Excellence Theory in Public Relations

Public Relations Theories – 05/10/15

Reviewe

By : Darwis, NIM-135120207121026

Department of Communication Science, Faculty of Social and Political Science

University of Brawijaya Malang

Introduction

First of all, I would like to say that this writing consists of my review towards a paper entitled “Excellence Theory in Public Relations: Past, Present, and Future" from James E. Grunig & Larissa A. Grunig. Furthermore, this review intends to know what Excellence Theory in Public Relations is. Grunig in his book “Manager’s Guide to Excellent in Public Relations and Communication Management” (1995, p. 13 cited in Kriyantono, 2006, p. 297) identifies four models of communication implemented by Public Relations in conducting its role or function for organization. This topic will be focus in this review.

Review Section

As purpose of this writing, I would like to write the result of my review that Excellence Theory is the name of writers' colleagues and they gave to an integrated collection of middle-range theories that they used in a 15-years' study sponsored by International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Research Foundation. The use of the term "excellence" often has been misunderstood or misinterpreted. Actually the chosen of the term was quite innocently during a research planning meeting with board members of the IABC Research Foundation in 1984 because at the time, Peters and Waterman in their book "In Search of Excellence had sold more than 5 million copies in 16 languages, and one board member suggested that the research they were about to conduct had a similar purpose. Yet, they dropped the words "is search of" from the name of the study to avoid copying Peters and Waterman's title.

Excellence theory helps to place it into the research context that precedes it. Before 1970s, few theories of public relations went beyond the descriptions of the practice found in classic textbooks such as Cutlip and Center's first edition. These textbook descriptions could not be considered theories because they were based on anecdotal examples rather that systematic research designed to gather evidence to support and revise theory. Yet after Grunig began doing public relations research in 1966, everything had changed. He began to construct the conceptualization that he now calls the situational theory of publics and he used organizational theory to identify how organization's structure, environment, history, size, and technology affect the practice of public relations research that eventually produced his four models of public relations.

During this time, two ways of thinking about public relations both in practice and in the academic world. That calls these approaches the symbolic interpretive paradigm and the strategic management. These perspectives affect how public relations is viewed. Back to the basic discussion, the excellence study provides solid theory and empirical evidence of how the function should be organized to maximize the value of public relations that it must be organized in a way that makes it possible to identify strategic publics as part of the strategic management process and to build quality long-term relationship with them through symmetrical communication programs.

Finally, the program of research has been done by Grunig regarding excellence theory has impact to conducting public relations research around the world and it produces an elaborated, general theory of public relations. This general theory has provided concepts to teach to future public relations practitioners, tools that professionals can use in practice, principles and rules that will importantly make public relations more acceptable to society and understood by both organizations and public, and a conceptual framework that continues to generate research of public relations.

References

Kriyantono, R. (2006). Teknik praktis riset komunikasi: Disertai contoh praktis riset media, public relations, advertising, komunikasi organisasi, komunikasi pemasaran. Jakarta: Kencana Prenada