Those aware of the social media research landscape know that several studies have indicated social media has overtaken pornography as the number one use of the internet. Each year we conduct a study that examines the impact technology is having on public relations. Now in its fourth year, our annual research has trac ...

What will media relations look like over the next 10-20 years and how will it impact public relations practice? Will it remain as it has always been? Or will it change so much that we will barely recognize it for what it once was? Based on the research survey I conducted at the end of 2008 with the pro bono help of George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management and Cision, and with more than 12,000 US media (yes, that’s 12,000), the answer, as with most questi ...

Amid the shouting surrounding the announcement that Wall Street paid out some $18 billion in bonuses for 2008 is a sense of outrage. There is real anger that the architects of the global financial crises are still benefiting mightily from their perfidy. Or so goes the latest trope from the popular business press. The reality is that executive compensation is viewed as a zero-sum game; to articulate in favor of such compensation is to be seen as an apologist for rewarding bad ...

From the Dutch East India Company to a highly respected (and perhaps highest paid) specialization in public relations, Alexander Laskin, Ph.D. explores the investor relations (IR) research base in his section of the Institute for Public Relations’ Essential Knowledge Project. As Laskin tracks the evolution of IR, he also ...

In any service based industry, client retention and employee retention are inextricably linked. In public relations consultancies, a firm’s success hinges on its employees and the level of service they provide. Their creativity, diligence and intelligence are firms’ most valuable resources. We conducted a study that evaluated and analyzed the factors that contribute t ...

In any true profession, the practitioner deeply understands the importance of research-based knowledge in guiding the work and measuring the results. Recently in Bulldog Reporter’s Daily ‘Dog, I offered a few insights on ...

Sir Martin Sorrell touched on many things during his 50-minute Annual Distinguished Lecture to the Institute in November, including public relations in the Middle East. Valued at around $100 million, Sir Martin predicted it will grow by a whopping 200 percent in 2009. “Here’s a good example of the world being remade,” he said. On a trip wedged between the Muslim holiday ...

“High performance and high integrity are good for the bottom line.” In a new section of the Essential Knowledge Project, Robert L. Heath, Ph.D., and Lan Ni, Ph.D. make the case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) based on existing research. While social responsibility may be a timeless concern, the topic began receiving serious management policy discussion during the 1950s. One way or another, all such ...

I want to thank the Institute for Public Relations and EUPRERA for the opportunity to share my research. This blog post describes the potential applications of the research I conducted. In a recent discussion, Shel Holtz wrote, “People listen to each other these days more t ...

Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman, argues that case in the inaugural event of the University of Maryland’s Grunig Lecture Series, sponsored by the Institute for Public Relations. Edelman believes that communications strategy and programming must be fundamentally reassessed today, in light of forces such as: the collapse of trust in financial institutions, a global rise in government intervention, the growing rich/poor divide, dispersion of authority/influence, and the morphing of ...