Applied Public Relations: Cases in Stakeholder Management

Applied Public Relations: Case Studies and Problem Solving offers readers the opportunity to observe and analyze the manner in which contemporary businesses and organizations interact with key groups and influences. A basic assumption of the text is that principles of best practice are best learned through examining how real organizations have chosen to develop and maintain their relationships in a variety of industries, locations, and settings. Authors Larry F. Lamb and Kathy Brittain McKee provide valuable insights into contemporary business and organizational management practices through the variety of cases presented here. Some cases detail positive, award-winning practices, while others demonstrate practices that were less successful. Cases illustrate both specific public-relations campaigns and broader business and organizational practices that had public-image or public-relations implications. The cases enable readers to consider explicit public-relations choices as well as to analyze and assess the impact of all management decisions on relationships with key stakeholders, whether they were designed or implicit or even accidental. Lamb and McKee have placed special emphasis on public relations as a strategic management function that must coordinate its planning and activities with several organizational units - human resources, marketing, legal counsel, finance, operations, and others. A commitment to the ethical practice of public relations underlies the book, and students are challenged not only to assess the effectiveness of the practices outlined but also to understand the ethical implications of those choices. With its scope and orientation, the text is appropriate for use in undergraduate courses on public-relations management, public-relations cases and campaigns or business management or integrated-communication management.