Institute for Public Relations

Do patronage, sponsoring and charitable works provide conclusive evidence of corporate social responsibility? The answer here is an awkward one – the main concern is not to hurt or de-motivate. Because, of course, generous patronage, sponsoring and charitable involvement are, in themselves, laudable. The situation bears a striking resemblance with the first forays of business into the sphere of environmental protection: With “end-of-pipe” measures – precautions that only take effect “downstream”, i.e. at the end of manufacturing processes – many initially endeavored to repair and make good what had previously been torn asunder in the value chain. Naturally, then as ...

Since adopting “Public Diplomacy” – or “Corporate Diplomacy” – as my theme as IPRA President, people have been asking me to define its role in Public Relations and to cite examples. I have tackled the topic online in this month’s Frontline. I believe that Corporate Diplomacy means at least two things. It means a company embeds the value of collaboration deeply into its operations and practices, and it means the company extends the reach of its relationships to include groups, cultures, organizations, even governments, which don’t necessarily involve the company or client directly but which ultimately affect the sustainability of ...

This paper is an another major addition to the Institute’s growing collection of baseline papers examining what existing research teaches us in specific areas of practice. Brad Rawlins, Ph.D., Brigham Young University, reviews academic and trade literature on the concept of trust. His paper links to literature demonstrating how essential trust is for any social relationship. It offers a working definition of trust for PR purposes and ways to measure trust. “Trust is critical to the functioning of our society at all levels-interpersonal, small group, organizational, and societal-and is especially central to the practice of public relations,” writes Rawlins. “You can’t ...

“Baseline Study on Diversity Segments: Multirace Americans” adds to the Institute’s growing collection of baseline papers examining what existing research teaches us in specific areas of practice. Bey-Ling Sha, Ph.D., of San Diego State University explores scholarship and government data regarding multirace Americans. The U.S. government has collected race data since the first census in 1790, but respondents could not identify with more than one group until 2000. In that year, more than 6.8 million Americans claimed more than one race. What races are most likely to be multirace, where do they live, and what are their ages? How have social sciences ...