The People's Republic of China and FAPRA: Catalysts for theory building in Africa's public relations

Africa is experiencing an unusually high economic interest from the People's Republic of China, whose government has invested billions of dollars in schools, clinics, roads, railways, factories, and oil wells on the continent; has canceled more than $1.36 billion in debts owed to it by 33 African nations; and has pledged to provide Africa with$5 billion in preferential loans and credits through 2009. Its top party officials traverse the continent, seeking to develop business relationships and to reinforce others. While such efforts help place Africa on the cusp of significant economic growth, they also boost the programs and activities of the Nairobi, Kenya-based Federation of African Public Relations Associations (FAPRA), and an umbrella body of all national public relations associations in Africa and a consultant to African governments and to the African Union. FAPRA has launched a 5-year action plan to improve the stature and social relevance of the public relations practice, largely through enhancing its efforts to professionalize it. Both China and FAPRA are, in essence, collaborating to create environments conducive to enhancing the practice in Africa, and to laying a foundation for an expansive view of public relations research—one that questions grand narratives, defines concepts, challenges orthodoxies, measures variables, and determines program outcomes or effects. And researchers and practitioners work together in creative ways to improve the practice. This article argues that questions and concepts are, in themselves, opportunities for a much-needed theory building in Africa's public relations. It, therefore, outlines 4 propositions as a template for such theory building, based on a 4-concept research agenda: culture, good governance and rule of law, economic freedom, and FAPRA's integrated programs and activities outlined in its 5-year action plan. The return of China … to global economic prominence in the twenty-first century is likely to reshape global politics and society. The overwhelming dominance of the West, which lasted half a millennium, is probably passé. We should view these developments not only with awe, but with anticipation. (Sachs, 2005Sachs, J. D. 2005. The end of poverty: Economic possibilities of our time, New York: Penguin. [Google Scholar], p. 187) We want to work in partnership with the international community, but we believe that it must be a partnership based on mutual respect and mutual accountability. (Former Namibian Prime Minister Geingob, 2006Geingob, H. 2006. “Democracy in Africa”. In Democracy rising: Assessing the global challenges, Edited by: Muñoz, H.55–60. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner. [Google Scholar], p. 56

Risk Communication and Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Meltdown: Ethical Implications for Government-Citizen Divides

The response of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which has been hobbled by a natural disaster, provides startling lessons in how organizations that disregard public outcry, even in a high-context culture that embraces pauses, silences, and understatements in communication exchanges, can be vulnerable to stakeholder backlash. The risk communication used by TEPCO in the wake of the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in March 2011 continues to raise major ethical questions among families with children at risk for illnesses from radiation leaks—and from contamination. TEPCO’s actions exacerbated tensions in government-citizen divides. This article analyzes the implications of such divides for the ethics of TEPCO’s risk communication—that is, communication between those facing a health or an environmental risk and an organization with the wherewithal to reduce or control significantly that risk or its impact

‘Communicating development’–a cultural shift: emerging discourses on entrepreneurial development and poverty reduction by Nigeria’s banking and microfinance sectors

This article departs from the dominant orthodoxies in discourses on communication and development by introducing, as a major cultural shift, theoryguided strategic communication themes in two complementary sectors of Nigeria’s financial industry: banking and microfinance. In both sectors, the personal influence model and relationship marketing provide the overarching theoretical framework for investigating the immanence (or lack thereof) of three key variables in the relationships of those sectors with their primary stakeholders, for the primary purpose of entrepreneurial development and poverty reduction. Those variables – trust, commitment and satisfaction – are subsumed under ‘relationship quality’, an embodiment of culture as an integral part of the impact of microfinance on Nigeria’s economy. This article adopts a development strategy that focuses exclusively on relationships established and sustained in exchanges between nonpublic organisations (i.e., the banking and microfinance industries) and key stakeholders for the primary purpose of entrepreneurial development fueled by a cultural economy that ensures the production and wide distribution of finished products, not necessarily commodities. Thematic discourses that use theories to guide institutional policies and actions are proffered in an attempt to create stronger institutional bonds between banking and microfinance institutions and their disparate stakeholders

Identifying normativity in communication research: a typology and a framework for assessing scientific and extrascientific norms

Normativity in communication research is indicated in identifying a problem, a theory, or a methodology; in interpreting empirical data; and in acknowledging a scholar’s association or affiliation with a particular school of thought. However, scholars are often not aware of—or do not acknowledge—their normative assumptions, resulting in the exclusion of audiences from their arguments. This article, therefore, in arguing for an explication of norms in communication research, distinguishes among three levels of normativity, discusses the legitimacy of norms at those levels, and introduces a framework that enables scholars to reflect on their norms, an action that will help them to further compare, bridge, and synthesize different perspectives, theories, and methodologies in communication scholarship

Managing a crisis of confidence in Nigeria's banking and financial industry

An ongoing crisis of confidence in the banking and financial industry in Nigeria's emerging economy calls for using integrated marketing communications (IMC) in optimizing five potentially normative actions as a beachhead in procuring corporate benefits from three variables that predict significantly customers’ favorable impressions of business: satisfaction, trust, relationship commitment. The actions: (a) personalize the stakeholder experience, (b) integrate ethics into the workplace and into corporate communications, (c) participate in training sessions in applied ethics, (d) use brandstanding expansively and integratively, and (e) conduct rigorous outcomes assessment and disseminate its results promptly to stakeholders

Drivers of Change or Cut-Throat Competitors? Challenging Cultures of Innovation of Chinese and Nigerian Migrant Entrepreneurs in West Africa

L'afflux remarquable des entrepreneurs migrants chinois dans différents pays d'Afrique occidentale au cours des dernières années a été heurtée à une résistance de plus en plus farouche par des entrepreneurs locaux établis. Que le premiers ont un avantage concurrentiel sur ce dernier en raison de traits socio-culturels distinctifs, ou si l'efficacité supposée chinoise est juste une caractéristique de toutes les diasporas mercantiles, est ouvert à la question. Cette étude exploratoire des migrants entrepreneuriales chinois et nigérians au Ghana et au Bénin tente de répondre à cette question. Apparemment, les forces culturels des agents du changement migrants ne sont pas limités à des systèmes de valeurs héritées ou religions, comme une éthique protestante ou le confucianisme, mais ils sont adaptés en permanence et ont inventé de nouveau par des réseaux transnationaux de la migration dans un monde globalisé. Il n'y a aucune preuve d'une prétendue supériorité de la culture d’innovation chinois par rapport aux cultures d’innovation africains des migrants entrepreneuriales. Plutôt, il existe une capacité accrue d'innovation d'une diaspora mercantile en général vis à vis des entrepreneurs locaux, indépendamment de l'origine de la culture nationale dans lequel il est intégré. En outre, la rivalité des entrepreneurs migrants chinois et nigérians dans les marchés africains ne conduit pas nécessairement à la concurrence coupe-gorge souvent suspectée sous l'impact de la mondialisation. Souvent, les deux groupes agissent plutôt complémentaires. Cela contribue, sous certaines conditions, même à la réduction de la pauvreté dans le pays d'accueil

The disruption of proteostasis in neurodegenerative diseases

Cells count on surveillance systems to monitor and protect the cellular proteome which, besides being highly heterogeneous, is constantly being challenged by intrinsic and environmental factors. In this context, the proteostasis network (PN) is essential to achieve a stable and functional proteome. Disruption of the PN is associated with aging and can lead to and/or potentiate the occurrence of many neurodegenerative diseases (ND). This not only emphasizes the importance of the PN in health span and aging but also how its modulation can be a potential target for intervention and treatment of human diseases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Participative Leadership and Organizational Identification in SMEs in the MENA Region: Testing the Roles of CSR Perceptions and Pride in Membership

The aim of this research is to explore the process linking participative leadership to organizational identification. The study examines the relationship between participative leadership and internal CSR perceptions of employees and also investigates the role that pride in membership plays in the affiliation of CSR perceptions with organizational identification. By studying these relationships, the paper aspires to contemplate new presumed mediators in the association of participative leadership with organizational identification as well as determine a possible novel antecedent of employee CSR perceptions. Empirical evidence is provided from data that was collected through a survey distributed to employees working for small- and medium-sized enterprises in three countries in the Middle East and North Africa regions, particularly the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Tunisia. Findings show that participative leadership leads to positive internal CSR perceptions of employees and that these CSR perceptions lead to pride in membership which, in turn, results in organizational identification. Implications of these findings are also discussed