ABSTRACT
One of the major themes that recurs throughout the strategy literature is that of the role of strategy as a continuous and adaptive response to external opportunities and threats that may confront an organisation (e.g. Argyris 1985; Mintzberg 1989; Steiner and Miner 1977). A broad consensus exists within the management literature, that strategy is essentially concerned with a process of managing the interaction between an organisation and its external environment so as to ensure the best ‘fit’ between the two. From this perspective, it can be argued that ‘boundary-spanning’ functions can play a key role in the process of managing such environmental interaction (e.g. White and Dozier 1992; Cutlip et al. 1994). As a boundary-spanning function, public relations operates at the interface between the organisation and its environment; thus it is arguably in an ideal position both to help gather, relay and interpret information from the environment as well as representing the organisation to the outside world. For example, White and Dozier argue that ‘when organisations make decisions, they do so based on a representation of both the organisation itself and its environment’, and they go on to suggest that public relations practitioners play an important role in shaping perceptions of the environment and the organisation itself among decision-makers (1992: 92).
