ORGANIZATION-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIPS MODEL: A TWO-SIDED STORY

The purpose of this study was to develop a theory of internal relationship management, and to propose a new way of measuring organization-public relationships by simultaneously examining the organizations' as well as their employees' perceptions of the quality of their relationships. It sought to contribute to theory-building on the process of relationship management from its maintenance through its quality to the consequences. An online survey was used to collect data. Usable questionnaires totaled 785 from 30 organizations. Data analytic methods included missing value analysis, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, multivariate regression, polynomial regression, surface response tests, mediation tests, and reliability tests. The proposed measures of symmetrical relationship maintenance strategies, asymmetrical relationship strategies, organization-employee relationship characteristics, turnover intention, and contextual performance were found to be valid and reliable. The major findings included: first, the more organizations used symmetrical relationship maintenance strategies with their employees, the more likely both employees and the organizations reported greater trust, control mutuality, commitment, satisfaction, and less distrust in the relationship; and vice versa for asymmetrical strategies. Second, employees would have higher turnover intention when both employees and their organizations perceived higher distrust and lower trust, control mutuality, commitment, and satisfaction. Also, when employees were more optimistic than their organizations about their relationships, employees were more likely to leave the organization. Third, employees' contextual performance would rise as both these employees and their organizations reported greater level of commitment and satisfaction. However, employees' level of contextual performance would drop when incongruence increased. Lastly, mediation tests showed that the effects of symmetrical and asymmetrical relationship maintenance strategies on turnover intention and contextual performance were partially mediated by congruence of perceived relationship characteristics, excluding the dimension of distrust regarding the effect of relationship maintenance strategies on contextual performance. This study contributed to public relations theory by 1) clarifying and refining the conceptualizations and operationalizations of relationship maintenance strategies, congruence of perceived relationship characteristics, and organizational effectiveness, 2) proposing a new way to evaluate two sides of organization-public relationships, and 3) empirically testing a relationship-building model within organizations to develop a theory of internal relationship management

Public Relations and MNCs' Corporate Social Responsibility: From A Developing Country's Perspective

Amongst heated discussions of multinational companies' social responsibilities, the study examined a three-dimensional model (Arthaud-Day, 2005) of social responsibility management by multinational corporations operating in a developing country--China, and further built an enhanced understanding in public relations and CSR. Eighteen participants (half communicators, half employees) from eight multinationals were interviewed over the telephone. Results identified two types of strategic orientations--global and transnational and four universal CSR issues (the underprivileged, education, environment, and community). Results also showed a dominant perception of public relations as "publicity" or "media relations," and communication at best. But most communicators and employees suggested a strategic role for public relations in managing their companies' CSR strategies. Specifically, the public relations function was proposed to act as coordinator, leader in formulation, implementation and evaluation process, or a helping hand for the human resources function. Other cultural nuances and implications were also discussed

On a new class of Finsler metrics

In this paper, the geometric meaning of (alpha,beta)-norms is made clear. On this basis, we introduce a new class of Finsler metrics called general (alpha,beta)-metrics, which are defined by a Riemannian metric and an 1-form. These metrics not only generalize original (alpha,beta)-metrics naturally, but also include some metrics structured by R. Bryant. The notion of general (alpha,beta)-metrics is one of the original ideas belongs to the first author(another one is beta-deformations intruduced in the paper "Deformations and Hilbert's Fourth Problem"). We believe that the researches on general (alpha,beta)-metrics will enrich Finsler geometry and the approaches offer references for further study. But it seems that the classical methods suitable for (alpha,beta)-metrics may not be suitable for them, the idea used in this paper, which is closely related to beta-deformations, is non-classical. Any communication or suggestion is welcome.Comment: 16 page

Profiling Public Relations Practitioners’ Work-Life Conflict: From A Diversity Lens

Work-life conflict -- defined as the incompatibility between expectations to perform one role versus another -- can be categorized as time-based, strain-based, and behavior-based. Using a broad diversity perspective, we examined understudied diversity categories as influencers of work-life conflict, namely, age, family dependent care responsibility, and professional specialty. Surveying a nationally representative sample of PRSA membership (N=820), we found that Generation Xers are more stressed out than are other age groups; those who need to care for an older adult experience significantly higher levels of time-based conflict; and employee relations specialists have to deal with significantly more strain-based work-life conflict than do others

PR Professionals' Technology Use: Emotional, Financial, and Professional Ramifications

This study examined Information and communication technologies (ICT) use by public relations practitioners and its influence on work-life conflict, income, and professional outlook through a random national survey (n = 820) of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) members. We found that practitioners primarily use direct media more than network-building media and visual media. ICT use (direct and visual media use) was a significant predictor of time-based work-life conflict. Some types of ICT use significantly enhance practitioners’ income and influence their professional outlook

Why Women Earn Less Than Men: The Cost of Gender Discrimination in U.S. Public Relations

This study provides a comprehensive theoretical model to account for the persistent pay inequity between men and women in public relations. Surveying a random sample of public relations professionals, we shed light on the various factors giving rise to gendered pay disparity, including gender, professional experience, career specialization, manager role enactment, and participation in management decision-making. We found that pay inequity exists between male and female practitioners because of their gender, after controlling for all the other identified influencers. Also, gender leads to gendered salary differences through professional experience, manager role enactment, participation in decision-making, and career specialization

Gender Gaps in the Measurement of Public Opinion About Homosexuality in Cross-national Surveys: A Question-Wording Experiment

Measures of attitudes towards homosexuality in cross-national studies have received criticism for not being ‘gender-sensitive’. The current study used a split-ballot design allowing for separate analyses of the attitudes towards ‘gay men and lesbian women’, ‘gay men’, and ‘lesbian women’ in a pooled sample of 3,381 participants from Great Britain, Hungary, and Portugal. Analyses controlling for sociodemographics showed that differences in attitudes towards male and female targets were generally small and did not interact with the gender of the rater. In addition, results showed that men’s attitudes towards homosexuality were more strongly related to their gender ideology than women’s attitudes. Implications of these findings for cross-national studies measuring attitudes towards homosexuality are discussed

Green Total Factor Productivity of Dairy Farming in China: Based on the Perspective of Scale Heterogeneity

Dairy farming has become one of the most important industries for China’s national economic development, but the dairy farming process emits large amounts of greenhouse gases, which accelerate the greenhouse effect. Improving green production efficiency is important for the harmonious development between dairy farming and environmental protection. This paper explores the evolutionary characteristics of China’s GMLMI (Green total factor productivity of dairy farming) in terms of scale heterogeneity based on data from 2007 to 2018 from 27 major dairy-producing provinces (municipalities directly under the central government) in China, considering negative output indicators and using the super-efficient SBM-GML index model. The results show that 1) China’s GMLMI in 2007–2018 is highest in the medium scale, followed by the large scale, and lowest in the small scale. The regional distribution is highest in the central region, followed by the eastern region, and lowest in the western region. 2) China’s GMLMI shows a positive increasing trend from 2007 to 2018, and the decomposition indicators of the three scales (small, medium, and large) perform differently, indicating that there are differences in the ways to enhance the GMLMI of the three scales. 3) The results of the meta Frontier surface are different from those of the group Frontier surface, with the meta Frontier surface GMLMI being lower and the group Frontier surface GMLMI being overestimated. Finally, this paper proposes policy recommendations on how to improve the overall GMLMI of dairy cattle environmental farming in China