Public Relations and Communication Management serves as a festschrift honoring the work of public relations scholars James E. Gruning and Larissa A. Grunig. Between them, the Grunigs have published 12 books and more than 330 articles, book chapters, and various academic and professional publications, and have supervised 34 doctoral dissertations and 105 master’s theses. This volume recognizes the Grunig‘s contributions to public relations scholarship over the past four decades. To honor the Grunig’s scholarship, this volume continues to expand their body of work with essays from renowned colleagues, former students, and research associates. The chapters discuss current trends in the field as well as emerging issues that drive the field forward. Sample topics include theories and future aspects of the behavioral, strategic management approach to managing public relations, and its linkages and implications to related subfields and key field issues. Contributions stimulate academic discussion and demonstrate the relevance of applied theories for the practice of public relations and communication management with up-to-date concepts, theories, and thoughts.

This book is the initial volume coming out of the "excellence project"--a comprehensive research effort commissioned by the IABC (International Association of Business Communicators) Research Foundation. The purpose of this project was to answer two fundamental questions about public relations: What are the characteristics of an excellent communication department? How does excellent public relations make an organization more effective, and how much is that contribution worth economically? The research team began its work with a thorough review of the literature in public relations and related disciplines relevant to these questions. What started as a literature review, however, has ended in a general theory of public relations, one that integrates most of the wide range of ideas about, and practices of, communication management in organizations.

This book reports findings of a three-nation study of public relations and communication management sponsored by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Research Foundation. The Excellence Study provides communication managers and public relations practitioners with information critical to their own professional growth, and supplies organizations with tools that help them communicate more effectively and build beneficial relations with key publics. Communication excellence is a powerful idea of sweeping scope that applies to all organizations -- large or small -- that need to communicate effectively with publics on whom the organization's survival and growth depend. The essential elements of excellent communication are the same for corporations, not-for-profit organizations, government agencies, and professional/trade associations. And they are applicable on a global basis. The study identifies three spheres of communication excellence. These spheres consider the overall function and role of communication in organizations, and define the organization of this book. They are: * the core or inner sphere of communication excellence -- the knowledge base of the communication department, * the shared expectations of top communicators and senior managers about the function and role of communication, and * the organization's culture -- the larger context that either nurtures or impedes communication excellence. This text also examines communication excellence as demonstrated in specific programs developed for specific publics.

Public Relations Leaders as Sensemakers presents foundational research on the public relations profession, providing a current and compelling picture of expanding global practice. Utilizing data from one of the largest studies ever conducted in the field, and representing the perspectives of 4,500 practitioners, private and state-run companies, communication agencies, government agencies, and nonprofits, this work advances a theory of integrated leadership in public relations and highlights future research needs and educational implications. This volume is appropriate for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in international public relations and communication management, as well as scholars in global public relations, communication management, and business. It is also intended to supplement courses in public relations theory, strategic communication, business management, and leadership development.

The Future of Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management brings together a stellar collection of public relations scholars to address the question: What will happen to continue the seminal theory building in public relations, bolstered by the work of James E. Grunig and Larissa A. Grunig, and the groundbreaking 1992 IABC Excellence Study examining best practices in the field? This volume presents a challenge to future researchers, encouraging consideration of other theoretical research problems that will lead to improving the management practice of public relations. This collection advances scholarly and practitioner understanding of excellence in public relations and communication management, and as such, public relations and communications scholars, in addition to practitioners and graduate students studying these areas, will benefit immensely by reading the work in this volume.

The book challenges the notion that public relations in Europe is no more than a copy of the Anglo-American approach. It presents a nation-by-nation introduction to historical public relations developments and current topics in European countries, written by noted national experts in public relations research and well-known professionals who are able to oversee the situation in their own countries. The contributions take an "insider" point of view and combine researched facts and figures with qualitative observations and personal reviews. In addition, the book provides conceptual statements that offer an insight into theoretical approaches.

This book is the final product of the "excellence project"--a comprehensive research effort commissioned by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Research Foundation. Going well beyond any of the previously published reports on the Excellence study, this book contains many new statistical analyses of the survey data and more details from the case studies. Discussing theory and data related to several ongoing discussions in the communication profession, this book answers the following questions: *How can we show the value of public relations? *What is the value of relationships? *How do relationships affect reputation? *What does it mean to practice communication strategically? *How can we measure and evaluate the effects of public relations programs? *Should communication programs be integrated? *How does the new female majority in the profession affect communication Excellence? This book, as well as the research it reports, is the product of symmetrical communication and collaboration. As such, it is intended for scholars, applied researchers, students, and informed professionals who understand the value of research in developing a profession, such as public relations. Knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods will make it easier to understand the book; however, the results are interpreted in a way that makes the analyses understandable even to those with little or no knowledge of statistics and research methods.