Culbertson Hugh M., Ni Chen. International Public Relations. Comparative Analysis

Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, 1996. — 420 p.Relations among publics have become more complex, fragile, and often hostile in recent years due to varied factors ranging from weapons of mass destruction to regional alliances, nationalism, and the Internet. The world has become smaller thanks to many of the same factors. And the need for understanding among people of different cultures has grown.
Public relations, as a formal occupation, has spread rapidly throughout the world in the wake of such changes. However, the literature on international public relations tends to focus on how those working for western organizations particularly multinational corporationscan best practice abroad. This volume views public relations in 14 countries and regions from the perspective of practitioners and educators in each area covered.
The first six chapters provide varied theoretical bases for comparing public relations from country to country. Then, 14 chapters analyze different regions and nations. A third section discusses education as a tool for professional enhancement.
The Introduction summarizes evidence for five themes which underlie the country and region chapters. We highlight three of these themes here.
First, a nation's political system and culture do help shape its practice of public relations. Related factors include social stratification, the nature of personal relationships, media credibility, economic development, stage of nation building, emphasis on personal loyalty and harmony, and the presence or absence of elites created in part by colonial fulers.
Second, there appears to be movement throughout the world from one-way to two-way communication and from emphasizing knowledge and persuasion to relationship building. However, the latter of these changes, in particular, appears to have been slowed by authoritarian regimes and a tendency to see public relations as an adjunct to marketing and advertising.
Third, in many nations, women practitioners are becoming both more influential and more numerous. This is occurring despite gender-related stereotypes, male-oriented cultural beliefs, and a tendency to play the “Miss PR” role in looking after and translating for clients and other guests.