Name: Wout Gijsbers ID#: 1169286 Assignment Title: Individual Written Literature Review 2 Date: , 2011 Course Title:

Global Sustainability Issues for Public Relations Course Code: MCOM584 Lecturer: Dr. Juliet Roper

Individual Written Literature Review 2 MCOM584 INTRODUCTION For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future. !"#$%&"'(")*&&*+,"!" " The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that we leave in strange times: protests in Tunisia sparking revolts and revolutions throughout the Middle East in a matter of weeks, a (still ongoing) financial crisis that spread like wildfire, the ever increasing economic and political power of the BRIC countries, the downfall of the only remaining superpower, the ever-increasing speed, agility and diversity of communication tools, the omnipresence of the Internet, the globalization of trade for both consumers and producers and the elephants in the room: the climate, food, energy and water crises. Through an endless amount of feedback loops, feedforward loops that are interconnected in both time and space, we seem to be on a seemingly endless rollercoaster with our eyes closed: we dont know where it goes, when it stops and the world is going to look like when we (learn to) open our eyes. This rollercoaster is what I will be discussing in the current literature review: I will discuss what it consists of, why it is so difficult to determine its direction or end point (let alone have any effect on it), and the ways Public Relations (referred to as PR here onwards) might learn to open its eyes while riding it.

Individual Written Literature Review 2 MCOM584 THE STATUS QUO The field [PR] largely ignores the connections between previous trends, present trends, and predicted futures. (McKie & Munshi, 2010, p. 133); Only by creating a new paradigm for itself will public relations get out from under what has grown to be the bone-crushing weight of its communications origins. (Fiur, 1984, p. 383); Smart organizations today understand the critical importance of

communications that are honest, candid, and transparent. (Seitel, 2009, p. 431): all these quotes underline that PR finds itself at a turning point. Firstly, in todays world, it is no longer enough to talk the walk, not for companies, governments or NGOs. Not only are (groups of) individuals increasingly able to identify practices as mere window dressing (Morsing & Oswald, 2006) or green washing (Cox, 2006), they are also increasingly able to communicate their findings to millions of others with a simple mouse click. Movements such as Occupy Wall Street, Anonymous and WikiLeaks, events such as the Arab Spring and the monk protests in Myanmar, as well as worldwide exposure about employee maltreatment (e.g., Nikes sweatshop problem (Knight, 2009)), environmental maltreatment (e.g., the oil spillage in the Niger delta (Vidal, 2011)), social maltreatment (e.g., abuse of homosexuals in various African countries (The Washington Times, 2011)), and economic maltreatment (e.g., the Enron scandal) would not have been so widely exposed (if exposed at all) without modern communication tools such as Facebook, Twitter and the so-called blogosphere (Graham, 1999). Secondly, in todays globalized markets, with its prevailing laissez-faire, globalist ideology (Kuttner, 2000), its strong reliance on Adam Smiths free, self-regulating market principle (e.g. Cox, 2006; Polanyi, 2005), in which many countries preach free trade but practice protectionism (Stiglitz, 2007), and in which information and capital flows seem to be ever harder to control and

Individual Written Literature Review 2 MCOM584 balance (Kuttner, 2000), corporations, governments and citizens alike are increasingly exposed to uncertainty and risk. In short, as Hayes (2008, p. 18) states free trade agreements, the Internet, the emergence of highly skilled populations in developing regions, not to mention technology and travel have made the world smaller, if not better understood, making old certainties obsolete. It thus seems evident that, in todays fast-paced, fast-changing world, the strategies, methods and worldviews of the past have become painfully outdated; a wholly new mindset is required that is grounded in todays globalized and digitalized world. There are however two fundamental problems. The first problem is one that, in my opinion, has hampered (or at least slowed down) change on multiple occasions in the past. Described by Gordon (in McKie, 2010, p. 94) as the full and often unconscious spectrum of intellectual views, analytical approaches, political and social concerns, and so on, that people in any era share, it is called the Zeitgeist bias. In my opinion, this bias relates to the notions of discourse, defined by Fairclough (in Jones, 2002, p. 53) as the common sense of a culture and of the political field, describable as a fluid continuum of political stances towards a particular issue that is shaped by a communitys (or a societys) dominant social norms. It informs our thoughts as well as our actions, our notions of normality and acceptability, and our views of what the future will and should look like. Despite the fact that it has served us well in many respects, I believe that the currently predominant Zeitgeist bias is grossly outdated. For instance, as McKie states, the idea of the Homo Economicus, of man as infinitely selfish and infinitely rational (McKie, 2010, p. 93), has been shown to be incomplete and overly simplistic. Moreover, as Roper and SchoenbergerOrgad (2011) argue, the market failures of the past years (the burst of the 2008 housing bubble being one of the clearest examples) have created a significant dent in

Individual Written Literature Review 2 MCOM584 the dominant free market discourse. It is time for a new Zeitgeist bias, not only for PR but for society in general. The second problem, which more particularly pertains to PR, exposes itself when one analyzes the following two statements: Public relations must identify its core values if it is to become a respected profession rather than a reviled and suspicious occupation (Grunig, in Hayes, 2008, p. 31); public relations is underprepared for engaging with new-normality turbulence (McKie, 2010 p. 96). It cannot be ignored: these statements provide a rather grim picture of PRs current position. Not only do they present PR as a field that is outmanned and outgunned against the current state of the world, they also seem to state that PR is facing a legitimacy gap (i.e., a gap between its current activities through the eye of the public and the publics perception of what PR should be doing) (Roper & Toledano, 2005): instead of engaging in an open and honest dialogue with stakeholders, PR is often regarded (and I must agree with this) as a way for organizations to cover up their actual intentions. This image of PR is happily exploited by organizations to discursively reposition other, rival organizations (e.g., NGOs versus corporations or corporations versus the IPCC). In this way, the entire field of PR is exposed to a reputation commons problem (Collins & Roper, 2005), in the same way as McKie (2010) argues when he discusses the reputation damage the field of economics has suffered (and still suffers) in the current economic crisis. In sum, despite the fact that, as Seitel argues, while the practice of public relations isnt immune from cuts in bad times, it is no longer the first to go. (Seitel, 2009, p. 433), I believe that PR currently finds itself in a rather precarious and possibly even dangerous situation. However, the literature provides a number of ways to navigate away from this situation.

Individual Written Literature Review 2 MCOM584 STAKEHOLDERS & FUTURES In 1984, Merton Fiur posited a new mission statement for public relations: PR is the management function primarily responsible for shaping and implementing policies of mediation among social, political, and economic interests capable of influencing the growth and/or survival of an organization's basic franchise. To this end, the public relations function has responsibility also for identifying the forces and effects of changes in the organization's environment so as to anticipate new needs for mediation and to inform all other anticipatory activity within the organization. (Fiur, 1984, p. 383) Despite the fact that the mission statement was posited nearly three decades ago, it is still remarkably relevant for two reasons. Firstly, it addresses the need for a stakeholder approach by referring to mediation among social, political, and economic interests (Fiur, 1984, p. 383). For instance, Hayes (2008) argues that instead of primarily focusing on the needs of the dominant coalition (those with formal authority in an organization), PR must be able to transcend cultural boundaries, provide strategic advice at the intersection of politics, business and civil society, () and provide the tools by which stakeholders can engage (Hayes, 2008, p. 43). This statement seems to be in line with the viewpoints of many authors discussed in MCOM584. Be it to deal with the increasing presence the sub-political arena (largely to due to the rising predominance of new media) and the eroding power of traditional state governance (e.g., Jones, 2002; Knight, 2007; Newell, 2000; Seitel, 2007), the spreading popularity of (and ensuing need for) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) (e.g., Freeman & Velamuri, 2006; Kim & Reber, 2008; Lingard, 2006; Morsing & Oswald, 2006) and the overall move towards becoming ethical companies (McKie & Munshi, 2007), there seems

Individual Written Literature Review 2 MCOM584 to be little disagreement that PR (and organizations in general) should adopt a wider, more transparent and bidirectional approach to dealing with their environments and the (groups of) individuals situated within it. In fact, Hayes (2008) seems to go as far as to completely neglect the second manner in which PR must change, thereby in my opinion only telling half of the story that needs to be told. Fiur refers to the other half of the story by stating that PR must detect the forces and effects of changes in the organization's environment so as to anticipate new needs for mediation and to inform all other anticipatory activity within the organization (Fiur, 1984, p. 383). As was already discussed in the previous section, todays fast-paced world is saturated with change and ensuing uncertainty. Not only are the causes and effects of state policy changes (e.g., China and the USs currency manipulation (La Monica, 2011)) and natural disasters (e.g., the earthquake in Japan in March of this year) no longer restricted to national borders, damage to one corporations reputation can spread throughout an entire industry (described by Collins and Roper as the reputation commons problem) (Collins & Roper, 2005), and the reputation of a country can even be linked to one or a few of its major corporations, as Seitel argues when he states that companies have become the most prominent standard bearers of their countries (Seitel, 2009, p. 318). To deal with these various sources of change and uncertainty, PR must, as Gordon states (in McKie (2010, p. 90), adopt a flexible and hedged view of the future, as that is more useful to more people rather than a wrong prediction however singularly asserted. This flexible view of the future, as several authors (e.g., McKie, 2010; McKie & Munshi, 2007; Shell, 2005; Swart, Raskin & Robinson, 2004) argue, can be constructed by adopting a futures (scenarios) approach, which aims to provide tools to empower both ordinary people and leaders to act so as to create better futures for themselves

Individual Written Literature Review 2 MCOM584 and their societies than they otherwise would be able to do (Bell, in McKie, 2010, p. 87). By drawing multiple possible futures (usually 3 or 4), of which the majority (i.e., 2 out of 3 or 3 out of 4) entertain[s] certain extreme visions to encompass a wide spectrum for optimism to pessimism (McKie & Munshi, 2007, p. 142). The visions described in the scenarios do not have to be accurate nor eventually correct; the purpose of scenarios is to take uncertainty as a starting point, not as something that needs to be contained and decreased (McKie & Munshi, 2007). In my opinion, scenarios provide a flexible game plan upon which an organizations entire strategy can be based. In fact, for scenarios to have any practical use, they must become part of the organizations core, sometimes requiring deep, transformative change in an organization so as to maximize its overall adaptive capacity (Dunphy, Griffiths, & Benn, 2007). This relates back to the need for a stakeholder approach that was discussed earlier, because, in my opinion, the only way that change can become part of an organizations core is by embedding it in the hearts and minds of the organizations internal and external stakeholders. Moreover, the stakeholder approach one of the only ways (if not the only way) in which the organization can gather the knowledge and perspectives needed to make accurate estimations of what the future (or, more specifically, futures) might look like. Unlike Hayes (2008), who seems to overlook the essentiality of a futures approach, I agree with Fiur that both a stakeholder and a futures approach should be part of PRs new mission statement (Fiur, 1984). But what is required to turn this mission statement into reality?

THE FUTURE(S) OF PR Both Hayes and Fiur argue that social changes, as well as the managerial changes that they evoke, provide PR with a prime opportunity to move up the

Individual Written Literature Review 2 MCOM584 organizational leader; to get a seat at the top table (Hayes, 2008, p. 22); to attain top management status (Fiur, 1984, p. 384). This opportunity is marked by a convergence of events that can be best described with two quotes: You cannot be a successful firm in a failed world (Hayes, 2008, p. 22) and A socially conscious but bankrupt business is no good to anyone (Hayes, 2008, p. 25). It is no longer enough for corporations to merely focus on the financial bottom line for it is simply no longer sustainable in any way. There is a need to expand to a Triple Bottom Line, consisting of people, planet and profit. However, as the second quote emphasizes, switching the corporations focus to merely people and planet may lead to a strategic overshoot and collapse. In my opinion, PR can aid in finding a balance between these two extremes through the combination of a stakeholder and a futures approach. In practice, however, this implies that PR must become a bigger player in organizational hierarchies. There are a number of ways in which it can achieve this. Firstly, Fiur (1984) asserts that PR should be partially linked to marketing. Despite the vast differences between these two fields, he argues, PR and marketing can build upon each others strengths. PR can do so by adopting marketings business-oriented, quantitative approach an in effort to communicate why and how it does what it does, and in teaching and demonstrating how well it does it (Fiur, 1984, p. 397). Marketing, on the other hand, will draw considerable value by implementing a futures approach in its market research. Secondly, McKie (2010) argues that PR can draw major lessons and gather insight from the field of economics. Despite the fact that economics has sustained considerable damage during the current economic crisis, many economists, McKie argues have kept their eyes () on the prize of realizing a vision of a better world based on increasing resources and allocating them justly and rationally (McKie, 2010, p. 92), leading economics to still hold a significant amount

Individual Written Literature Review 2 MCOM584 of reputational capital. In my opinion, this ability to keep the eyes on the prize results from the ability (and willingness) for self-criticism, as McKie also argues. In the absence of, or in addition to sufficiently powerful outside forces questioning the fields legitimacy, contributors from within the field have led economics to a more complexity-oriented view of human behavior (complexity economics) (McKie, 2010). In order rid itself of the bone-crushing weight of its communications origins (Fiur, 1984, p. 383) and be able to survive in, as well as add something of value to todays fast-paced world, PR must learn from and partially emulate the field of economics, as well as cooperate with and learn from marketing.

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Individual Written Literature Review 2 MCOM584 CONCLUSION What we call the present is usually nothing more than a combination of a fragment of the past with a fragment of the future. !"-*$./"0122*34"!"#$%&'4"5678"!" In this literature review, I have tried to analyze the rollercoaster that we currently find ourselves on. I have discussed what it consists of, why it is so difficult to determine its direction or end point, and the ways PR, as well as society in general, might learn to deal with it. I started out by sketching the status quo, the zeitgeist bias and the position PR currently finds itself in. In the second section, I discussed Fiurs new mission statement for PR (1984) and the importance of adopting both a stakeholder and a futures approach. In the third section, I discussed two more practical ways in which PR can make a difference, namely the partnership with marketing and lessons PR can draw from the field of economics. In conclusion, I believe that PR, and society in general must learn to combine lessons from past mistakes and successes with a transparent and open approach towards the present, and a flexible yet detailed view of the future. If we do not learn to do this, we may be seriously hampered in our efforts to build towards a truly sustainable future.

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Individual Written Literature Review 2 MCOM584 BIBLIOGRAPHY Collins, E., & Roper, J. (2005). Strategic Schizophrenia: The Strategic Use of Trade Associations in New Zealand. Journal of Communication Management , 9 (3), 256-266. Cox, R. (2006). Environmental Communication and the Public Sphere. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Dunphy, D., Griffiths, A., & Benn, S. (2007). Organizational Change for Corporate Sustainability (2nd ed.). London and New York: Routledge. Fiur, M. (1984). Public Relations in the 21st Century. In B. Cantor, & C. Burger (Eds.), Experts in Action: Inside Public Relations (pp. 381-400). New York: Longman. Freeman, R., & Velamuri, S. (2006). A New Approach to CSR: Company Stakeholder Responsibility. In M. Kakabadse (Ed.), Corporate Social Responsibility: Reconciling Aspiration with Application (pp. 9-23). Graham, B. (1999, September). Friday, September 10, 1999. Retrieved October 6, 2011, from Must See HTTP://: http://www.bradlands.com/weblog/comments/september_10_1999/ Hayes. (2008). Public Relations and Collaboration: The Role of Public Relations and Communications Supporting Collaboration in a Complex, Converging World. Jones, R. (2002). Challenges to the Notion of Publics in Public Relations: Implications of the Risk Society for the Discipline. Public Relations Review , 31, 479-485. Kim, S., & REber, B. (2008). Public Relations' Place in Corporate Social Responsibility: Practitioners Define Their Role. Public Relations Review , 34, 337-342. Knight, G. (2007). Activism, Risk and Communicational Politics: Nike and the Sweatshop Problem. In S. May, G. Cheney, & J. Roper (Eds.), The Debate over Corporate Responsibility (pp. 305-318). New York: Oxford University Press. Kuttner, R. (2000). The Role of Governments in the Global Economy. In W. Hutton, & A. Giddens (Eds.), Global Capitalism. New York: The New Press.

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Individual Written Literature Review 2 MCOM584 La Monica, P. (2011, October). China Isn't the Only Currency 'Manipulator'. Retrieved 2 Lingard, T. (2006). Creating a Corporate Responsiblity Culture: the Approach of Unilever UK. In A. Kakabadse, & M. Morsing (Eds.), Corporate Social Responsibility: Reconciling Aspiration with Application (pp. 217-230). Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. McKie, D. (2010). Signs of the Times: Economic Sciences, Futures, and Public Relations. In R. Heath (Ed.), SAGE Hanbook of Public Relations (2nd ed., pp. 85-97). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. McKie, D., & Munshi, D. (2007). Reconfiguring Public Relations: Ecology, Equity and Enterprise. London: Routledge. Morsing, M., & Oswald, D. (2006). Novo Nordisk A/S: Integration Sustainability into Business Practice. In A. Kakabase, & M. Morsing (Eds.), Corporate Social Responsibility: Reconciling Aspiration with Application (pp. 183-216). Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. Newell, P. (2000). Environmental NGOs and Globalization: The Governance of TNCs. In R. Cohen, & S. Rai (Eds.), Global Social Movements (pp. 117-133). London: The Athlone Press. Polanyi, K. (2005). The Self-Regulating Market and the Fictitious Commodities: Labor Land and Money. In M. Edelman, & A. Haugerud (Eds.), The Anthropology of Development and Globalization (pp. 99-104). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Roper, J., & Schoenberger-Orgad, M. (2011). State-Owned Enterprises: Issues of Accountability and Legitimacy. Management Communication Quarterly , (in Press). Roper, J., & Toledano, M. (2005). Taking in the View from the Edge: Issues Management Recontextualized. Public Relations Review , 34, 337-342. Seitel, F. (2009). The Practice of Public Relations (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. October 7, 2011, from CNN Money: http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/06/news/economy/thebuzz/?cnn=yes&hpt=ibu_c

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Individual Written Literature Review 2 MCOM584 Shell. (2005). The Shell Global Scenarios to 2025. The Future Business Environment: Trends, Trade-offs and Choices. Shell International Ltd. Stiglitz, J. (2007). Making Globalization Work. New York: W.W. Norton. Swart, R., Raskin, P., & Robinson, J. (2004). The Problem of the Future: Sustainability Science and Scenario Analysis. Global Environmental Change , 14, 137-146. The Washington Times. (2010, April). Anti-gay Abuse Rife in Africa. Retrieved October africa/ Vidal, J. (2011, August). Niger Delta Oil Spills Clean-up Will Take 30 Years, Says UN. up-un Retrieved October 6, 2011, from The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/04/niger-delta-oil-spill-clean6, 2011, from The Washington Times: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/22/anti-gay-abuse-rife-in-

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