Applied Public Relations Cases in Stakeholder Management

Applied Public Relations: Cases in Stakeholder Management offers
readers the opportunity to observe and analyze the manner in which
contemporary businesses and organizations interact with key groups and
influences. A basic assumption of the text is that principles of best prac
tice may best be learned by examining how real organizations have
chosen to develop and maintain relationships in a variety of industries,
locations, and settings.
We seek to offer insights to readers into contemporary business and
organizational management practices. Some of the cases detail positive,
award-winning practices, while others provide an overview of practices
that may have been less successful. Some target specific public relations
campaigns, while others offer evidence of broader business and organi
zational practices that had public image or public relations implications.
Readers should be prompted not only to consider the explicit public rela
tions choices but also to analyze and assess the impact of all manage
ment decisions on relationships with key stakeholders, whether they were
designed, implicit or even accidental.
Pre-professional programs in schools of business, law, and medicine
commonly include case-study courses because they encourage students to
use both deductive and inductive reasoning to sort through the facts of
situations, propose alternatives, and recommend treatments or solutions.
For the same reason, academic programs in public relations usually offer
courses that teach reputation and relationship management through the
case-study method. In fact, the Commission on Public Relations Educa
tion has specifically recommended the use of case-study teaching to pro
vide undergraduates with a bridge between theory and application.
The strategic use of public relations is expanding in business, gov
ernment, cultural institutions, and social service agencies. According to

the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, public relations continues as one
of the fastest growing professional fields in the nation, and its practice is
spreading rapidly throughout the rest of the world as well. Paralleling this
growth, the complexity of public relations has increased with globaliza
tion of corporate enterprise and the application of new communication
technologies. Social movements and activist organizations now cross bor
ders easily by using public relations strategies to influence a public that is
connected by satellites and the Internet. Through case studies throughout
the book, readers can examine these changing stakeholder relationships
from several perspectives.
This book is appropriate for use as an undergraduate text for courses
such as public relations management, public relations cases and campaigns,
business management, or integrated-communication management. A com
mitment to the ethical practice of public relations underlies the book.
Students are challenged not only to assess the effectiveness of the practices
outlined but also to consider the ethical implications of those choices. We
have placed special emphasis on public relations as a strategic manage
ment function that must coordinate its planning and activities with
several organizational units—human resources, marketing, legal counsel,
finance, operations, and others.
The first chapter provides a review of the public relations landscape: the
basic principles underlying effective practice. It also offers a method for case
analysis, pointing to an understanding of the particular case and leading
students to assess the more comprehensive implications for best practices
and ethical practices.
This chapter is followed by nine chapters, each of which offers an over
view of principles associated with relations with the particular stakeholder
group and supplemented with suggestions for additional readings. Then,
within each chapter, four to six case studies are presented, to offer suffi
cient information for analysis and to provide opportunities for students to
engage in additional research that would support their conclusions. Reflec
tion questions are offered to help prompt thinking and focus discussion.
Chapter 2 examines relationships with employees, posing such ques
tions as how employee satisfaction is vital to customer service, financial
results, recruiting, and compensation. How do high-performing organiza
tions use employee communications in a mutually beneficial manner?
The third chapter explores relationships with community stakeholders.
What obligations or duties do organizations have to act as good citizens?
What are the appropriate means of publicizing organizational activities
as a community citizen? How do companies define their “communities”?
Relationships with consumers are probed in Chapter 4. What are
the most effective means of communicating with this group? How are new

fusions of marketing, public relations, and advertising working together
to reach this group? What duties do businesses owe their customers? How
can strong relationships be developed and maintained?
What is news and what motivates reporters to cover it are some of
the concerns raised in Chapter 5, which addresses media relations. Cases
explore both planned and unplanned interactions with reporters and raise
issues of traditional and emerging media formats. What are the most
effective means of countering negative publicity?
Chapter 6 focuses on priority stakeholder groups for public com
panies: shareholders and investors and those who offer advice to them.
Examining the cases presented in this chapter yields insight into issues such
as the importance of timely and truthful material disclosure and the
implications management decisions have on subsequent stock values. In
contrast, Chapter 7 focuses on building and maintaining relationships
with the stakeholders of nonprofit organizations, their members, volun
teers, and donors. The unending need to raise funds is addressed, as is the
ongoing need to keep members and volunteers satisfied and to attract
new members and volunteers.
Relationships with government regulators are addressed in Chapter 8. Cases examine how governments seek to influence their constitu
ents and how organizations seek to influence regulation.
Chapter 9 examines activist stakeholder groups and how they use
public relations strategies to grab attention, win adherents, and moti
vate change. It also considers how targeted organizations may establish
and maintain effective communication with them. The impact of public
demonstrations and of media coverage is examined. Principles of coopera
tion are explored.
The final chapter looks at relationships in the global community,
focusing on the many ways in which media practices, cultural mores,
and political differences may affect relationships that cross borders and
languages.
Professors may approach the cases within the book in several ways.
A focus on specific stakeholder groups would be easily possible, using
the chapters as presented. However, one might also focus on particular
issues, such as labor relations or crisis management, by selecting cases
from within several chapters. One might highlight the operations of agen
cies, corporations, and nonprofits in the same manner. One might also
select cases that contrast campaigns with ongoing programs or manage
rial behaviors.
Additional materials for faculty and students are available in the
book’s companion Web site at routledge.com/cw/richardson. Outlines of
key chapter concepts are provided in PowerPoint slides. Faculty will find

suggested in-class activities for each chapter; suggestions for types of guest
speakers, career-related exercises, and group assignments are outlined.
Sample course syllabi, case presentation assignments, grading rubrics, and
a test bank are available. Students will find study and reflection questions
provided for each chapter, a list of the key terms used in each chapter, and
suggestions for additional readings available through the Web site.
We acknowledge with deep gratitude the contributions to the text
offered by the co-author of the first two editions, Larry F. Lamb. Some
chapter introductions and several classic cases written by Mr. Lamb are
included in this edition, and his experience and expertise in the practice
of public relations continue to undergird the text. The copy-editing skills
of our colleague, Martha Van Cise, are deeply appreciated. Ten guest
commentaries are included, each answering a question about the practice
of contemporary public relations. We thank practitioners Paul Bernadini;
Brian Brodrick; Shana Glickfield; Sharon Shaffer Guess; Amber Hurdle;
Dwain McIntosh; James E. Moody; and Jason Rudd for their professional
contributions, and scholars Dr. James Grunig and Dr. Carol J. Pardun for
sharing their insights. Our thanks as well to the International Association
of Business Communicators and the Public Relations Society of America
for granting the rights to include their professional codes of ethics in this
edition—codes that we hope will help young practitioners better under
stand the obligations of public service accepted by those who practice
public relations in a democracy.