Institute for Public Relations

2007 – Industry and professional studies show that public relations and corporate communication practitioners continue to not use research to plan and measure their activities in a majority of cases despite management demand. The reasons advanced for this are primarily lack of budget and lack of time to undertake research. This paper argues that there are other more fundamental underlying factors that need to be recognised including a ‘fork in the road’ in the development of modern public relations and corporate communication practice that is a critical issue to address.

2005 – There has been a good deal of attention in recent years on how important it is to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of public relations programs and activities. Dozens of articles, booklets and reports have been published giving advice and counsel on how PR practitioners might more effectively build research, measurement and evaluation tools and techniques into their work. All of these articles and booklets are welcome; any steps calling attention to the need to be accountable for the work we do in public relations have to be applauded.

The profession of public relations lacks a serious, comprehensive history. Considering the power that we’ve evidenced throughout the years as practitioners, it seems somewhat ludicrous that we don’t have at least one book we can point to with pride as a truly credible, challenging chronology and interpretation of PR’s origins and actions, both good and bad. This abbreviated history is a modest example, compiled from research for chapters I have authored for textbooks and an international encyclopedia, and leavened by my personal experiences over more than 30 years in the profession, first in ...

This paper explores the life and career of Charlotte Klein, a 20th century public relations executive. Using in-depth interviews and primary and secondary documents, the authors discuss Klein’s big ideas. In addition, we explore her influence as an early woman leader in PR professional societies and the gender-related challenges she faced in her career.