ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters in this book. The book describes a number of commonly held beliefs about the practice of public relations: Public relations is a management function that assists the organization to reach its goals. It explains that excellent public relations is based on a two-way communication model. Engagement and influence are two of the key components of the objectives of the PR/communication planning process. When the book summarizes the definitions of public relations and enumerated the commonalities of the definitions, the final belief about public relations indicated that in addition to creativity and technical skill, public relations must be practiced with integrity. Both the organization and its publics are interacting units of the system and are subject to environmental pressures. These twenty-first century pressures are as follows: Political, Economic, Social and Technological.