Journal Resume: IM Alit DP (135120207121014)

Journal Resume

An Open-System Approach to Building

Theory in Public Relations

Glen M. Broom

School of Communication

San Diego State University

This paper is contained of my summary of a journal titled “An Open-System Approach to Building Theory in Public Relations” written by Glen M. Broom. Generally this journal is talking about how the open system is used to help building theory in public relations.

At the beginning, Broom explains that theory in public relations requires the larger fields of communication and human behavior concepts. It’s true because when we talk about public relations, we can’t only focus on what we have learned in public relations journals, but also have to find some literatures from other fields to enhance our knowledge that may be related to public relations. Despite in practical we have to divide it with another scientific disciplines, to develop public relations concepts we don’t have a boundary around its “body of knowledge”.

Further, Broom proposes an open-system approach to building theory. According to Littlejohn (2002, p. 37), “an open system receives matter and energy from its environment and passes matter and energy to its environment”. The system in this case is called to be opened to their environment because it exchanges the information from input to output (Figure 1). In this approach there are several stages he has done. The first stage is choosing the focal concept. By selecting a concept it will help researcher to know clearly what he aim for and provide the motivation for the study. Secondly is defining the focal concept. In this stage researcher have to define and identify the various roles enacted by the practitioners and make it as a concept analysis. Several steps to do in concept analysis process are: (1) select a concept of interest, (2) determine purpose, (3) identify how the concept has been defined and used, (4) determine defining attributes, (5) create a model case, (6) create related, but different, cases, (7) develop the measures and, and (8) build theory around the focal concept. After it’s all done, researcher continued to the next stage, validating and explicating the concept.

FIGURE 1. An open system model of public relations. From “Introduction to Public Relations and Advertising” (p. 23), by D F du Plessis, 2000

As a conclusion the researcher said that despite the theory in public relations came from various fields of communication and behavioral, but none of these fields can refer to public relations. It is feared will limit our connections with the best research in communication and human behavior at all system levels.

Bibliography

Broom, G.M. (2006). An open-system approach to building theory in public relation. Journal of Public Relation Research,18(2),141-150.

Littlejohn, & Stephen, W. (2002). Theories of human communication (7th ed). Boston: Mc Graw Hill

Plessis, D F du. (2001). Introduction to public relations and advertising. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.id/books?id=dU2Yz3u9lMoC&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=open+system+model+in+public+relations&source=bl&ots=5c1lPFjkvN&sig=TXxux-2DghRi4fMgOiUrurQcGWU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAWoVChMI3P_A2vKHyAIViCmUCh14wA48#v=onepage&q=open%20system%20model%20in%20public%20relations&f=false

By I Made Alit Diatmika Putra (135120207121014)