Excellence Theory in Public Relations
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Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Oxford, UKICAEThe International Encyclopedia of Communication9781405131995© 2008 Blackwell Publishing LtdAugust 200700??????Orig inal ArticlesExcellence Theory in Public RelationsExcellence Theory in Public Relations
Excellence Theory in Public Relations
James E. Grunig
University of Maryland
The excellence theory is a general theory of public relations that resulted from a 15-year
study of best practices in communication management funded by the International
Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Research Foundation. Three books were
published from the research (J. E. Grunig 1992; Dozier et al. 1995; L. A. Grunig et al.
2002). This general theory incorporates a number of middle-range theories of
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public
relations, including theories of publics, public relations and strategic management,
models of public relations, evaluation of public relations, employee communication, public
relations roles, gender, diversity, power, activism, ethics and social responsibility, and
global public relations (
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Public Relations Evaluation). The theory was tested through
survey research of heads of public relations, CEOs, and employees in 327 organizations
(corporations, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and associations) in the
United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom (
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Survey; Interview). The survey research
was followed by qualitative interviews with heads of public relations, other public
relations practitioners, and CEOs in 25 organizations with the highest and lowest scores
on a scale of excellence produced by statistical analysis of the survey data (
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Interview,
Qualitative).
The excellence theory first explained the value of public relations to organizations and
society based on the social responsibility of managerial decisions and the quality of
relationships with stakeholder publics. For an organization to be effective, according to
the theory, it must behave in ways that solve the problems and satisfy the goals of
stakeholders as well as of management (
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Stakeholder Theory). If it does not, stakeholders
will either pressure the organization to change or oppose it in ways that add cost and risk
to organizational policies and decisions. To behave in socially acceptable ways, organiza-
tions must scan their environment to identify publics who are affected by potential
organizational decisions or who want organizations to make decisions to solve problems
that are important to them. Then, organizations must communicate symmetrically with
publics (taking the interests of both the organization and publics into account) to
cultivate high-quality, long-term relationships with them. The interviews with CEOs and
senior public relations officers revealed that good relationships were of value to
organizations because they reduced the
costs
of litigation, regulation, legislation, and
negative publicity caused by poor relationships; reduced the
risk
of making decisions that
affect different stakeholders; or increased
revenue
by providing products and services
needed by stakeholders.
Based on this theoretical premise about the value of public relations, the excellence
theory derived principles of how the function should be organized to maximize this value.
First, the research showed that involvement in strategic management was the critical
characteristic of excellent public relations. Public relations executives played a strategic
managerial role as well as administrative manager role. Public relations also was empowered
by having access to key organizational decision-makers (the dominant coalition).
