A Praxis framework for implementing market orientation into charities

There is a scarcity of research regarding the process of introducing market orientation into the not-for-profit sector. Understanding this process would greatly assist the not-for-profit sector, which is under increasing pressure to obtain funds to operate and offer appropriate services. In this article, we examine the successful introduction of market orientation into three Australian charities and identify the stages of implementation. The introduction of market orientation is analyzed from a discourse transformation perspective and a praxis framework is developed. This is amongst the first studies examining the transition to a market orientation discourse within charity organizations and the first study to develop a praxis framework to guide managers. The study also pioneers a discourse transformation perspective in market orientation research. The article thus extends our knowledge of market orientation within the not-for-profit sector and increases understanding of practitioner engagement in marketing activities

A toolbox for public relations: The oeuvre of Michel Foucault

In this article, we provide a brief introduction to the work of Michel Foucault. Our focus is on the major themes of Foucault’s work: discourse, power/knowledge and subjectivity. We demonstrate the rich contribution that Foucauldian theory can make to public relations practice and scholarship by moving beyond a focus on excellence towards an understanding of public relations as a discourse practice with power effects

The multiple discourses of science-society engagement

A meta-analysis of the changing science –society discourses that played out in New Zealand after the lifting of a moratorium on applications for the release of genetically modified organisms is provided in this article. It highlights the tension between the scientific focus on knowledge and societal values, beliefs and emotions and the need for a democratized discursive space for societal engagement with science. A key contribution of the article is identification of the role of altruistic discourses in societal considerations of controversial scientific innovations

Public policy as an instrument of discourse: reframing biotechnology

Abstract not available

Out of the laboratory: scientists discursive practices in their encounter with activists

This article analyses the discursive practices of scientistsengaged in controversial science in their narrated accounts of encounterswith activists. It explores what happens when scientific credibility andauthority are challenged in a public debate on the benefits and risks of suchscience. The aim is to understand how scientists discursively negotiate andmake sense of their encounters with activists, the range of subject positionsthey claim, and how power is implicated in identification with the public.The article shows how scientists counter emotional appeals, utilizing bothscientific and public identities respectively to legitimate the epistemic andmoral authority of science and to marginalize opposing activists. It is arguedthat a unitary view of scientific identity is inadequate. Rather, in times ofpublic challenge and controversy, scientists may utilize a multiplicity ofsubject positions to achieve identification with public interests. The discursiveconstruct, public interest, is interpreted as a contested discursive space and a discursive resource for influencing public opinion

On Foucault: a toolbox for public relations

Foucault\u27s work provides both critical theory and methods for understanding public relations as a discourse practice with power effects. Within this chapter we introduce the key theoretical concepts of Foucault\u27s work, focusing in particular on discourse, power/knowledge, and subjectivity. A number of tensions that emerge from a Foucauldian consideration of public relations are highlighted and discussed. We then reflect on potential applications of Foucault\u27s theories for our understanding of the role public relations in mapping discourse transformations and change, power effects within relationship management, and identity work. This chapter contends that Foucault\u27s work can offer new critical insights into how public relations works and why it works.I would like my books to be a kind of tool-box which others can rummage through to find a tool which they can use however they wish in their own area.... I write for users, not readers. (Foucault, 1974, pp.523-524

Issues, interests and identity: communicating biotechnology

Communicating and consulting with the general public is often a statutory requirement for public sector organizations. In this paper we examine the issues faced by public sector organizations when that communication or consultation involves the introduction or regulation of a controversial technology. To illustrate these issues in practice, we draw upon the public consultation and communication processes undertaken by New Zealand’s Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) following the lifting in 2003 of a moratorium on field trials for genetically modified (GM) organisms. ERMA is charged with the oversight of biotechnology research and the introduction of new organisms and dangerous substances into New Zealand. Following the lifting of the GM moratorium, ERMA identified a need to communicate with the general public, rather than just scientific organisations or those that identified strongly with anti-GM activist groups, about the way in which it would perform its role in the new environment. Drawing on a mobilization model from stakeholder theory that categorises stakeholder groups that take action with regards to a focal organization as being either interest-based or identity-based (Rowley & Moldoveanu, 2003), we explore the ramifications for organizations like ERMA of attempting to engage with the general public. According to Rowley and Moldoveanu (2003), interest-based stakeholder groups act to protect their interests while identity-based stakeholders mobilize as an expression of their identity. Consultation processes around issues, processes and events are usually designed to elicit views from publics and thus to awaken latent perspectives. As the threshold for mobilization is much lower for identity-based than interest-based groups (Ibid), communication strategies are more likely to mobilize members of the general public who have not yet taken a position, towards identity-based positions. This response, which is likely to increase rather than reduce public dissatisfaction with the organization and/or resistance to the technological issue, raises a number of potential challenges for organizations

The politics of idea work: an indigenous perspective

Abstract not available

Anti-consumption and brand avoidance

This article focuses on a particular form of anti-consumption; brand avoidance. Specifically, it explores why people may avoid some brands, even when their financial circumstances allow them the option to purchase. The authors use qualitative data to develop a conceptual framework that helps clarify why consumers avoid certain brands. This study reveals three types of brand avoidance: experiential, identity and moral brand avoidance. Experiential brand avoidance occurs because of negative first hand consumption experiences that lead to unmet expectations. Identity avoidance develops when the brand image is symbolically incongruent with the individual\u27s identity. Moral avoidance arises when the consumer\u27s ideological beliefs clash with certain brand values or associations, particularly when the consumer is concerned about the negative impact of a brand on society. Finally, this study highlights potential strategies that managers could implement to deal with brand avoidance