ABSTRACT
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.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |86 pages
The Basic Theory
part |101 pages
The Program Level: Effective Planning of Communication Programs
part |248 pages
The Departmental Level: Characteristics of Excellent Public Relations Departments
part |150 pages
The Organizational Level: The Conditions That Make Excellence in Public Relations Possible
part |24 pages
The Economic Level: What Public Relations and Communication Contribute to the Bottom Line