Public Relations Practices and Socio-economic Factors: A case study of different
organizational types in Shanghai
Paper submitted to the Public Relations Division of the International Communication
Association for publication consideration
October 26, 2004
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INTRODUCTION
Public relations, which has matured to a greater extent as a discipline in some western
developed countries, is only now beginning to develop as a profession in much of Asia
(Sriramesh, 2004) including China. As a result, there are few publications about the status of
the profession in China compared to the size of the country and market outreach (eg. Chen,
1996, Culbertson & Chen, 2003, Hung, 2004). No empirical studies so far have been
published about public relations in Shanghai, which is not only the most developed and
cosmopolitan city of China but also retains very strong Chinese characteristics. Focusing on
Shanghai is also important because it is often cited as the blueprint for developing other
Chinese cities in the future.
Shanghai, as one of the first Chinese ports opened to Western traders, has been
influenced by the West since the Opium War of 1840. Because of its history and an increase in
the influx of foreigners to the city especially in the 1920s and 1930s, it became one of the
most cosmopolitan cites in China (Pan, Xue, & Qian, 1993). A further infusion of foreign
capital beginning in the late 1970s helped Shanghai emerge as China’s most vibrant and
cosmopolitan city (Lu, 2001). However, as one of the core cities of an ancient nation with a
rich culture and history, the mentality of the typical Shanghai resident is still very much
influenced by characteristics making Shanghai a complex mix of Western and Eastern
cultures.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of public relations practices among
a sample of different types of organizations in this cosmopolitan city that is leading China’s
explosive economic growth.
In doing so, we use two concepts developed in Western
cultures: the models of public relations and the roles of individual public relations
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practitioners. We are sensitive to the pitfalls of using Western concepts to study non-Western
cultures, but currently we have no conceptual frameworks that are specific to regions such as
Asia.
Until such frameworks are developed, we are forced to use existing theoretical
frameworks that have been developed and tested in the West. Further, without descriptive data
about public relations phenomena in various regions of Asia, it would not be possible to arrive
at conceptual frameworks that are indigenous to the continent, which explains why the body
of knowledge of public relations currently does not have conceptual frameworks specifically
developed in Asia (Sriramesh & Vercic, 2003, Sriramesh, 2004). It is hoped that theory-based
empirical research from regions similar to the one being reported here, will help build a
theories of Asian public relations.
LITERARURE REVIEW
The two theoretical concepts used in this study were introduced to the field in the late
1970s and early 1980s and have been researched quite extensively since then but
predominantly in Western democracies.
A few studies have extended this research to other
regions of the world (eg. Sriramesh, 1992, Huang, 1990, Lyra, 1991, J. Grunig, L. Grunig,
Sriramesh, Huang, and Lyra, 1995). Despite the popularity of these concepts in the public
relations literature we will present a brief review because they serve as the underpinning for
this study.
The Models of Public Relations: Defining public relations as the “management of
communication between organizations and their publics,” Grunig and Hunt (1984, p 6)
proposed four models of public relations as being descriptive of the way organizations
conduct their public relations practices. The authors used two criteria: the purpose of
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communication (persuasion vs. mutual understanding) and the nature of communication
(one-way vs. two-way) to identify these two models.
The first model, press agentry/publicity, is indicative of use of one-way communication
techniques by organizations to disseminate only positive information that is supportive of an
organization while hiding any negative information from the organization. The primary
purpose of practitioners of this model is to persuade publics to behave the way the
organization wants them to, which is why they often hide any negative information that may
put the organization’s credibility in jeopardy. Typical users of this model are corporations,
sports and entertainment celebrities, marketing firms, and political campaigns.
The second model termed public information, uses persuasive one-way communication
for disseminating truthful messages primarily to achieve altruistic motives (unlike the
self-serving press agentry model whose messages are self-serving).
An example of this
model would be public information campaigns often embarked on by not-for profit
organizations who disseminate factual information with the purpose of changing the risky
behaviors of recipients. Campaigns aiming to improve health (eg. AIDS awareness or
cessation of smoking), reduce population explosion, increase literacy, or eradicate child labor
are examples of such campaigns.
The third model, two-way asymmetrical, is also termed as “scientific persuasion”
because feedback gathered from relevant publics through empirical research is used to design
persuasive messages to manipulate their behavior.
Therefore, even though the flow of
information is two-way, the purpose of communication is still asymmetrical in favor of the
organization (source of the messages). The US presidential campaign is often a good example
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of this model where candidates gather data on the attitudes of the public on a daily basis and
frame their messages to align with those attitudes often without actually changing their own
world views or ideas on the issue.
The fourth model, two-way symmetrical was proposed as the ideal and ethical way to
communicate because it typified the use of two-way communication by public relations
professionals to develop mutual understanding between organizations and their stakeholders.
Although this model is not practiced as often as the others, it tends to be practiced more when
organizations operate in dynamic environments that also have a lot of competition,
government regulation, and pressure from activists. Scores of studies conducted in the 1980s
and 1990s confirmed the presence of the models, mostly in Western democracies (principally
the United States).
They were also tested in a few countries of Asia and other regions of the
world as will be reviewed presently. However, many scholars have also critiqued the models
and helped reformulate the original four models.
One of the most significant critiques of Grunig and Hunt’s (1984) four models was
proposed by Murphy (1991).
Observing that the two-way symmetrical model is unrealistic,
she used game theory to suggest that the rather than proposing a zero-sum perspective, the
models should recognize the interplay of motives when organizations interact with publics.
She proposed the mixed-motives model where responsible organizations, while not
abandoning their self-interest, work cooperatively for the benefit of their publics as well.
According to her, this would ensure a win-win situation for both sides because each had to
make some compromises to achieve some of its goals.
Many scholars have critiqued the two-way symmetrical model for subsuming that
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organizations should value the interests of their publics more than that of the organization.
Kunczik (1994), for example, stated that the two-way symmetric model is based on unrealistic
assumptions. However, Kunczik (2003) also believes that public relations is propaganda, an
assertion that is open to serious debate (Sriramesh, 2003). Dozier, L. Grunig, and J. Grunig
(1995) responded to these critics by accepting Murphy’s (1991) suggestion as being helpful in
improving the conceptualization the models and commented that the mixed-motives approach
was what J. Grunig had in mind when he initially described the two-way symmetrical model.
Dozier, et. al. proposed what they called the New Model of Symmetry as Two-Way Practices,
which was a “win-win zone” at the middle of the organization-public continuum (representing
the motives of the organization and its relevant publics at opposite ends) where both the
organization and its publics find satisfactory cooperation and a negotiated compromise (p.
48).
The reformulation of these four models has also been possible because of research
studies that have tested them internationally.
The IABC’s Excellence Project used three
self-administered questionnaires -- one each for chief executives, managers of communication,
and employees – to solicit responses from 226 organizations in the United States, 58
organizations in Canada, and 37 organizations in the United Kingdom and established that
these models were present in the United States, Great Britain, and Canada (L. Grunig, J.
Grunig, Dozier, 2002).
However, studies in three other countries (India, Taiwan, and Greece)
not only confirmed that some of these four models were practiced in the countries but found
additional patterns of public relations (Sriramesh, 1988, Huang, 1991, Lyra, 1991).
In an exploratory study of public relations in India, Sriramesh & J. Grunig (1988)
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found that whereas the first two models were practiced by the sample organizations in India,
practitioners also used interpersonal communication to develop personal influence
strategically with individuals in the media, the government, and activists.
These
practitioners used hospitality relations (giving gifts, hosting dinners and cocktails) and media
junkets to humor relevant publics from whom they could later claim return favors.
This
finding was confirmed in a more extensive ethnographic analysis of 18 organizations in an
Indian city (Sriramesh, 1992).
Around the same time, Huang (1991) also conducted a study
in Taiwan and found that the personal influence model was used by organizations as part of
their public relations activities.
Lyra (1991)’s study in Greece confirmed that multinational
corporations used local professionals to add cultural sensitivity to their communication efforts
as cultural interpreters.
The data from other Asian counties such as Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and China also
confirmed the presence of the personal influence model (Chen, 1996; Rhee, 2002; Wee, Tan,
& Chew, 1996; Wu, Taylor, & Chen, 2001). Sriramesh (1992) explained that the difference in
public relations practices was mainly due to the societal and cultural differences between
Asian and western countries. Sriramesh (2003, 2004) also asserts that many more studies need
to be conducted in other regions of the world such as Africa and Latin America to further
refine or reformulate the models of public relations.
The Individual Roles of Public Relations Practitioners:
Whereas the models of public relations provide us with a glimpse of how public
relations is practiced at the organizational level, theorizing on practitioner roles provides us
with the basis for conducting a more micro-level analysis of what individual public relations
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professionals do in their daily professional lives whether they work as in-hour PR
professionals or as consultants who work for a PR agency. Dozier (1992) emphasized the
importance of this stream of research when he commented that “practitioner roles are key to
understanding the function of public relations and organizational communication” (p. 327).
Dozier credited Glen Broom as the “father” of roles research similar to J. Grunig’s pioneering
work on the models of public relations. Broom and Smith’s (1978) conceptualization led them
to propose that individual practitioners typically performed four roles: 1) The expert
prescriber; 2) The communication facilitator; 3) The problem solving process facilitator; and
4) The communication technician.
Practitioners who play the role of expert prescriber are well-informed about the
industry and various issues, which makes them very qualified to offer communication
solutions to organizational problems. Dozier described the relationship between expert
prescribers and management succinctly: “like the doctor-patient relationship, the expert
prescribes and management obeys” (p. 329).
Dozier also stated that this role can logically
be linked to the two-way asymmetric and the publicity/press agentry models of public
relations described earlier. Dozier (1992) drew on previous literature (Broom & Smith, 1979)
to define a second role — that of the problem-solving process facilitator as “practitioners
helping management systematically think through organizational communication and
relations problems to solutions.” Grunig and Hunt (1984) found that the problem-solving
process facilitator role was an example of the two-way symmetric model. Broom and Smith
(1979) described practitioners playing the role of communication facilitator as interpreters
and communication links to facilitate communication between an organization’s management
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and its stakeholders.
Dozier (1992) added that this role emphasized the “process, the quality and quantity
of information flow between management and publics.” Grunig and Hunt (1984) connected
this role to the public information and two-way symmetric models of public relations. Dozier
(1992), based on Broom and Smith’s research, conceptualized the role of communication
technician as that of “technical services provider.” The senior management makes strategic
decisions, identifies organizational actions, and public relations practitioners only provide
technical services as decided by the dominant coalition, such as preparing for media
publications, writing press releases on behalf of their organizations. Alternatively, they are
called “journalists-in-residence.” Grunig and Hunt (1984) stated that practitioners playing this
role were most likely to be in organizations where the press agentry/publicity and public
information models were practiced.
Our review of literature summarized here helped us formulate the following research
questions that guided this study:
1. Which of the five models of public relations is most frequently practiced among the
sample organizations?
2. Which of the practitioner roles are practiced most often in the sample organizations?
CHINESE CULTURE AND “GUANXI” IN CHINA
In addition to describing which models and roles are practiced in the sample
organizations in Shanghai, this study set out to assess to what extent socio-cultural factors
played a role in the public relations practices in the sample organizations.
Sriramesh and
White (1992) had identified culture as a contributing variable to public relations. Sriramesh
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(2004) discussed the impact of other contextual variables such as the political system,
economic system, and media system on public relations practice.
Chinese culture is dominated by Confucianism. According to Levenson (1968),
Confucianism emphasizes collectivism. Confucians believe that there exists an organic
relationship between the individual and society and consider the two as being interdependent
to the point of being inseparable. In Confucian ethics, the individual is never seen as an
isolated entity. Instead, humans are defined as social beings. Indeed. As King (1985) stated,
“In the Confucians’ human-centered philosophy, man [humans] cannot exist alone; all actions
must be in a form of interaction between man and man [sic].”
Liang (1974) interpreted the inner logic of the Chinese social system by comparing
the Chinese social system with other systems and concluded that Chinese society is neither
individual-based, nor society-based.
Instead, the author argued, it is relation-based. In a
relations-based social system, the emphasis is placed on the relation between particular
individuals: “The focus in not fixed on any particular individual, but on the particular nature
of the relations between individuals who interact with each other.” The focus is on
relationships, which is not surprising as Confucianism has been highly valued in China for
centuries. This is significant to the present study as well as public relations literature in
general because in recent years, scholars conducting research on public relations and
communication management have begun to focus on relationship management (e.g.
Ledingham & Bruning, 2000) as the primary function of public relations professionals.
Hung & Chen (2003) pointed out that the term public relations is closely aligned with
the common practice of “Guanxi.” Aw, Tan, & Tan (2002) drew from previous literature
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(King, 1985; King, 1988; Wong, 1988) to propose that “Guanxi” (which means “relationship”
in Chinese), is a unique cultural phenomenon that is integral to Chinese societies. The
importance of establishing "Guanxi" with key individuals such as government officials and
prominent figures was stressed as being extremely useful in solving problems and getting
things done in Chinese society by Gao & Toomey (1998) also.
Chen (1996) concluded that
“Chinese culture tends to mix personal and public relations… [and] because of the Confucian
concept of i, Chinese find it difficult to accept purely business dealings ” (p. 147). As a result,
organizational relations with both the government and the media are fundamentally based on
establishing “Guanxi” with journalists and government officials.
However, Xu (2002) pointed out that there are some theoretical misperceptions about
“Guanxi.” First, “Guanxi,” serves as an interdependent social function, not only at the
individual level but also at the organizational level where two companies with different
interests might collaborate. Second, Guanxi is a long-term process of integration and
identification between the parties involved, and should not be measured in the short-term. In
fact, the exchange of reciprocal benefits between the parties signals the beginning of a
high-level relationship rather than a temporary business contact. Finally, Chinese people are
quite interested in the spiritual fulfillment and harmony maintained through such a process,
that may often ignore the underlying material interest which brought the two parties together
in the first place.
As a result, sometimes, they may feel obliged to do business with their
“Guanxi” partner disregarding business interests such as profitability.
Our review of Chinese cultural traits helped us generate three additional research
questions that guided this study:
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3. What is the nature of relationship between government agencies and different types of
organizations in Shanghai?
4. What is the nature of relationship between the mass media and different types of
organizations in Shanghai?
5. How do the socio-political characteristics of China affect relationships between
public relations practitioners and members of the government and the mass media in
Shanghai?
METHOD
A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to gather data for this
study. The quantitative results were obtained by a self-administered survey conducted among
public relations practitioners in Shanghai while a series of in-depth interviews based on an
interview protocol helped us gather the qualitative data. The application of this dual method
helped gather richer data providing us breadth as well as depth in data collection that helped
us answer the research questions.
The Survey
The survey questionnaire was designed to gather information from respondents about the
four models of public relations that J. Grunig and Hunt (1984) first proposed as well as the
personal influence model (Sriramesh and Grunig, 1988, Sriramesh, 1992) that was added later.
The questionnaire contained twenty items, four for each of the models, eliciting responses on
a 5-point Likert Scale where 1 indicated strong disagreement with a statement and 5 indicated
strong agreement.
The English version of the questionnaire was translated by the second author into
Chinese and reverse translated (to English) by a third Chinese person as a means of ensuring
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accuracy in translation. A few changes were made to the Chinese version based on this
reverse translation process that helped us refine the questionnaire. Twenty three organizations
located in Shanghai were selected using convenience sampling.
Six of these were
government agencies, five were non-profit organizations, and twelve were corporations. In
order to find differences among multinational and domestic corporations, the sample
consisted of five domestic corporations and seven Shanghai branches of multinational
companies. Three public relations practitioners, including the head of the public relations
department, of each of the twenty-three organizations were sent a questionnaire. Forty six
usable responses were received for a response rate of 66%, which is higher than most
response rates.
In-depth Interviews
Eighteen senior public relations managers were interviewed (5 in MNCs, 5 in government
agencies, 3 in non-profit organizations, and 5 in domestic corporations) using a protocol of 18
open-ended questions. Follow-up questions were also asked as needed.
Five of the
respondents were females and the rest were males. Fifty per cent of the respondents had a
Bachelor’s degree while 22% had a Master’s degree. 33% of the respondents majored in
communication at some point in their higher education. Many respondents had previous
experience that ranged from one to nine years in areas such as journalism, marketing and
advertising before entering the public relations profession. We uncovered a range of
organizational titles for practitioners, which included Director of General Office, Marketing
and Communication Officer, Strategic Marketing Officer, Government Relationship Manager,
Media Relationship Manager, Corporate Communication Manager and Public Relations
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Manager.
The qualitative interviews were particularly useful because this study intended to assess
the impact of culture on public relations practices in the sample organizations and qualitative
methods are more useful for such exploratory investigations. Although face-to-face interviews
had been scheduled with the respondents, the SARS outbreak and the resulting travel
restrictions prevented the researcher from traveling to China. Therefore, these interviews had
to be conducted over the telephone and extensive notes were taken as respondents did not
permit the recording of these interviews. All the interviews were conducted in Chinese by the
second author and lasted an average of 45 minutes.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Because one of the objectives of this study was to find differences in public relations
practice among different types of organizations in Shanghai, the quantitative and qualitative
results and discussion are be presented by organization type.
Government Agencies:
Twelve of the 18 officials we contacted in the six government agencies responded to the
survey for a response rate of 66%. The mean scores (Fig. 1) showed that the personal
influence model is the most frequently practiced model, followed by the press-agentry model
and then the two-way asymmetrical model. Interestingly, the public information model
appears to be the least practiced model in these organizations even though the literature has
consistently indicated that government agencies and non-profit organizations are most likely
to practice this model. [Table 1 about here]
The qualitative interviews revealed several interesting facts in addition to confirming
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the findings of the quantitative data on the models. The most significant finding was that the
government agencies in Shanghai do not have a separate department for public relations. In
every agency, the public relations function is conducted by “general offices” that not only
provide public relations support but also serve as administrative offices providing general
support such as procuring office supplies, for example. These general offices were staffed by
20 to 30 employees of whom a few provided public relations functions such as writing press
releases, printing and binding, arranging meetings for senior management, or facilitating
communication between senior management and employees, all technical functions.
Practitioners in government agencies were older (mean of 48.7 years) and possessed lower
levels of education compared with their counterparts in non-profit organizations (37.6 years)
and corporations (30.5 years).
Interestingly, all the five department heads of the sample
organizations graduated from vocational institutes whereas their subordinates either possessed
diplomas or degrees.
We explain this disparity in allocation of managerial jobs to those with lower levels of
education than their subordinates by referring to socio-political factors that are unique to
China. First, the lun zi pai bei system, which has prevailed in Chinese government agencies
and state-owned enterprises for decades, results in promotions based on years of service in the
organization and not on competency or knowledge-level.
One of the respondents explained
this phenomenon: “it is quite unlikely that a person who has only worked two to three years in
an organization be promoted ahead of someone who has worked in the same organization or
department for a longer period of time, even if the first person holds higher educational level
and is the best performer in the department.”
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Second, in government agencies, the senior management (ranging in age from 40-50
years) grew up during the Cultural Revolution as a result of which most of them were
deprived of formal higher education. As a result, government agencies promote individuals
based on longevity of service in the organization paying no heed to either their educational
qualifications or job fit. People get promoted even though they do not have higher levels of
education or are not trained in the fields (such as public relations) they are assigned to
manage. This has resulted in interesting situations where the public relations managers of the
government agencies in this study had previously worked as teachers, workers in steel mills,
and even chefs!
The individual roles of the public relations managers covered four functions.
First,
they prepared press releases, updated the official website, and prepared internal circulars and
the annual report. This accounted for a lion’s share of their daily work. In addition, they also
organized the printing and binding of all the written materials and circulated them to various
departments. Second, they acted as conduits between senior management and external and
internal publics. Third, they tried to help resolve conflicts between the publics and the
organization. Finally, one or two managers of the public relations department formed the
“confidential team” whose primary function was to arrange very important and/or confidential
meetings for the agency’s senior management. In some government agencies, the confidential
team also scheduled the daily activities of the agency’s top leaders, including entertaining
them over the weekend. Interestingly, none of the 12 respondents from government agencies
reported that they conduct formal research.
Because the survey data had identified the personal influence model as the most
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frequently practiced model, respondents were asked about their personal relationship with
officials of other government agencies or with journalists. Nine of the respondents agreed that
it is very important to keep a close personal relationship with other government officials but
they did not see the need to maintain this with members of the mass media as described by
one respondent:
It is a well-known fact that in China, the media used to be totally under the
control of the government. However, it has been getting more freedom since
China’s entry into the WTO in late 2000. Nowadays, journalists usually have a
free hand in deciding the reporting angles of many [sic] non-political news,
provided that their reporting is not against the Communist Party and does not
affect political and societal stability. Nevertheless, they don’t have the right to
report on news of government activities because these [sic] news can only be
drafted by few senior journalists and released through official news agencies,
such as Xinhua News Agency.
This leads us to confirm that the government is often the “sole public” for most public
relations initiatives in the sample organizations because of socio-political factors. Based on
observation, we would say that this finding can be generalized beyond Shanghai to the entire
country. As far as gender-based role differentiation is concerned, some respondents thought
that women make better public relations practitioners whereas others felt men are
better-suited to the profession. In sum, the public relations practitioners in government
agencies perform the technician function almost exclusively and use the personal influence
model for greater effectiveness.
Not-for-Profit Organizations
Eight of the fifteen practitioners we approached responded to the questionnaires yielding
a 53% response rate. The findings were similar to government agencies with the personal
influence model being the most frequently used model.
The two-way symmetrical and
public information models were least used. Again, just as with government agencies, the data
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did not support the literature that non-profit organizations frequently use the public
information model. [Table 2 about here]
As reflected in figure 2, non-profit organizations also were found to be using the
personal influence model more than the others, followed by the press agentry and two-way
asymmetrical models.
However, unlike government agencies, all the three non-profit
organizations in the sample had departments exclusively for public relations even though they
labeled them as “communication department.” These departments had 3-10 employees whose
average age was 37.6 years. One commonality between practitioners in government agencies
and non-profit organizations was that the professionals of both organizations come from very
diverse backgrounds even though they often have no relevance to public relations. For
example, the public relations manager and practitioners of hospitals had previously been
surgeons and nurses, in universities they had served as assistant professors and lecturers (at
the time of this investigation, hospitals and universities belonged to non-profit organizations
in China), and in an arts association they had been artists and calligraphers.
When compared with practitioners in government agencies, practitioners in non-profit
organizations possessed higher levels of education and the department head had the highest
qualifications. None of the respondents had received any professional education or training in
public relations. However, two out of three claimed that they had taken public relations
training courses after they had been assigned to the public relations department. The
qualitative interviews suggested that the non-profit organizations in the sample practiced four
typical public relations activities.
Image building, which the respondents described as the effort to create a positive and
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healthy image of the organization among members of the public, the media, and government
departments. Campaign organization, which includes some informal research before
launching a campaign to determine who the target audiences are and how to achieve
maximum effect from the communication messages. Practitioners typically helped in
campaign execution by preparing pamphlets, press releases etc., as well as by sourcing for
sponsors and financial support.
They also handled all the logistics such as selecting the
venue, negotiating the rental fee, and even dealing with audio and video equipment. They
often conducted follow-up surveys after a campaign to evaluate how effective the campaign
has been in changing people’s attitudes. External communication, with almost equal emphasis
on government agencies as well as the mass media because, as one respondent stated: “the
media carries [sic] the potential to make or break any organization and non-profit
organizations depend heavily on goodwill… Furthermore, some journalists often teach me
tricks on how to achieve more in the media with less money if you have a close friendship
with them.” Finally, Web-site construction and maintenance.
Among the 3 practitioners interviewed for this study, only one stated that females
are more suitable for public relations than males. The other two male practitioners felt that
males are more suitable than females for public relations because, they contended, males
tends to think in a more strategic way than females and are more likely to hold a “helicopter
view” and perspective on issues.
All three respondents agreed that they were partly involved
in strategic management. For example, they usually attended the meetings with the dominant
coalition every week and often provided proposals and comments on the organization’s public
relations efforts to these senior managers.
It was evident that the practitioners of non-profit
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organizations often acted as problem-solving process facilitators, communication facilitators,
and communication technicians. Finally, practitioners stated that cultivating “gaunxi” with
both journalists and government officials was crucial to them in achieving organizational
goals.
State-Owned Enterprises
Ten of the fifteen practitioners of the five state-owned enterprises responded to the
questionnaire for a response rate of 66%.
As indicated in Figure 3, the personal influence
model again appeared to be the most frequently used model followed by press-agentry.
Public information again scored the lowest means although the one mild change is that the
two-way asymmetrical model was ranked lower than the two-way symmetrical – a departure
from government agencies. [Table 3 about here]
The qualitative data revealed that the number of practitioners in state-owned
enterprises (1-4 individuals) was much lower than those in government agencies. One of the
respondents explained that because of China’s new emphasis on reforming state-owned
enterprises, public sector enterprises have been downsized to survive in a competitive
market-oriented economic system.
The public relations practices of state-owned enterprises were found to be quite
similar to those in government agencies, which includes the use of general offices for public
relations purposes. All four heads of the general offices interviewed possessed the lowest
educational levels in their respective offices but because of their longevity in the organization,
they were promoted based on the “lun zi pai bei” system described earlier. In addition, none
of the practitioners interviewed received any formal professional education or training in
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public relations and were not involved in professional associations either. These public
relations managers had previously worked either as secretaries, drivers, lecturers, or railway
workers! When asked to talk about the typical activities in their daily work, one of the
respondents shared the following experience:
Public relations in our company is considered equivalent to government
relationships. Take myself as an example, as the head of the general office.
My main job is to assist our senior management to establish and maintain a
good relationship with government officials. Frankly speaking,
government departments are not only providing services but also carry
much decision-making power over public projects… Under such
circumstances, it [who received the contract] is not only decided by the
company’s track record and reputation, but also on government
relationships…. Therefore, cultivating good government relationships is
crucial for us. In addition, media relationship is another aspect in my daily
work. However, it is not as highly-valued as the government relationships
because we seldom use media to publicize stories unless there is a crisis or
when conflict occurs.
Another practitioner echoed a similar sentiment with regard to media relations and
added “We never contact journalists unless we have faced a corporate crisis.
I once received
some calls from certain TV stations or some professional magazines to ask for interviews with
one of our top leaders, but all were refused by our senior management, citing busy schedule
as an excuse.”
It is clear that in societies that have domineering political systems
organizations focus only on building relations with the government often feeling safe to
ignore even the mass media.
The results revealed that besides handling government relationships, public
relations personnel also spent large amounts of time arranging meetings for top leaders
and writing monthly and yearly reports. None of the respondents interviewed thought
that there is gender discrimination in the public relations industry and all agreed that
females are more suitable for public relations than males.
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The above findings confirm that in Shanghai, the public relations practices of
state-owned enterprises are quite similar to those of government agencies. Practitioners in
these two kinds of organizations basically play the roles of communication facilitators and
communication technicians and they are not involved in decision-making. Due to the
traditional views held by the senior leaders because the mass media are under government
control, most practitioners felt the need to maintain good personal relationships only with
government officials neglecting all other stakeholders including the journalists.
Multinational Corporations
Of the 21 questionnaires sent to practitioners of seven MNCs, 16 were returned for a
response rate of 76%, which was much higher than other types of organizations in the sample.
MNCs also reported using the personal influence model more often than other models
followed by the two-way symmetrical, the two-way asymmetrical, the press agentry and the
public information model [Table 4 about here].
Compared to other types of organizations, the six MNCs in the sample (three
Shanghai branches of Fortune 500 companies and three medium-sized corporations) featured
the most professional and progressive public relations practices. The practice differed with the
size of the company. In general, the public relations practices of large MNCs were handled by
three departments – for government relations, media relations, and corporate communications.
There were no more than three persons in each organization in-charge of government relations
all of whom were males with an average age of 32.7 years.
Most of these practitioners held Master’s degrees and half had obtained their degrees
overseas. In addition, all of them had received professional public relations education or
22
training and had previous work experience before being hired. For example, some of them
had been senior journalists in Xinhua News Agency, government officers and even diplomats.
One of the respondents stated that the main purpose of the government relations department
in Shanghai is to lobby government officials to attract big construction projects often worth
100 million RMB (USD 12 million).
The respondent also discussed the use of “guanxi,”
research, etc.:
Many people misunderstand government relationship as doing favors for
the government officials or buying them dinners in order to get favours
when we need their help. Actually government relations is much more than
that. Basically, our daily work includes 3 aspects: research work, lobbying
and handling huge projects. Research work is more than doing surveys or
conducting interviews. Instead, we are doing qualitative research on all
kinds of policies of the central government as well as Shanghai municipal
government, so that we are able to predict its tendency and anticipate. It is
very crucial for an organization in terms of strategic management. …
According to our organization’s regulations, the monetary value of the
gifts for government officials must not be more than US$25 each time.
From my experience, it is not only the value of the gifts that matters, but
also critical to quality (CTQ)….
Predictably, the government relations department was most valued in the sample of
MNCs of this study. The manager of this department was usually a member of the senior
management (dominant coalition), and was often involved in decision-making and strategic
management. Interestingly, all the practitioners in the government relations department
claimed that males are more suitable for handling strategic public relations management than
females.
However, there appeared to be no gender discrimination or differences in salary
difference based on gender.
The media relations department had practitioners with Master’s degrees in linguistics
and journalism as well as journalistic experience, thus serving as “journalists in residence.”
23
None of them had received any professional education or training in public relations.
Members of this department performed the typical functions such as preparing press releases,
organizing press conferences, updating the organization’s web site and client database, and
arrange media interviews for senior managers.
The corporate communication department handled the internal communication in
these organizations. Seventy six per cent of the practitioners in this department were females
and had bachelor’s degrees in business, public management or journalism. None of them had
received professional education or training in public relations or were members of any
associations. One of the respondents explained that in addition to conducting surveys of
clients and employees, they also conducted “informal research” about their competitors based
on the traditional Chinese proverb that “you can win only if you know yourselves as well as
your enemies well.”
The public relations practices of small and medium-sized MNCs differed from their
larger counterparts. Smaller MNCs did not have a separate public relations department,
instead delegating this function to the marketing department. All the practitioners interviewed
in the small and medium-sized MNCs were females, held degrees in business and marketing,
and had an average age of 27.6 years. Their activities involved proposing marketing strategies
and identifying potential clients, typical media relations activities, launching marketing
promotions or campaigns, updating client databases and updating the official website. All
respondents stated that keeping a good relationship with the government and media was very
important in helping them achieve their goals.
Based on the above findings, we can conclude that the public relations practitioners
24
working in MNCs are much more professional compared to practitioners from other types of
organizations.
Further, their roles are not just limited to being communication facilitators or
communication technicians. In the three Fortune 500 companies in the sample, public
relations practitioners assisted senior management in decision-making. On the other hand, the
roles of public relations in small MNCs were found to be limited to the communication
facilitator and communication technician, with no involvement in decision-making.
Unlike
other types of organizations, the public relations practitioners of MNCs regarded media
relations also as an important function in addition to maintaining good relations with the
government.
CONCLUSION
The quantitative and qualitative data confirmed that all three types of organizations
employed the personal influence model most (Table V). These findings are similar to results
from other Asian countries (Sriramesh, 1992, Hung & Chen, 2004, Sriramesh, 2004). Due to
the deeply entrenched Confucianism philosophy and the emphasis of personal networking
(“Guanxi”) in China for centuries, the public relations practices in Shanghai are molded by
China’s relation-centric culture. Most public relations practitioners recognize the importance
of establishing and maintaining good relationships (“Guanxi”) with government officials and
regard it as one of the most important elements in achieving organizational goals. On the
other hand, relationship with the media was less valued particularly amongst government
agencies and state owned enterprises.
The other interesting finding of this study was in the minimal use of the public
information model. Contrary to published literature, this model was least used by government
25
agencies and non-profit organizations in the sample. The government agencies and
state-owned enterprises in this study practiced the press agentry model more frequently than
multinational companies. Multinational corporations reported practicing the two-way
symmetrical model more often than other types of organizations.
Most public relations practitioners in the sample provided only technical public
relations support with only three managers working in multinational companies reporting that
they were involved in strategic management. Public relations still has a long way to go before
acquiring professional status in Shanghai and China. The public relations practices of
state-owned enterprises were quite similar to those of government agencies. On the other
hand, MNCs featured the most professional and progressive public relations functions
perhaps because these public relations practitioners had higher training and held better
qualifications.
Finally, the “lun zi pai bei” system, which gives more importance to seniority than
performance or qualifications, has played a significant role in restricting the level of
professionalism particularly in the public relations departments of government agencies. This
system has resulted in some interesting situations where railway workers and even chefs had
been promoted to head public relations departments, a practice that certainly does not help
advance the public relations profession. Non-profit organizations and multinational
companies valued media relations in addition to government relations, unlike other
organizational types. These data help us conclude that public relations practices in Shanghai
are influenced to a large extent by socio-economic and cultural considerations.
26
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29
Table I
The mean scores for the five public relations models among
Government agencies in Shanghai
1
Press
Agentry
3.25
Public
information
3
Two-way
Asymmetrical
3.25
Two-way
Symmetrical
3.25
2
3.25
2.5
2.75
3.75
4
3
3.25
3
3.25
2.75
4
4
3.75
3
2.5
2.5
4.25
5
3.5
3.25
4
2.75
4
6
2.75
2.5
3.25
2.25
4
7
3.75
3
2.75
2.25
4.75
8
3.5
2.75
2.75
1.75
3.5
9
2.75
2.75
2.75
2.5
4.5
10
3.5
1.75
2.75
2.5
4.25
11
3.25
2
3
3
4.75
12
3.75
2.25
3.5
3.75
4.25
Average
Means
3.35
2.65
3.04
2.75
4.19
Note: N = 12. Scale = 1-5
Source: own questionnaire survey
Personal
Influence
4
30
Table II
The mean scores for the five public relations models
Among Non-profit organizations in Shanghai
1
Press
Agentry
3.25
Public
Information
3.25
Two-way
Asymmetrical
3.5
Two-way
Symmetrical
3.5
2
3.75
3
3.5
4
5
3
3.5
2.75
3.25
3.75
3.5
4
3.5
3.25
4.75
4.5
5
5
4.25
3.75
2.5
3
4.25
6
3.25
3.25
3.5
3.5
4
7
3.25
2.25
3.25
2.5
4.25
8
3.25
2.25
3.75
3
5
Average
Means
3.5
2.97
3.5
3.47
4.34
Note: N = 8. Scale = 1-5
Source: own questionnaire survey
Personal
Influence
3.75
31
Table III
The mean scores for the five public relations models among state-owned enterprises
1
Press
Agentry
2.5
Public
Information
2.75
Two-way
Asymmetrical
2
Two-way
Symmetrical
3.75
Personal
Influence
4.75
2
3
2.75
2.75
3
3.5
3
3.75
1.75
3
2.75
4.75
4
3.75
1.75
3
2.75
4.75
5
3
1.5
2.5
3
5
6
3.5
2.25
2.5
2
4.5
7
2.75
2.5
2.25
2.75
4.5
8
3.5
2.25
2.25
4
4.75
9
3
1.5
2.25
2.75
4.75
10
3.5
1.75
2.5
2.5
4.75
Average
Means
3.23
2.08
2.5
2.93
4.6
Note: N = 10. Scale = 1-5
Source: own questionnaire survey
32
Table IV
The mean scores for the five public relations models among multinational corporations in
Shanghai
1
Press
Agentry
3.75
Public
Information
3
Two-way
Asymmetrical
3.25
Two-way
Symmetrical
2.75
Personal
Influence
3.75
2
3
3
3.25
3.5
4
3
2.75
2
4
4.25
4
4
4
2.75
3.5
3.5
2.75
5
4
2.75
3.5
3.5
3.25
6
4.25
3
4
4.25
4.25
7
2.75
2.75
3.5
4
4.25
8
2.75
2.75
3.5
4
4.25
9
2.25
2
3
3.75
3.75
10
2.25
2
3
3.75
3.75
11
3
2.5
3.75
4
4.75
12
3.5
3.5
3.75
3
4.75
13
3.5
3.5
3.75
3
4.75
14
3.25
2.75
4
4.25
4.5
15
3.25
2.75
4
4.25
4.5
16
3.25
2.25
3.5
3.75
4.5
Average
Means
3.22
2.92
3.58
3.72
4.11
Note: N = 16. Scale = 1-5
Source: own questionnaire survey
33
Table V
The mean scores of each item of five public relations models in Shanghai
Item
Press agentry/publicity model
In our organization, public relations and publicity mean essentially
the same thing
In our public relations, we mostly attempt to get favorable publicity
about our organization into the media and keep unfavorable
publicity out
Means
The purpose of public relations in our company is to get positive
publicity for the organization
4.21
Keeping a news-clipping file is about the only way we determine
the success of our PR program
1.77
Public information model
In our company, public relations is more of a neutral disseminator
of information than an advocate for the organization or a mediator
between management and publics
2.70
4.40
3.07
In our public relations activities, we try to disseminate accurate
information to our publics with the goal of persuading our
audiences to modify their behaviors
2.93
We determine how successful our public relations is by studying
how many people attend one of our events or use our products and
services
2.51
In our organization, nearly everyone is so busy writing news stories
or producing publications that there is no time to do research
2.07
Two-way asymmetrical model
Before beginning a public relations program, we do research to
determine public attitudes toward our organization and determine
strategies to change these attitudes to benefit our organization
3.23
In our public relations activities, our broad goal is to persuade
publics to behave as the organization wants them to behave
3.42
Before starting a public relations program, we look at attitude
surveys and use the data to make sure we describe the organization
in ways our publics are most likely to accept
2.98
34
The combined mean scores for each item for the five public relations models among all
organizations in Shanghai
Item
After completing a public relations program, we do research to
determine how effective the program has been in changing people’s
attitudes
Two-way symmetrical model
The purpose of public relations in our company is to develop
mutual understanding between our management and our
constituents
Means
2.86
3.47
Before starting a program, we do surveys or informal research to
find out the level of understanding between our management and
our publics
2.98
The purpose of public relations in our company is to change the
attitudes and behaviors of management as much as it is to change
the attitudes and behavior of publics
2.81
In our company public relations provides mediation for the
organization, to help management and publics negotiate conflicts
3.21
Personal influence model
I make it a point to socialize with people such as journalists on a
regular basis because it helps me gain access to them and helps me
accomplish goals such as placing stories in the media
4.40
My ability to socialize with various individuals such as journalists
and govt. officials, has helped me immensely in becoming a
successful public relations professional
4.14
I find that having close friendships with key people (eg. Journalists)
helps me professionally
I have always tried my best to provide help and favors to
strategically placed people such as journalists and government
officials because they often help me in return when I need to place
stories in the media or need help from the government
Note: N=46
Scale=1-5
4.37
4.35