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All posts by Frank Ovaitt
Is the survey mechanism broken? Few would argue that it hasn’t been damaged by a number of factors in recent years. With that in mind, I read a May speech by Scott Keeter, director of survey research for the Pew Research Center, delivered in his capacity as president of the American Association for Public Opinion … Continue reading Are Surveys Broken? →
IPR Trustee Keith Burton brought to my attention research reported in The New York Times and characterized by New York University Professor Dalton Conley as showing that “giving workers time to chill helps ultimate long-term productivity.” Harvard Professor Leslie A. Perlow, author of “Sleeping With Your Smartphone” (Harvard Business Review Press, 2012), surveyed 1,600 managers … Continue reading Letting Employees Let Go →
When the purpose of a public relations campaign is to encourage honest behavior, what really works? In The Wall Street Journal last week, Dan Ariely, the James B. Duke professor of behavioral economics at Duke University, shared lessons from his forthcoming book, “The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone—Especially Ourselves.” Few people … Continue reading Bringing out the Best in People →
Former IPR Trustee Björn Edlund mounts a spirited defense of focusing on reputation. He responds to a column in The Economist that “says it is wrong for companies to aim at leveraging its reputation – or even to regard reputation as a corporate asset.” Read Björn’s piece on the Arthur W. Page Society blog. Frank … Continue reading Reputation = Performance + Behavior + Communications →
Why do we get such a kick out of focusing on ourselves? Thirty to 40 percent of human speech informs others about ourselves. Eighty percent or more of social media posts announce our own experiences or views. Nine-month-old babies already try to draw the attention of others to things they find important in their environments. … Continue reading Brain Science and Public Relations Listening →
The organizers of Bledcom, the legendary international public relations research conference at Lake Bled, Slovenia, have released the program for 2012. The July 6-7 conference breaks into two tracks focused on academic and corporate research. Current and former IPR Trustees, Research Fellows and commission members appearing the program include Don Wright, Rob Wakefield, Ansgar Zerfass, … Continue reading Legendary Research Conference, Stunning Venue →
I’m very pleased to welcome the latest addition to the IPR Trustee Class of 2014. Adele Ambrose, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, Merck, becomes our 44th Trustee. At Merck, Adele leads the Global Communications organization, responsible for the company’s internal and external communications with key audiences including the news media, employees, the financial … Continue reading Merck Chief Communications Officer Joins IPR Board →
IPR Trustee Rob Flaherty turned my attention to Jonah Lehrer about a year ago. Lehrer, the author of “How We Decide” and “Imagine: How Creativity Works” (due out next week), writes about neuroscience. Last weekend, his essay in The Wall Street Journal hinted at what’s to come in the new book. Creativity is a skill, … Continue reading Brain Research, Creativity and Public Relations →
If you follow the work of crisis communications scholars such as Tim Coombs, perhaps you too have wondered about assumptions versus proof. How much of what we take for granted about effective crisis response is supported by empirical evidence? Is there more to go on than the war stories of crisis veterans, as important as … Continue reading Crisis Communications Research: Assumptions vs. Proof →
There is quite a lot of science in crisis response to go with the art. I was interviewed a few weeks ago (along with PRSA Chair Gerry Corbett and Council of Public Relations Firms’ Senior Vice President Matt Shaw) by The Business Journals for an article on “How to respond to bad publicity.” The three … Continue reading Three Things Research Teaches About Crisis Response →
Beijing’s 798 Art District, fashioned from military-industrial facilities built by East German engineers in the 1950s, is often compared to New York’s SoHo. But SoHo East it is not. China’s contemporary art scene defines a one-of-a-kind place and experience. So it is with the public relations profession in China. Several years after my last trip … Continue reading China and Public Relations Research →
While the number of public relations graduate programs in the United States nearly tripled since 2000, inconsistent curricula and degree requirements may be lowering the value of this education and creating confusion for students, educators and employers. Three studies by the Commission on Public Relations Education (co-chaired by IPR President & CEO Frank Ovaitt) include … Continue reading Setting Standards for Graduate Education in Public Relations →
Kudos to Barry Leggetter and AMEC for launching a collaborative effort to create global social media standards. “It is always the marketplace that drives the demand for standards, whether it is the standard format for DVDs or standards for public relations research,” says David Geddes, who chairs IPR’s Commission on Public Relations Measurement and Evaluation. … Continue reading The Thud IS Thoughtful →
My previous post spoke about the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) redoubling its focus on research that matters to the practice. The IPR Board of Trustees, after debating dozens of research topics relevant to the practice of public relations, has identified its five highest priority topics. What drives choice and changes behavior? What can we … Continue reading Laying Down a Research Track, Part Two →