Return on Investment in Public Relations: A critical assessment of concepts used by practitioners from the perspectives of communication and management sciences

Return on Investment (ROI) is a term commonly and non-specifically used by public relations practitioners when discussing the value to be created from communication activities. It mimics business language, particularly from business administration and financial management, but does not figure widely in academic discourse (Watson, 2005). Although the Institute for Public Relations [now CIPR] undertook a review of ROI practice in the United Kingdom (IPR/CDF 2004) and Likely, Rockland & Weiner (2006) proposed variations of ROI as alternatives to the discredited Advertising Value Equivalence (AVEs) measure of value creation, there has been little discussion other than Macnamara (2007) and Gregory and Watson (2008). This paper gives an overview on the views of ROI in public relations literature and concepts used by agencies and providers of measurement services. It reports on survey research amongst practitioners in several European countries on identifying the economic value of public relations. The findings are compared with the concepts of ROI used in business and accounting literature (Weber and Schäffer, 2006; Drury, 2007). Applied theory and parameters for the development of measurement and evaluation techniques are proposed. The paper concludes that the use of the term ROI in public relations needs a proper foundation in overriding management theory; otherwise PR theory and practice will discredit themselves

Future trends in social media use for strategic organisation communication: Results of a Delphi study

This article examines current uses of social media for communication by enterprises, political organisations and non-profit organisations (NPOs) and identifies likely future trends. Based on a quantitative online survey among 860 communication professionals in Germany and a follow-up qualitative Delphi study with 32 identified experts from the organisational communication profession and academia, it explores the status quo and aims to identify future directions. While organisations show more advanced structures for social media communication compared to earlier research findings, the empirical data also identifies many shortcomings. The potentials of social media communication are not fully exploited due to missing prerequisites including governance structures, rules and resources. Looking into the future, the Delphi panel suggests that dedicated budgets, social media guidelines and other structural aspects will increase in the near future. However, many organisations will find specific ways to deal with the issue and common strategies are rare. At the same time, according to the qualitative findings, social media evaluation and cooperation across the boundaries of departments and organisational functions are likely to stay underdeveloped

Return on Investment in Public Relations: A critique of concepts used by practitioners from the perspectives of communication and management sciences

Return on Investment (ROI) is a term commonly and non-specifically used by public relations practitioners when discussing the value to be created from communication activities. It mimics business language, particularly from business administration and financial management, but does not figure widely in academic discourse (Watson, 2005). The Institute for Public Relations [now CIPR] undertook a review of ROI practice in the United Kingdom (IPR/CDF 2004) and Likely, Rockland and Weiner (2006) proposed variations of ROI as alternatives to the discredited Advertising Value Equivalence (AVEs) measure of value creation. There has, however, been little discussion other than Macnamara (2007) and Gregory and Watson (2008). This paper gives an overview on the limited discussion of ROI in public relations literature and of concepts used by agencies and providers of measurement services in Europe, although this is a global issue. It reports on survey research among practitioners in many European countries on identifying the economic value of public relations. The findings are compared with the concepts of ROI used in business and accounting literature (Weber & Schäffer, 2006; Drury, 2007). Applied theory and parameters for the development of measurement and evaluation techniques are proposed. The paper concludes that the use of the term ROI in public relations needs a proper foundation in overriding management theory; otherwise public relations theory and practice will discredit themselves

Strengthening the Role of Communication Departments: Positioning Communication Departments at the Top of and Throughout Organizations

Purpose – Corporate communications is often less successful when it is competing for influence with neighboring functions such as marketing or sales within organizations. This article addresses the internal positioning of communication departments by developing a conceptual framework which helps to understand, analyze and optimize their standing in organizations. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a literature review across several disciplines (e.g., organizational communication, strategic management) and supported by 26 qualitative in-depth interviews with board members, executives, and communicators in a global industry company. By combining the theoretical and empirical insights, a framework for positioning communication departments within organizations was developed. Findings – The framework depicts seven strategies (e.g., expectation and impression management, supporting ambassadors from other departments) and three spheres of influence (organizational integration, internal perceptions, and social capital) to strengthen the position of corporate communications. Research limitations/implications – The conceptual framework has been supported by one case study so far, and future research may further develop and verify it by applying it to a larger number of companies in different industries. Practical implications – Practitioners can use the framework as an analytical tool to reflect the current situation in their organization and identify opportunities for strengthening it. Originality/value – This article introduces a novel view in the academic debate about the role and influence of corporate communications. It establishes a framework that helps to identify different drivers and strategies, and lays ground for future research

Business models for communication departments: a comprehensive approach to analyzing, explaining and innovating communication management in organizations

Based on an interdisciplinary literature review, the authors propose the Communication Business Model (CBM) as a new management approach for corporate communications. To this end, pertinent definitions, frameworks and typologies of business models are analyzed and combined with insights from corporate communications literature. The CBM outlines the generic architecture of business models for communication departments. Such models describe the basic principle of how such a unit operates, what services and products it provides, how it creates value for an organization and what revenues and resources are allocated. Relevance: The question of whether and how communication departments contribute to organizational value creation has rarely been addressed in research. Such evidence is crucial, however, as communications competes internally with other functions (e.g. marketing and human resources) for budgets and staff. This article fills the gap by applying the business model concept, an established approach from management theory and practice, to communication units. Practical implications: The CBM can be used as a management tool to analyze, explain and innovate communication management in organizations. It is a fertile approach for communication practitioners to make the work of their department visible and to position themselves internally and externally

Polyphony in Corporate and Organizational Communications: Exploring the Roots and Characteristics of a New Paradigm

This conceptual article examines the idea of polyphonic communication, which gained popularity as a new approach to integrate various voices and communicators in organizational settings. It argues that the metaphor of the organization speaking with many voices has not yet been clearly defined beyond metaphorical language, and the implications of polyphonic approaches for communication management have been rarely discussed – although empirical evidence shows that practitioners support this novel view. A review of the current use of polyphony in communications reveals key suppositions brought forward by authors like Christensen, Cornelissen, Falkheimer, Schultz, Zerfass and others. It also shows that a concise definition and operationalization is still missing. Thus, a broad literature analysis has been conducted to trace the root of polyphony across disciplines such as music, literature, psychology, politics and sociology. This lays the ground for a new, integrative definition of polyphony. Polyphony is understood as the integration of a multiplicity of internal and external voices into the communication activities managed by agents (i.e., communication departments or professionals) on behalf of a corporation or other organizations. Two approaches to managing polyphonic communication are identified and discussed in detail: deliberative-emergent and radical-emergent polyphony. This unveils the need for new and agile ways of communication management

Crisis? What crisis?. How European professionals handle crises and crisis communication

A broad study in 43 European countries shows that 70% of communication professionals encounter at least one crisis a year, mostly institutional, related to the performance of the organization or a crisis in management or leadership. Organizational response and image restoration approaches are mainly based on information, sympathy and defense strategies. Traditional media relations and personal communication are the most important instruments used in crisis communication, while social media is used less often. The variation of crisis types, responses and instruments across European regions and types of organization indicate that economic and cultural aspects play a role in defining a crisis and communicating about it

Temas clave de las relaciones públicas en Europa: Resultados del European Communication Monitor 2007-2014

European Communication Monitor is the largest longitudinal research project in public relations practice in the world. Data collected annually from 2007 to 2014 show that practitioners perceive five issues as the most important for their work: linking business strategy and communication, coping with the digital evolution and social web, building and maintaining trust, dealing with the demand for more transparency and active audiences, and dealing with the speed and volume of information flow. Perception of the importance of various issues for the practice of public relations is largely dependent on the gender, geography (division between Northern and Western vs. Southern and Eastern Europe), and sector in which a practitioner works (corporate, government, NGO or agency). While gender and sectorial differences studied in academic public relations literature, divisions in public relations practice between North-Western and South-Eastern Europe are largely ignored

The Ethical Dimension of Public Relations in Europe: Digital Channels, Moral Challenges, Resources, and Training

Digital communication tools and practices improve the spread and impact of organisational messages. Quite often, however, they also pose moral problems. This article examines how often public relations practitioners encounter moral issues in their day-to-day work, how they assess digital communication tools and practices in terms of ethics, and the resources on which they rely to tackle moral challenges. Four research questions were addressed in an online survey among 2,324 practitioners who work in PR departments of organisations or in PR agencies across Europe. Results show that PR practitioners face more moral challenges in their daily work than they have faced in the past. Regarding digital communication tools and practices, they report moral concerns especially related to using bots, exploiting personal data for big-data analyses, paying social media influencers, and using sponsored content. Personal values and beliefs are the most important resource for dealing with moral issues—whether because only a minority of practitioners has participated in any formal ethics training within the past three years, or because existing ethical guidelines are outdated. Results call for the development of ethical guidelines that can provide explicit advice in the area of digital communication. Furthermore, structured training programs and ethics courses in graduate programs are needed to enhance practitioners’ ethical knowledge

Strategy and organizational culture – Conceptualizing the interplay of key concepts in communication

Organizational culture and strategy have had a long and varied history in communication research. Different definitions go hand in hand at several levels to analyze their nature and impact. The cultural roots of organizations and the need for flexible strategic communication raise the question: What are the similarities between organizational culture and strategies and do both concepts influence each another?Embedded in dynamic environments and coping with complexity, organizational culture and strategy seem to be two sides of the same coin – stability from the past and flexibility for the future. But strategies cannot be implemented by neglecting culture. Therefore, the paper’s purpose is three-fold. First, it will discuss via a literature review the resemblance between the definition of strategy and organizational culture as patterns that evolve over time. This will be applied to the CCO-principle, whereby culture and strategy are both an outcome of the four flows of communication and an influence on the constitution of the organization as well as on its identity. Finally, the paper will explain how organizational culture goes hand in hand with strategic communication and how this yields insights for science and practice.In short, the paper will merge two important concepts of organizational communication. According to this, every strategy implementation has to consider culture – while culture implies stability and consistency, strategies require flexibility and change over time