CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE
STUDY
The role of public relations is very
important in an organization. Public relations is an important area of
management on which both business and non-business organizations depend
directly or indirectly for their continued existence. Public relations touch
all aspect of the corporate life and operations of every organization.
Public relations have to do
with communication, information, internal/external goodwill or reputation and
different relationships of all of which every organization needs to continue
existing. Public relations hold the key for mutual understanding between the
government in contemporary societies and their citizens, other organizations
and their international community.
Despite all these things that public
relations have done, it has remained in many countries, as one of the least
understands area of modern management. many public relations practitioners have
not sufficiently exposed themselves to the right education or body of knowledge
in public relations that will make them true professional, some people outside
the profession have very narrow derogatory and wrong perceptions of what this
management discipline does or is all about.
Sometimes, corporate bribes are
called PR and public relations managers or executives are regarded as mere
press or publicity agents, errand boys, party organizers and cover-up gimmicks
for experts that are hired.
It should be noted that public
relations activities are done in order to complement the survival goals of any
business organization and every non-profit organization. Management should
strive to understand mechanics of the complementary tool-PR. According to
Anyanwu (2005:231), most firms have found it lucrative to engage in public
relations related activities because of their size of operations and the
associated complex problems. These business organizations depend on one another
as well as their customers for survival. If an organization or Ministry like
Federal Ministry of Education does not meet up with its obligation in the
educational sector due to one problem or the other, a problem may exist between
the ministry and its external environment-the people that it serves. In this
case, public relations can perform some magic to resolve the dispute. Anyanwu
(2005:231), posit that a public relations conscious organizaiton will
immediately communicate the reasons for its inability to meet its obligations
as stipulated. It will go further to provide assurance to the public. From the
above introduction, we bring in a definition of public relations as “the
deliberate planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual
understanding between an organization and its public”.
It is the responsibility of every
industry/organization to have a cordial relationship with their employees and
their external environment i.e the general public.
With reference to
relationship as regards the employees, it involves a harmonious co-existence
between the employees and the management for external environment i.e the
general public, it is done by feeding the public with the necessary information
they need about the industry/organization as well as making their policies and
programmes clearly understood.
According to British institute
dictionary; “public relations is defined as a deliberate, planned and sustained
effort to establish and maintain understanding between an organization and
its public”. Again, another definition was put forth by Philip
Leslay. According to him, “public relations is that thing that helps an
organization and its public accommodate each other”. More so, the
American association of public relation practitioners defined public relations
as “Doing the right thing and letting people know about it i.e applying
the golden rule in our everyday activities.
From the above stated definitions,
it is worthy of note that the importance of public relations department in
an organization cannot be over –emphasized. Thus, it aids in the sustenance of
understanding and harmony amongst the employees of an industry as well as that
of the general public. Moreso, it makes much for
industrial harmony especially during a period of crises and
depression.
Furthermore, there is need for
public relations department in both public and privately owned organizations.
This is because this department
acts as a link between the organization and the audience in that it monitors
the feedback process and applies the necessary tools and techniques needed
towards the achievement of mutual understanding through constant communication.
This research is aimed at
working into the importance of public relations department in an organization,
the practice, activities and objectives of public relations in an effort to
maintain industrial harmony amongst organizations and the general public, the
problems encountered by these departments and the possible solutions to these
problems.
1.2
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In third
world countries of which Nigeria is amongst, public relations have been mistaken
for publicity, product promotion, advertising, marketing and even propaganda in
both public and privately owned organizations. But it is quite clear that
public relation is a combination of all of the above and even more.
Again many people think that public
relations involves a parade of pretty, elegant and sophisticated ladies
with either diploma or university degrees in any discipline in order to
earn attention.
This is very wrong because public
relations and the messages they carry are all based on truth and carrying out
research.
1.3
OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
This research work is aimed at
examining and recommending suggested solutions to the problems encountered
by the public relations department in organization like Federal Ministry of
Education. In the light of this, the objectives of the study
are:
-
To find out the problems encountered by this unit in an organizaiton and
proffer solutions to the problems where necessary.
- To
sensitize participants on many approaches for effective communication, capable
of maintaining hormonal coordination in an organization.
- To
educate the management of the organization on the importance of this department
and how to treat the employees in this department to achieve the very best
for themselves.
- To
ascertain whether public relation practitioners are on the right track
towards achieving their set objectives.
1.4
RESEARCH QUESTIONS;
- Do you think that public relations is
really an important tool for industrial harmony?
- Do
you feel that the establishment of public relations department in an
organization will help the organization in achieving their set objectives?
- Do
you agree with this statement; efficiency of an industry depends
1.5
STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESES
HO Represents null hypotheses
H1 Represents alternative hypotheses.
Hypotheses
(1)
Ho Public relation is not a tool for industrial
harmony.
H1 Public relations is a tool for
industrial harmony.
Hypotheses
(2)
Ho
Public relations does not have positive effect on the overall performance an organization.
H1 Public relations has positive effect on the
overall performance of an industry.
Hypotheses
(3)
Ho Public relations is not a tool for modifying
the publics’ attitude and executing programmes to earn public acceptance.
H1 Public relations is a tool for modifying
the publics’ attitude and executing programmes to earn public acceptance.
Hypotheses
(4)
Ho Public relations
practitioners are not on the right track towards achieving their aims.
H1 Public relations
practitioners are on the right track towards achieving the aims.
1.6
SIGNIFCANCE OF STUDY
As
earlier stated, public relations has been defined by experts as a deliberate,
planned and sustained efforts to establish and maintain mutual understanding
between an organization and its public. It is based on this that public
relations can be viewed from the following perspectives and terms;
- The
enhancement of the idea of dispute settlement through non-violent means if it
is in a welfare industry.
- The
goals of the general welfare of the organization and the entire population.
- The
advancement at the grass roots of the aim to change a particular product
if in a product industry.
- The
advancement of the idea of clean and healthy environment, if it is in a
sanitary industry.
- The
goal of rural agricultural and infrastructural development, if it is an
agricultural sector.
The work of a public relations
practitioner in this context is the totality of concerted efforts by the organization
to establish appropriate and effective communication system that will
enable its various public to develop a common definition of the meaning and
goal of these programmes. Moreso, it is expected of each
functionary to successfully execute the programmes and most importantly the
acceptance of these programmes by the public which are the ultimate
beneficiaries of it.
1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
Federal Ministry of Education should be
given the avenue to achieve whatever set goals they have mapped out and as well
as a helping hand from the government since it’s one of their ministry because
the support given to them will enhance them to work tirelessly because they
have at the back of their mind that they are supported any time of the day.
The
scope of the study is limited to Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja where the
organization is situated.
LIMITATIONS: This study may be limited due to slow
response of staff of the Ministry in giving out information. And also, during
the research work other problems stemmed up in which some of them are:
FINANCIAL
CONSTRAINT: As
a student, there was not enough capital to spend in transport and fact finding
and borrowing of necessary literature that would have helped in the writing of
this research work.
TIME
CONSTRAINT: The
time specified for the completion and submission of the project is considered
inadequate by the researcher.
ACADEMIC
WORK-LOAD: The
study coincided with the period the researcher was preparing for final year
lectures and examinations. But notwithstanding, the researcher still made a
concerted effort in giving the work a good attempt.
1.8
DEFINTIONS OF TERMS
Public
Relations; This is a communication function that
evaluates public attitude, identifies the policies and programmes of an
organization and execute those programmes and policies to earn publics,
acceptance and support.
Industry;
This
is a collection of organizations that engage in the same line of
production.
Public
relation tools; These are the
strategies and techniques used by public relations practitioners in the
execution of their duties.
Industrial
harmony; This involves mutual understanding and
cordial relationship between the industry and the general public or
amongst the employees of the industry.
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