Scribd
Upload
54 views6 pages

Public Relations - Edited

This document discusses three key topics about public relations: 1) It explains that public relations is a management discipline because it helps organizations effectively communicate and build relationships with stakeholders, which is essential for long-term success. 2) It describes the importance of organizational culture in attracting and retaining talent, encouraging collaboration, establishing goals and values, promoting innovation, improving customer service, and enhancing employee engagement. 3) It illustrates three common organizational structures: hierarchical (pyramid structure with clear chain of command), matrix (dual reporting relationships for projects), and flat (few levels of management between top and bottom).

Uploaded by

Gifted Maggie
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
54 views6 pages

Public Relations - Edited

This document discusses three key topics about public relations: 1) It explains that public relations is a management discipline because it helps organizations effectively communicate and build relationships with stakeholders, which is essential for long-term success. 2) It describes the importance of organizational culture in attracting and retaining talent, encouraging collaboration, establishing goals and values, promoting innovation, improving customer service, and enhancing employee engagement. 3) It illustrates three common organizational structures: hierarchical (pyramid structure with clear chain of command), matrix (dual reporting relationships for projects), and flat (few levels of management between top and bottom).

Uploaded by

Gifted Maggie
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

Introduction to public relations cat one and two

Student’s name
Course code
Course name
Supervisor
Date

1
a) Explain why public relations is a management discipline

Public relations helps the organization develop and maintain relationships with all its key

publics and stakeholders. It ensures there is effective communication with these groups. It plays

an important strategic role in managing organizational relationships that may be important to the

achievement of organizational goals. It also serves as an intelligent function by analyzing and

interpreting trends and issues in the environment that may have consequences for an organization

and its stakeholders. Public relations is concerned with assisting organizations to both formulate

and achieve socially acceptable goals, thus achieving a balance between commercial imperatives

and socially responsible behavior.

Furthermore, public relations plays a critical role in crisis management, thus helping

organizations to respond effectively to negative events or situations. Public relations

professionals are responsible for developing and implementing communication strategies that

can help the organization build and maintain positive relationships with its various stakeholders.

Communication is an important strategy in every organization, and therefore it is important that

every employee in the organization understand this strategy and their role in executing

it.Additionally, public relations professionals ensure that all communication efforts are aligned

with the organization's overall objectives and values.

In conclusion, public relations is a management discipline because it helps the

organization to effectively communicate and build healthy relationships with its stakeholders,

which is essential for the long term success and sustainability of the organization.

2
b) Explain the importance of culture in an organization

Culture refers to the customs, norms, values and general beliefs of certain groups of

individuals.Desphande and Webster (1989) defined organizational culture as “the patterns of

shared values and beliefs that help individuals understand organizational functioning and thus

provide them with norms for behaviors in the organization”. Culture is an essential aspect of

organizations and therefore it is important to understand its importance in an organization.

Culture is an important aspect of an organization as it attracts and retains employee’s

talents thus keeping them motivated and engaged as they feel aligned with the organization’s

values .A positive and supportive culture encourages collaboration and team work leading to a

productive outcome for the organization. Setting of direction is also another importance of

culture in an organization. It helps to establish the organizations’ goals, mission, and values and

3
also guides in decision making and direct actions of the employees towards meeting the

organizations goals. Additionally, culture promotes innovation in an organization. An

organizational culture that encourages creativity, risk taking and experimentation can lead to

innovations and new ideas hence contributing to organizations success.

Furthermore, a strong culture in an organization can improve customer service as

employees who feel connected to the organizations are more likely to provide high quality

customer service. A strong and positive culture can also help build the organization's reputation

hence attracting more clients for them. Culture creates a shared sense of identity, beliefs, and

behaviors that define the organization's identity. The idea of identity was proposed by Mead

(1934) who suggested that “identity arises in the process of social experience and activity” .In

addition to that, a strong culture in an organization enhances employee engagement. This refers

to how committed and passionate an individual is about their work in an organization. For

example, organizations with a strong positive culture have up to 72% higher employee

engagement than those with weak cultures.

In conclusion, culture increases productivity in an organization by fostering teamwork

and innovation. It also encourages open communication and transparency hence lead to the

organization’s success and growth. Therefore it is important for organizations to prioritize

creating and maintaing a healthy and supportive culture.

c) With use of illustrations, explain 3 different organizational structures

4
An organizational structure refers to the formal system of authority that defines how

activities, tasks and roles are coordinated within an organization. It illustrates how information

flows, tasks are divided and how decisions are made. There are several types of organizational

structures and they include as follows:

i) Hierarchical structure.

It is a type of structure that is pyramid shaped and arranges employees from the highest

level of authority to the lowest level. There is a clear chain of command and a well-defined

reporting structure. The advantages of this structure include a well-defined chain of authority and

communication. However, it becomes disadvantageous sometimes to use this structure because it

can lead to slow decision making as lower level employees may not have the authority to make

decisions without approval from the higher authority. This structure of organization is common

in big organizations.

ii) Matrix structure

It is an organizational structure in which employees have dual reporting relationships.

The structure is often used in complex organizations where multiple projects are taking place

simultaneously and therefore require support from employees with diverse skills and expertise.

Employees report to both a functional manager (the one who supervises their day to day work

and provides guidance on their specific area of expertise) and a project manager (who is

responsible for the overall success of a particular project).

iii) Flat structure

5
It is an organizational structure in which the level of management between the top

executives and bottom staff is not clearly defined. It is mostly common in small organizations

and employees are often encouraged to take on multiple roles.

You might also like