Institute for Public Relations

This meeting brought together academics, communications practitioners and journalists to discuss the state of the profession, the challenges it faces and new areas of research that continues to push it forward. The two-day symposium took place on May 19-21, 2008 in Hanover, NH, was sponsored by the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, the Arthur W. Page Society, and the Institute for Public Relations. The Academic Symposium featured discussion of the Arthur Page Society’s The Authentic Enterprise report, which focused on globalization, stakeholder empowerment and the digital network revolution. Topics of discussion included: Clarifying the responsibility of managing corporate authenticity and defining ...

The Arthur W. Page Society, an association whose mission is to strengthen the role of the corporate public relations officer as an executive management function, has published “The Authentic Enterprise.” This white paper draws on original CEO research along with the collective experience of a cross-section of corporate communications and academic experts. It identifies the rapidly changing context for global business and society, examines the drivers and implications of these shifts, and proposes a set of strategic options for CEOs and other C-suite executives to consider in helping the enterprise successfully respond to ...

This study is a comprehensive evaluation and analysis of the factors that contribute to employee turnover in the public relations industry and seeks to uncover best practices for preventing the loss of key talent. This text comprises extensive background and discusses the magnitude of the problem, such as disruption to workflow, increased costs, client dissatisfaction and decreased productivity. The study then examines factors relating to employee turnover against three theoretical and conceptual frameworks: General Systems Theory, The Deming System of Profound Knowledge and Grunig and Hunt’s Two-Way Symmetric Model. The research was ...

Less than 20 days before his retirement as President and CEO of the Institute for Public Relations, Frank Ovaitt delivered a keynote address to the European Summit on Measurement in Berlin, Germany. The speech focuses on four major learnings about the role of research in public relations including the strength of our research base compared to advertising and marketing, the different kinds of research that inform practice, and the use of research as a global connector.

The original triangular communications model study was based on a multiple case study analysis of communication audits. The study utilized a secondary analysis of organizational records and expert opinion to apply the triangular communications model to 22 organizations. The present study extends the model by conducting follow-up depth interviews with senior managers and communicators in organizations.

This study is an exploratory investigation into the relationship between power, leadership, and membership in an organizations’ dominant coalition using Finkelstein’s (1992) four dimensions of power, salient research in leadership theory, and input from public relations practitioners who work for Indiana Hospital Association members.

This study incorporates findings from employee interviews as well as interviews with executives responsible for employee communication, to better understand the role of rich communication in the context of relationship management with employees. Results show that in order for employees to feel engaged in the organization, they prefer face-to-face communication coming from their direct supervisor.

The purpose of the study is to observe how ethical conflict affects public relations practitioners’ job satisfaction by examining 1.) what consequences the conflict brings, and 2.) what causes ethical conflict among public relations practitioners in their workplaces. An open-ended question within a large survey about ethics and job satisfaction was analyzed.

This study examined perceptions of 394 PR practitioners regarding key qualities and characteristics of excellent leadership in the profession. This study specifically examines two questions that probed PR practitioners’ perceptions about 1.) factors that influence their beliefs about excellent leadership and 2.) sources of leadership skills and development.

This Institute-sponsored research probes the knowledge, skills, relationships, 360-degree vision, and managerial abilities that senior communications professionals will need in five years’ time, and what it takes to prepare the next generation of leaders in globally integrated organizations.