Strategic communication is essential in the world of public relations. That being said, public relations still tends to be excluded when organizational decisions are being made. Many practitioners and scholars agree that PR professionals need to play a part in creating organizational policy, instead of only focusing on creating effective messaging (Wilson, 2016b). PR professionals are generally not part of the dominant coalition. The role of a PR practitioner is often underestimated and therefor not taken into account by the dominant coalition, even though public relations expertise is essential in the inner circle (Berger, 2005).
Dominant Coalition’s Influence on Strategic Decision Making in PR
An article by Christopher Wilson titled, How dominant coalition members’ values and perceptions impact their perceptions of public relations participation in organizational decision making, hypothesizez the different factors that influence the involvement of public relations in organizational decision making. These hypotheses include:
- “H1. The more dominant coalition members value organizational openness to the organization’s environment, the more they will perceive that the organization’s public relations department participates in organizational decision making.”
- “H2. The greater dominant coalition members’ perceptions of organizational autonomy are, the more they will perceive that the public relations department participates in organizational decision making.”
- “H3. Dominant coalition members’ perceptions of the manager role potential of the public relations department will be positively associated with their perceptions of the department’s participation in organizational decision making.”
Essentially, these hypotheses suggest that PR being involved largely has to do with what the people in charge think and value. If the members of the dominant coalition believes that PR can have a strong leadership role, then they are more inclined to give PR a seat at the table. As much as it may seem like an obvious answer, it comes down to what the people in charge think and how they want to utilize public relations.
Binding Communication and Management for Success
The upper echelons theory is the idea that the values of an organizations top management leaders are reflected in their strategic choices (Wilson,2016a). The values of the top leaders of an organization are reflected in who makes decisions as well as how they are made. PR professionals need to show that they can do more than just craft effective messaging and master communication, they need to prove that they are capable of working with management positions and working IN management positions. PR professionals can fill roles as technicians or manager and the functions of these roles can often overlap <a href="http://<!– wp:paragraph –> <p>The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/org/science/article/abs/pii/S1363254X16000109">upper echelons theory</a> is the idea that the values of an organizations top management leaders are reflected in their strategic choices (Wilson,2016a). The values of the top leaders of an organization are reflected in who makes decisions as well as how they are made. PR professionals need to show that they can do more than just craft effective messaging and master communication, they need to prove that they are capable of working with management positions and working IN management positions. PR professionals can fill roles as technicians or manager and the functions of these roles can often overlap <a href="https://read.amazon.com/?asin=B08Q3F9CR6&ref_=dbs_t_r_khbodl">(Shin, Heath, 2021, p. 324)</a>. Focusing on on strategic skills such as crisis management and the creation of policies can be the factors that puts PR in a more than a supporting role.</p> (Shin, Heath, 2021, p. 324). Focusing on on strategic skills such as crisis management and the creation of policies can be the factors that puts PR in a more than a supporting role.
Keywords:
Dominant Coalition, Strategic Decision Making, Communication, Management
References:
Berger, B. K. (2005, January). Power Over, Power With, and Power to Relations: Critical Reflections on Public Relations, the Dominant Coalition, and Activism.
Shin, J.-H., & Heath, R. L. (2020, December 22). Public Relations Theory: Capabilities and Competencies.
Wilson, C. (2016a). How dominant coalition members’ values and perceptions impact their perceptions of public relations participation in organizational decision making .
Wilson, C. (2016b, August). View from the upper echelon: Examining dominant coalition members’ values and perceptions and the impact of formal environmental scanning.