Public relations professionals are operating in an increasingly challenging and complex environment. Pressures from outside the organisation include new accountabilities, empowered stakeholders, increased public cynicism and a new communication landscape. Internally, there are increasing demands to demonstrate a strategic contribution, alongside a requirement to coach and counsel senior managers exposed to these environmental pressures.
This revised and updated edition provides a framework to enable public relations professionals to clearly articulate and demonstrate their own contribution to organisational effectiveness, while also setting out the specific capabilities public relations leaders must exhibit to operate at the highest levels of the organisation. This edition further develops the pioneering approach to integrating thinking around public relations, leadership, and strategy. It has been updated comprehensively to address contemporary developments and introduce new research and fresh perspectives from the authors. New to this edition are insights from Chief Executives on what they expect from public relations leaders and a comprehensive set of capabilities which scope the demanding role of professionals at the top of their game.
Concise and practical, this textbook is suitable for MBA and other postgraduate and executive education qualifications in Public Relations and Corporate Communications – especially for those students who wish to pursue a successful career as a professional public relations specialist, able to operate strategically at the top of successful organisations.
1. Introduction 2. A public relations view of the organisation 3. Leadership and public relations 4. Supporting the CEO 5. A strategic model of public relations’ contribution 6. Contextual intelligence 7. Values-based leadership 8. The business of ethics 9. Enacting the role 10. The planner 11. The catalyst 12. The expert technician 13. The internal educator 14. The consultant 15. Continuity amid crisis and change
Biography
Anne Gregory is Emeritus Professor of Corporate Communication at the University of Huddersfield, Adjunct Professor at RMIT in Melbourne and LSPR in Jakarta and holds Visiting Professor roles in Spain, South Africa and Australia.
Paul Willis, formerly Professor of Corporate Communication at the University of Huddersfield, specialises in strategic communication and leadership. He runs his own consultancy and is Visiting Professor at Huddersfield Business School and Leeds Business School.
