Strategic Public Relations Management Planning and Managing Effective Communication Programs Second Edition LEA’sCOMMUNICATIONSERIES JenningsBryant/DolfZillmann,GeneralEditors SelectedtitlesinPublicRelations(JamesGrunig,AdvisoryEditor)include Culbertson/Chen (cid:1)InternationalPublicRelations:AComparative Analysis Dozier/Grunig/Grunig (cid:1)Manager’sGuidetoExcellenceinPublic RelationsandCommunicationManagement Fearn-Banks (cid:1)CrisisCommunications:ACasebookApproach, SecondEdition Grunig (cid:1)ExcellenceinPublicRelationsandCommunication Management Ledingham/Bruning (cid:1)PublicRelationsasRelationshipManagement: ARelationalApproachtotheStudyandPracticeofPublicRelations Lerbinger (cid:1)TheCrisisManager:FacingRiskandResponsibility Spicer (cid:1)OrganizationalPublicRelations:APoliticalPerspective Wearit (cid:1)CrisisManagementbyApology:CorporateResponse toAllegationsofWrongdoing Mickey (cid:1)DeconstructingPublicRelations:PublicRelationsCriticism Millar/Heath (cid:1)RespondingtoCrisis:ARhetoricalApproach toCrisisCommunication Lamb/McKee (cid:1)AppliedPublicRelations:CasesinStakeholder Management Lerbinger (cid:1)CorporatePublicAffairs:InteractingWithInterestGroups, Media,andGovernment ForacompletelistoftitlesinLEA’sCommunicationSeries,pleasecontact LawrenceErlbaumAssociates,Publishers,atwww.erlbaum.com. Strategic Public Relations Management Planning and Managing Effective Communication Programs Second Edition Erica Weintraub Austin Bruce E. Pinkleton LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS 2006 Mahwah, New Jersey London This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Copyright(cid:1)C 2006byLawrenceErlbaumAssociates,Inc. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedin anyform,byphotostat,microform,retrievalsystem,orany othermeans,withoutpriorwrittenpermissionofthepublisher. LawrenceErlbaumAssociates,Inc.,Publishers 10IndustrialAvenue Mahwah,NewJersey07430 www.erlbaum.com LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Austin,EricaWeintraub. Strategicpublicrelationsmanagement:planningandmanagingeffectivecommunication programs/EricaWeintraubAustin,BruceE.Pinkleton.—2nded. p. cm.—(LEA’scommunicationseries) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN0-8058-5380-4(clothbound:alk.paper)—ISBN0-8058-5381-2(pbk.:alk.paper) 1.Publicrelations—Management. I.Pinkleton,BruceE. II.Title. III.Series. HD59.A97 2006 659.2—dc22 2006002669 ISBN 1-4106-1655-X(cid:13)(cid:10)(cid:13)(cid:10) Master e-book ISBN To our families Bruce, Jimmy, and Noah Chris, Lauren, and Brett This page intentionally left blank Contents PrefacetotheSecondEdition xiii 1 The Need for Strategic Public Relations Management 1 SurvivingAmidFierceCompetition 2 StrategicVersusTacticalDecisionMaking 4 TheOftenMisunderstoodRoleofPublicRelations 6 UsingResearchtoEnhancetheCredibility ofPublicRelations 7 OrganizationoftheBook 9 I. FRAMEWORKFORPLANNING 2 Where the Strategic Manager Begins: Taking Stock 13 ManagementbyObjectives 14 TheAccountableManager 15 TheMissionStatement 17 MissionVersusVisionandValues 19 TheProblemStatement 20 TheSituationAnalysis 26 SourcesofInformation 27 FinalThoughts 30 vii viii CONTENTS 3 Elements of the Campaign Recipe 31 Goals 31 Objectives 33 Strategies 45 Tactics 46 TheStrategicPlanningLadder 47 InitiatingthePlanningProcess 49 FinalThoughts 52 4 Determining Research Needs: Developing the Research Plan 53 TheRoleofResearch 56 TheBenefitsofResearch 57 SpecificResearchFunctions 59 ElementsofaResearchPlan 62 DeterminingResearchNeeds 62 DeterminingandUnderstandingTargetPublics 64 DeterminingProgramOutcomes 66 TestingCommunicationChannels 66 TestingtheMessage 68 TestingtheInformationSources 68 DevelopingaResearchStrategy 69 DevelopingaRealisticResearchProposal 73 FinalThoughts 74 II. GATHERINGUSEFULDATA FORSTRATEGICGUIDANCE 5 Research Decisions and Data Collection 77 ApplicationsofResearch 79 BeforeStartingtheResearchProcess 81 FormalandInformalApproaches toPublicRelationsResearch 84 InformalResearchConcerns 87 ResearchIssuestoConsider 90 StepstoResearchProjectDesign 93 FinalThoughts 96 6 Making Research Decisions: Sampling 97 SamplingBasics 98 GeneralizingFromaSampletoaPopulation 99 SamplingMethods 101 NonprobabilitySamplingMethods 102 CONTENTS ix ProbabilitySamplingMethods 105 HowBigShouldaSampleBe? 110 CalculatingtheAppropriateSampleSize 112 Sample-SizeFormula 118 ErrorCalculations 120 IssuesandAssumptions 122 FinalThoughts 123 7 Making Research Decisions: Informal Research Methods 125 PersonalContacts 126 ProfessionalContacts,Experts,andOpinionLeaders 127 AdvisoryCommitteesorBoards 128 FieldReports 128 CommunityForums/GroupMeetings 129 TelephoneCalls,Mail,andElectronicMail 129 LibraryResearch 131 InternetResearch 133 ClipFilesandMediaTracking 134 Real-TimeResponsestoMediaMessagesandSurvey Questions 139 In-DepthInterviews 140 PanelStudies 142 QMethodology 143 FinalThoughts 145 8 Making Research Decisions: The Focus Group 147 CharacteristicsoftheFocusGroup 148 AdvantagesandDisadvantagesofFocusGroups 149 SelectingandRecruitingParticipants 150 TheFocusGroupSetting 152 Staffing 153 CharacteristicsoftheModerator 153 DealingWithDifficultGroupMembers 155 ProtocolDesign 155 MessageandIdeaTesting 157 NewOptionsMadePossiblebyTechnology 160 RunningtheGroup 161 AnalyzingtheResults 162 FinalThoughts 163 9 Making Research Decisions: Formal Research Methods 164 ABriefReviewoftheCharacteristicsofFormal, ScientificResearch 165