Search

This thesis introduces new theoretical models and concepts in support of strategic thinking about the dynamics and complexities of organisational relationship positioning that could improve public relations education and professional development linked to strategic management careers in international organisations. An exploration of public relations in the United Kingdom and Nigeria illustrates that there is a significant practice mainly concerned with communication that develops strategies and tactics in support of already established strategic organisational goals. Progress with professionalisation of the practice also shows an increasing need and want to operate at senior management levels, although it questions if the academic preparation to do so is adequate. Advances in communication technology and education approaches provide opportunities to better understand complex networks and relationships. The emphasis in this thesis is on strategic planning. Most frequently used tools and approaches are briefly discussed. They are mainly descriptive and often provide snapshots of current situations that can help with formulating a future desired situation. Most of these tools and approaches expand the brainstorming horizon providing opportunities for vertical (deeper) and horizontal (broader) thinking about organisational relationships. This thesis introduces additional models, namely the revised public relations catalyst model and the public relations lava lamp model, and concepts such as organisational personality that could be used to further the strategic thinking about the dynamics of such relationships. The new insights and perspectives on strategic planning presented here stem from qualitative explorative research based on observations and interpretations from applying strategic thinking exercises in seminars at the University of Central Lancashire, and from action research approaches by leading strategic planning and organisational change activities at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) which involved in-depth interviews, workgroup sessions and online questionnaires. Positioning of organisational relationships is an increasingly important function of strategic management in international organisations such as IITA. This is driven by pressure for more engagement, transparency and accountability by public investors and partners related to providing the essential resource base in terms of finance and implementation capacity essential for the organisation’s existence. Improving strategic planning competences relating organisational relationships not only provides opportunities for public relations practitioners to be part of senior management but also is essential for an organisation’s continuity and relevance. It was found that strategic thinking improves by stimulating both vertical and horizontal thinking about initial surface problems. Problem based learning approaches in public relations education should be considered as they can help prepare future practitioners to improve their strategic planning competences. Advances in communication technology have the potential to maintain and improve organisational relationships far beyond current organisational network boundaries and creates opportunities for advancing strategic thinking and planning. Logical framework planning and other problem-based tools can help to identify solutions for a central problem. However, they require the facilitation of planning teams with different personalities that are encouraged to think deeper and wider to ensure that alternative solutions are considered and that enough cause-effect relationships are established for strategic interventions to be successful. The use of the lava lamp metaphor also stimulates strategic thinking about the dynamics of organisational relationships aided by different perspectives that stimulate vertical and horizontal thinking. The concept of organisational personality has potential to identify which organisations would be potential collaborators in finding better solutions and help to understand potential relationship issues better.

This thesis lies at the nexus of scenario planning and strategy. Scenario planning is a foresight activity used extensively in strategic planning and public policy development to imagine alternative, plausible futures as means to understand the driving forces behind the uncertainties and possibilities of a changing environment. Despite significant application in both private and public sectors, and a growing body of academic and practitioner-orientated literature, little empirical evidence exists about how organisations actually use scenario planning to inform strategy. Moreover, the emerging Strategy-as-Practice (S-as-P) perspective, which has exposed strategy to more sociological pursuits, presented a way of conceiving and studying strategy not as something an organisation has, but rather as something people do. By examining the activities of scenario planning, understanding its use as an example of episodic, interactive strategizing, S-as-P provides a theoretical lens through which to perform a much-needed empirical analysis of the scenario-to-strategy process. A second goal of the thesis is to advance understanding of the S-as-P perspective by addressing recent criticisms as well as contributing to the growing body of practice-based research. The central research question which guides the thesis is, how does an organisation use scenario planning to inform the strategic planning process? To answer this question, the research vehicle is a single, in-depth case study of community planning in Fife, which extends from 1999 until April 2008. A detailed, longitudinal narrative of Fife’s scenario planning and strategy process is presented before using empirical evidence from the case to understand how an organisation manages the scenario planning process, how scenario planning affects policy development, and how cognitive processes manifest physically in an organisation. The thesis concludes that scenario planning created a sensemaking/sensegiving framework that provided structural and interpretive legitimacy which facilitated communicative activities and helped the Fife Partnership understand and improve the interconnectedness of Fife’s public services and community planning process. While contributing to the S-as-P research agenda, the investigation of the scenario-to-strategy process also revealed, and solidified, a number of criticisms that challenge the theoretical, conceptual, and empirical validity of the strategy-as-practice perspective.

This thesis examines the optimal role for public relations practitioners to play in managing the communications of disclosure situations. The contribution to knowledge in this work is the clarification of decision-making around organizational disclosures and the role public relations practitioners play in these sometimes difficult and sensitive situations. Decision making around the disclosure of organizational information has not been given much attention in the public relations and communications management literature. While other fields such as medicine and finance have researched the merits of disclosure and transparency for a number of years, the topic has evaded in depth academic examination in communications literature. Given the involvement of public relations practitioners in organizational disclosures, it is somewhat surprising that a model for managing the communications of these situations has not been proposed previously in published research. This thesis closes this gap by proposing a normative, theoretical model that is grounded in practice, and uses ethical decision-making, to assist communicators in developing strategies for managing disclosure events and improving the transparency of their organizations to the public. Using the Strauss and Corbin (1998) approach to Grounded Theory, this thesis explored the topic of disclosure with senior level Canadian public relations practitioners to elicit key themes prior to the development of an initial model which was then tested through further empirical research and user-group contact. The model presented in this thesis is intended to help public relations practitioners and their organizations’ senior management teams, structure their thoughts about disclosing information and develop a communication strategy through a step-wise process that works to find a balance between the needs of the organization and the information needs of stakeholders to make an informed decision about the situation. This thesis provides unique insights into practitioner dilemmas and challenges; highlights a number of important themes and conceptual issues that have not received attention to date; and offers a model for practice.