Status of Public Relationship Management in the Federal Government Entities

This research aims to 1) analyze the current status of public relationship management in the federal government entities, 2) explore the organizational communication pattern and how it functions. Using a mixed methodology approach of administering an online survey and drafting a communication network analysis, the results achieved will help in understanding the need of good public relations communication between the entity and its public. Federal entities own the responsibility of maintaining and strengthening their ties with the public to achieve strategic goals and enhance their corporate image.

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Introduction

In the UAE, the role of public relations in the work of the federal government institutions is still under-estimated. As a rule, a typical public relations department is represented by one person only; and this person has limited resources of time. Other than that, the stereotypical notion of public relationships persists, and is limited by preparing and publishing press releases. Initiative-taking is limited, and practitioners in the field are not encouraged to apply innovative approach to communication with public. As a result, public remains hardly under-informed about the federal government activities, and has a vague understanding of them. This calls for a deep exploration of the current state of affairs within the federal government public communication, and the search for possible trajectories to improve the public communication strategy.The government is the representative of the people and by extension is meant to serve the interests of the public. According to Ledingham and Bruning (1998), the core purpose of strategic public relations by any given institution is to develop trust, openness, involvement, and commitment to meeting the needs and addressing the problems of the public. As it can be seen from the current state of play, this purpose is overlooked by the federal government and thus the public remains deprived of information.Consequently, tThe communication that comes from the organization is critical in to developing a connection with the members of the publicCITATION The13 \p 27-36 \l 2057 CITATION The13 \l 2057 (Theis-Berglmair 2013, 27-36) (Theis-Berglmair, 2013). Theis-Berglmair (2013), however, adds that organizational communication is not the same as public relations as the former is merely formal. To be precise, the formal has such forms such as a press release while the latter seeks to develop meaningful relationships between the organization and its external entities. Therefore, understanding public relations from the context or perspective of the responsibility of the government to its people should strive to identify how governments can better serve the interests of its citizensCITATION Led98 \p 55-65 \l 2057 CITATION Led98 \l 2057 (Ledingham and Bruning 1998, 55-65) (Ledingham & Bruning, 1998). The current research ultimately aims to contribute to vast the available literature on efficient application of PR by institutions but more importantly add to the little research that currently exists on how governments can improve relations with its public through strategic PR in the UAE.The current research is structured in the following way. The literature review section presents the critical review of the available research on the topic, structured as per thematic sub-categories. Research questions present operational questions to be covered so as to develop knowledge and understandings on how the UAE federal government is effective in its Public Relations management in terms of engagement with its respective public. Research design section justifies the use of a Quantitative approach to investigate the research questions. Further, Preliminary Suppositions & Implications provides the suggestions of the viable practical applications of the current research paper. Finally, the paper presents the conclusions drawn from the research work conducted.Literature Review/BackgroundThe value of PR and communication for the governmental institutionsAdvanced literature in the area of public relations and organizational communication has taken numerous forms. Several authors have in the past discussed PR and organizational communication as complimentary but different. For instance, Falkheimer and Heider (2014, 123-138) compared public relations communication to strategic communication and found that organizations depend on strategic communication as an effective means of achieving the ends of a public relations initiative.

Previous research in the area of organizational communication for purposes of public relations also suggests that organizations engage in PR initiatives to develop a particular image that is desirable and aim to project this image to the members of the publicCITATION Hat97 \p 356-365 \l 2057 CITATION Hat97 \l 2057 (Hatch 1997, 356-365) (Hatch, 1997). In the context of the current study, the research will seek to evaluate the effectiveness of government PR initiated communication in terms of image building protocols meant for making the public perceive the government in a positive lightCITATION Kaz07 \p 19-32 \l 2057 CITATION Kaz07 \l 2057 (Kazoleas and Teven 2007, 19-32) (Kazoleas & Teven, 2007).. ,Another essential part to be performed by PR is to influence the public opinion in times of crisis situations. The strategic crisis communications strategy helps ensure smooth navigation through crisis times and prevent concerned moods of the public (Regester et al., 2008). In the context of the current study, the research will seek to evaluate the effectiveness of government PR initiated communication in terms of image building protocols meant for making the public perceive the government in a positive light.Government PR initiatives: country casesChen (2009) dwells onto a debate of institutionalization of public relations. The author reviews this trend through the lens of Sichuan earthquake in China. By applying both quantitative and qualitative research, Chen (2009) concludes that institutionalization of public relations has tangible results and facilitates crisis communication, management and building the relationships with stakeholders. Such institutionalization of PR in China also proves to empower practitioners and so as to achieve public institution effectiveness. In the current paper, the flow of communication can be analyzed under institutionalization perspective offered.Stromback et al. (2011), based on the number of country cases from the US, Canada and Scandinavian countries, highlight the importance of political communication through PR, In this regard, it is not only informational function which government PR performs, but rather it helps government shape the public opinion and justify their agenda. This is an important implication when conducting an analysis of communication patterns in the UAE.Innovative Public Relations tools and techniquesGraham, et al. (2013) explored the opportunities of the use of social media in government public relations. The study collected survey data from over 400 government officials in the US, where they asked them to describe social media use perceptions. The study found that the overall use rate for social media is about 70 %, but in the majority of scenarios social media is under-utilized, and its potential is not used to the highest possible extent. This study has two important conclusions for the current research. First, it reveals that the UAE compares high in terms of social media by the governments globally. Secondly, it describes a range of opportunities for government PR when social media is used effectively. Also, the study is valuable from the methodological point of view due to the analysis of communication patterns and communication flows utilized by Chinese government.Bekkers el al. (2011) present an extensive overview of the possible innovative paths public sector can take to engage and interact with the audience. The book challenges the outdated perceptions of public PR and suggests the modern alternative and approaches so as to create meaningful and trustworthy interaction between government and society. For the current research, the book can be taken as a roadmap to build efficient PR strategy in the UAE.Another point to highlight is the interaction with society, which is often missed in federal government PR. The study Pieczka (2011) offer the perspective of dialogic exercise, where the audience plays equally important role as an entity sending a message. Applied to the current research, this can be taken as an additional dimension and in technical terms be used for enhancement feedback collection.A good strategy is to break the literature into "conceptual categories" [themes] rather than systematically describing groups of materials one at a time. Note that conceptual categories generally reveal themselves after you have read most of the pertinent literature on your topic so adding new categories is an on-going process of discovery as you read more studies!To help frame your proposal's literature review, use the "five Cs" of writing a literature review:Cite, so as to keep the primary focus on the literature pertinent to your research problem.Compare the various arguments, theories, methodologies, and findings expressed in the literature: what do the authors agree on? Who applies similar approaches to analyzing the research problem?Contrast the various arguments, themes, methodologies, approaches, and controversies expressed in the literature: what are the major areas of disagreement, controversy, or debate?Critique the literature: Which arguments are more persuasive, and why? Which approaches, findings, methodologies seem most reliable, valid, or appropriate, and why? Pay attention to the verbs you use to describe what an author says/does [e.g., asserts, demonstrates, argues, etc.].Connect the literature to your own area of research and investigation: how does your own work draw upon, depart from, synthesize, or add a new perspective to what has been said in the literature?Research Question(s)

The research questions will seek to develop knowledge and understandings on how the UAE federal government is effective in its Public Relations management in terms of engagement with its respective public. The research questions are listed below: RQ1: What is the relationship between a UAE federal entity's pattern of communication and the status of their public relations management?

RQ2: Does the flow of communication in a UAE federal entity promote or hinder effective communications with their respective publics?RQ3: What are the ways and strategies to improve the effectiveness of the federal governmental public relations in UAE?The dependent variables in this research will be the entity engagement with its respective public while the independent variables will be the current status of the public relationship management. The intervening variables may be the level of interaction between the federal entities and the members of public.

Theoretically, the research borrows from theories of communication in developing an understanding of the framework and foundation of the research topic.

However, in recognition of the fact that the research is an engagement that is centrally concerned with the practice of public relations. The theory on which the foundation of the research is based is the Dialogic Public Relations Theory.

According to Kent and Taylor (2002, 21-37), the Dialogic Pu...