The personal influence model of public relations, developed principally by public relations scholar Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, acknowledges that the success of public relations is greatly influenced by personal networks. With this model, practitioners try to establish personal relationships – friendships, if possible – with key individuals in the media, government, or political and activist groups (Grunig, 1995, 18). This paper provides background on knowledge management and examines the role that the personal influence model could play in organizations by the adoption of knowledge management practices, which would involve instituting a mechanism to capture and rationalize relationships with stakeholder publics.
