions in the target country which facilitates the organization (or government) to achieve its policy or business objectives without harming the interests of the host publics.”

Challenges in IPR

  • Cultural Barriers: Overcoming obstacles posed by different languages, laws, cultures, and norms which are often viewed as “problems” (Wilcox et al. 2001).
  • Misunderstanding of IPR: A rapidly growing sector of the PR profession that is frequently misunderstood.
  • Interchangeable Use: IPR and global PR are often used interchangeably, despite differences.

Global PR

  • Definition: Global PR refers to the internationalization of the PR profession.
  • IPR Practices: Involves planning and implementing programs and campaigns across borders involving multiple countries.

Goals of Public Relations

  • Emphasizes mutual understanding and relationship building between organizations and publics.
  • Focused on global brand development and reputation management based on relationships.
  • Wakefield (2003:180) describes it as a “multinational program that has certain coordination between headquarters and various countries where offices and/or publics are located.”

IPR Activities

  1. Preparative: Creating and cultivating a favorable environment for communication.
  2. Situational: Responding to specific issues or pressures that drive communication (e.g., international pressure groups).
  3. Promotional: Centered around promoting products or services and integrating PR with global marketing functions by supporting communication efforts.

IPR as the Glue of Globalization

  • IPR facilitates multinational corporations in reaching new markets and publics effectively.

Historical Development of Public Relations

  • Evolution relates to:
    • Communication: Influencing the growth of the PR field through diverse mediums.
    • Democracy: Enhancing communication’s role in democratic processes.
    • Global Social Interdependence: Increasing interaction among diverse actors with varied origins and values.

Success Factors in 21st Century Public Relations

  • Understanding the immense diversity in the global landscape is vital for PR success in the 21st century.
  • Sriramesh (2008) indicates that diversity is a defining characteristic of modern global interactions.
  • IPR is integral to the daily operations of numerous organizations and governments.

Communication Structures of Multinationals

  • MNCs are investing in international communication by adopting traditional management practices including:
    • Planning
    • Organizing
    • Evaluating communication efforts across different languages and enforcing corporate design rules.
    • Partnering with local communication agencies in host countries.

Reasons for IPR Development

  • Expansion of Communication Technology: Enhancing global information exchange capabilities.
  • Economic Realignment: Shifts due to multinational trading blocs.
  • Common Goals: Nations unifying to address global issues like rebellion, disease management, and terrorism.

Challenges Faced in IPR

  • The necessity for organizations to communicate effectively while ensuring responsibility and legal compliance.
  • Responding to fluctuating social, economic, and political changes enhances the demand for effective international communication.

Contextual Problems in IPR

  • Significant events that exemplify context-related problems include:
    • Rio + 20 (UN Conference on Sustainable Development, 2012)
    • Brexit
    • US-China relations
    • The Ebola epidemic

Opportunities in IPR

  • Growth and development opportunities include:
    • Understanding local cultures, customs, languages, and laws.
    • Representing foreign entities both abroad and domestically.
    • Enhancing communications and relationships.

Key Players in IPR

  1. Multinational Organizations (MNOs): Businesses with objectives such as increasing global sales and creating brand awareness (e.g., Tullow Oil, Coca Cola, Shell).
  2. Nation-states and Governments: Striving for favorable images to attract investments, often leveraging their international reputation for policy goals.
  3. Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs): Composed of national states; include entities like EU, AU, ASEAN, NATO, UN, WTO.
  4. International Non-governmental Organizations: Focus on activism across various domains, including human rights and environmental issues (e.g., Red Cross, Oxfam).
  5. Public Relations Consultancies: Offer international expertise through local networks.
  6. Virtual Communities: Develop through the Internet, bypassing traditional barriers of time and geography.

Factors Driving Globalization

  • The growth of worldwide networks of interdependence encompassing:
    • Environmental
    • Military
    • Social
    • Economic dimensions.
  • Claims of Americanization of globalization due to the dominant role of U.S. companies in the global market.

Importance of Global Support on Common Issues

  • Global issues, including:
    • Environmental problems
    • Human rights concerns
    • Health crises (e.g., pandemics)
    • Combatting organized crime
    • Terrorism
    • Poverty and hunger.
  • Emphasis on the need for collective action to address these challenges internationally.

The Global Public Sphere

  • Emergence enabled by various types of media that highlight significant issues for public discourse.
  • Concerns regarding media ownership and its potential to skew public communication away from genuine discourse (e.g., CNN).

Trends in Public Relations

  • International PR has become a “hot topic” amidst global changes, as evidenced by growing professional gatherings and student interest in global PR at universities.
  • The increase in international PR practice driven by the rapid pace of change and globalization.

Societal Interdependence

  • Increased interdependence among nations, businesses, and peoples, with social forces, political unions, NGOs forming to address critical global issues.
  • The importance of mutual understanding to navigate international communication effectively.

Information Revolution

  • Characterized by:
    • Rapid advancements in technology impacting daily life.
    • Formulation of an international information society with transformative communication technologies.
    • Rapid increase in internet resources (e.g., from 50 websites in 1993 to over 5 billion in 2000).

Agenda Setting in IPR

  • Defined as the process by which media communicates the relative importance of various issues to the public (Rogers & Dearing, 1988).
  • The relationship between:
    • Media agenda influenced by news values.
    • Public agenda affecting policy decisions based on media framing.
    • Corporate agendas articulated by business interests.

Models of Agenda Interaction

  • A dynamic and imbalanced relationship exists among public, policy, corporate, and media agendas.
  • The influence of PR practitioners on each agenda through media relations and lobbying efforts.

Complexity of Global Relations

  • Relations amongst various publics have become increasingly complex and multilayered, influenced by factors like nationalism, regional alliances, terrorism, and the internet.
  • The notion of a “flat world” emphasizes the interconnectedness and opportunities brought about by advances in ICTs.

Cultural and Relational Dynamics in PR

  • Cultural Sensitivity: Essential for understanding goals and values of diverse stakeholders.
  • Relational Orientation: Impacts PR strategies; recognizes the diversity of relationship perceptions.
  • Power Distance: Societal acceptance of inequality can influence organizational structures and communication flows in different countries.

Political, Economic, and Social Profiling of Countries

  • Factors influencing PR practices include political, economic, legal, and social structures of a country, which determine feasible strategies in specific contexts.
  • Understanding local media environments is crucial for successful communication strategies.