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Extensive scholarship exists on both symbolic leadership and corporate visual identity (CVI), yet little scholarly attention has been focused on the intersection of these two bodies of knowledge. In the field of education, that intersection is known as academic visual identity (AVI). The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that AVI development, evaluation, management, and change are essential components of effective symbolic leadership, especially as it is practiced in schools, colleges, and universities. This paper provides an overview of the history, theories, and practices of symbolic leadership in both higher education and the corporate sector. It links those theories and practices to mutually relevant concepts and models in the fields of AVI and CVI. This study is designed for administrators, faculty, staff, students, scholars, and marketing and public relations professionals who are concerned with AVI. This paper raises awareness of the cultural, organizational, technical, and leadership challenges involved in effectively developing, evaluating, managing, and changing AVI.

The main concern in the context of ethical issues in public relations practice is, it is conceptualized based on descriptive and normative ethics where personal evaluation and collective evaluation of ethical situations respectively applied in decision making and this study managed to highlight the statistical relationship between personal and organizational factors in ethical decision-making among public relations practitioners, focusing on a locality of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The data is based on the questionnaire on public relations practitioners’ ethical decisions that include the criteria of intention consideration, reasoning, and judgment, hence their ethical evaluation is used as the parameter to measure personal ethics. On the other hand, ethical climate reflects a collective perception of ethics in an organization, therefore used as the parameter to measure organizational ethics. A total of n=100 practitioners in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah was participating in this study. The data is tested using Pearson Correlation analysis. The result shows that practitioners’ ethical evaluation has a statistically significant correlation with organizational ethical climate at r=0.314 and p<0.01, which is positive but moderately weak. This correlation indicates that personal and organizational ethics has a weak but positive correlation, and the correlation is statistically significant. The finding conclude that the weak correlation insinuates conflicting the ethical perceptions on both individual and organizational aspects. It can be summarized that the proactive measures can be applied to increase the consistency in criteria of personal ethics as well as the ethical climate of the organization in the pursuit of excellence in public relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to deepen the contributions that Symbolic Interactionism has to communication with an emphasis on organizational environments, from some theoreticalmethodological perspectives that make up the chain of interactionist thought, circumscribed mainly in the works of Robert Park, George Mead, Herbert Blumer and Erving Goffman. The text, which is a theoretical study, recovers the research tradition of the Chicago School, bases the approaches of Symbolic Interactionism and articulates concepts and applications related to the communication processes in organizations. Based on these researchers, a framework of reference called here as macro-possibilities and micro-possibilities is proposed for thinking about communication in organizations from the perspective of these symbolic interactionists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public relations is a complex activity regarding its role in organizations and the diffuse theoretical framework that makes it difficult to build a conceptual network to justify its existence and relevance nowadays. In the organizational environment, alongside public relations, the communication system and dissemination of information are equally fundamental for the internal administrative roles and the relationship with the external environments and the different strategic audiences. In that organizational context, information management is inherently related to organizational communication and improved informational offer for developing people in the organizational context. Public relations, organizational communication, and information are interwoven with most organizations' reality as they are linked to the organizational and productive processes, and their roles and activities influence relationships and interfere in planning, results, and institutional objectives. Organizations include different types of people who work and use communication and information to make sense of daily work. In that respect, public relations act as facilitators between organizations and different audiences. Therefore, the relationship between these three concepts - public relations, organizational communication, and information - refers to organizations' world and how they deal with the exchange and sharing of meanings that influence the social, cultural, and economic environment. This study was motivated by the need to understand how theoretical frameworks and affinities are built between organizational communication, public relations, and information in scientific journals in Latin America. It aims to investigate the key elements that emerge from the intersection between public relations, organizational communication, and information in organizations. Besides, it analyzes the interrelationships of public relations, organizational communication, and information in Latin American journals. This study is exploratory and qualitative, and its methodology is a systematic review, which identified 14 articles. Of those, half prioritize the concept of organizational communication in its control and informational dimensions related to management, procedures, flows, and information processing. The concept of integrated communication emerges in four articles through a systemic view. Public relations are conceptualized in a polysemic way in six articles and are linked to both information sources and organizations' relationship with their different audiences. Information comprehensively appears as both a process and knowledge associated with systems, techniques, and technologies. The articles prioritize a functionalist notion of organizational communication as an articulating axis between the three concepts and is linked to management, which mixes information, communication, and public relations to promote access to information and dialogue. Regarding the concepts' interrelationships, only four out of the 14 articles developed all of the terms selected in the search. Furthermore, it is inferred that organizational communication represents the stronghold that supports the three concepts in the analyzed articles. Those are associated with management activities, amalgamating information, communication, and public relations to make it easier to convey and access information, promoting the opening of dialogue channels (formal and informal), social interaction, and credibility, thus collaborating to build the image, identity, and reputation of ambivalent and intricate contemporary organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper reports on research exploring the intersections between researchers and communication professionals' perspectives on the objectives, funders and organizational influences on their science communication practices. Design/methodology/approach: Examining one context, the inter-organizational BCDC Energy Research project based at five different research organizations in Finland, this paper presents data from semi-structured interviews with 17 researchers and 15 communication professionals. Findings: The results suggest that performance-based funding policies that drive the proliferation of large-scale research projects can create challenges. In particular, a challenge arises in generating a shared sense of identity and purpose amongst researchers and communication professionals. This may have unintended negative impacts on the quality and cohesiveness of the science communication which occurs. Research limitations/implications: The study was exploratory in nature and focuses on one organizational and institutional environment. Further research with a wider number of projects, as well as funders, would be conducive to a greater understanding of the issues involved. Practical implications: On a practical level, this research suggests that the creation of clearer communications awareness and guidance may be helpful in some large-scale projects, particularly involving broad numbers of organizations, individual researchers and funders. Originality/value: This is one of the first studies examining the perspectives of both researchers and communication professionals working over one project, drawing together a range of different institutional and disciplinary perspectives. The results highlight the importance of the influences of funding on science communication aims, assumptions, cultures and structures. The article articulates the need for further research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses and clarifies some specific features in creating the image of a higher school. This issue is not sufficiently detailed and thoroughly researched by Bulgarian public relations specialists. It analyzes the dialectical link between the equilibrium and imbalance in conducting image-based activities within the context of an innovative communication process. There are arguments in support of the belief that, in defeating the corporate image, the attempt to disturb the market equilibrium is more productive, taking into account the attitudes and wish of the public in the motivation consumer process. Examples of higher education are described, confirming the belief that disturbing the balance results in better outcomes. The article examines seven possible sources generating innovative image maker activities that determine the purposeful and systematic nature of creating a university’s image. The complex nature of the corporate image does not allow it to be uniquely appreciated and determined by its audiences - media, inhouse institutional environment and external consumer environment. The role and significance of the eventful PR are clarified and specific activities related to the realization of the university image are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Issue arenas can be studied as communication networks in which topics are discussed. • We automatically map stakeholders and the topics in an issue arena on Twitter. • We analyzed 704 Twitter messages on bird flu in poultry. • Our approach can assist in issue monitoring and stakeholder detection. Abstract Issue arenas, as places for societal discussions, have recently been studied as an important aspect of organizational environments. While a fundamental part of any issue arena is the distinction between active and passive actors, empirical analyses have mainly focused on active stakeholders. We approach issue arenas as communication networks in which active stakeholders discuss topics and involve passive stakeholders. Based on network theory, we introduce an automated method for mapping these issue arenas on Twitter. In particular, we combine manual coding of active stakeholders, and automated semantic network analysis of addressed, passive stakeholders and their topics of discussion. Empirically, we focus on the issue of bird flu affecting poultry farming in the Netherlands from 2015 to 2017 with a sample of 704 Twitter messages. Instead of pre-defining a set of stakeholders for the analysis, our approach to study communication networks in online settings allows for mapping issue arenas based on the stakeholders that communicate about the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Based on an online survey of a random sample of the PRSA membership, this study is among the first to explore practitioners' own turnover intention. • Supportive organizational environment, trust, and work-life enrichment directly affected practitioners' decision to stay. • Other contributing factors than work environment, trust, and work-life enrichment should also be examined in future studies. • It is also critical to explore individual' nuanced experiences and develop communication strategies targeted toward different demographics. • Top management, internal communication managers, and industry leaders can play an instrumental role in using the results of the study. Abstract Based on an online survey of a national random sample of the PRSA membership (n = 650), this study is among the first to explore public relations employees' own turnover intention and propose three contributing factors for employers to keep top talent in PR industry: a family-supportive organizational environment; the positive, enriching impact of professional work upon practitioners' life; and PR practitioners' trust toward employers. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers an approach to public relations from the perspective of intelligence collection and analysis. In a context of a superabundance of publicly available information on the general environment for organizations and their stakeholders, the article highlights the need for producing intelligence in order to facilitate the formulation of strategic communication and enhance relationship management activities. The literature on issues management and competitive intelligence is explored in order to analyze the relationships between their anticipatory practices and their points of convergence. The article proposes using the concepts of Intelligence-led PR and PR Intelligence for capturing and expressing two different but complementary dimensions of the relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce a method that the authors call stakeholder cross-impact analysis (SCIA), which is aimed at analyzing how a given set of stakeholders influence one another and also how such stakeholders relate to a given set of issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors first identify, in the current literature, a lack of analytical tools for assessing mutual influences among stakeholders. The authors then identify cross-impact analysis, a method that was initially developed in the field of futures research, as a suitable method to be applied in the present research. Its application, which the authors call SCIA, is described in detail through a fictitious case. Findings – SCIA permits to assess the direction and the strength of relationships between stakeholders. Furthermore, it allows for the classification of stakeholders based on their level of dependence and influence on others. Also, it is possible to integrate SCIA with social network analysis in order to understand the degree to which stakeholders agree on how issues influence one another, as well as to identify which issues most stakeholders consider to be central and which stakeholders have the most shared opinion on how issues are related. Practical implications – This method can be used, along with traditional segmentation techniques, by corporate communication and public relations practitioners in order to gain a more sophisticated understanding of the complexity of organizations’ environments. Originality/value – SCIA represents a much-needed and novel way of understanding the complexity of organizations’ environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is little doubt that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now a global concept and a prominent feature of international business, with its practice localised and differing across countries. Despite the growing body of research focussing on CSR in developing countries, there is dearth research on CSR institutionalisation in African countries. Drawing on institutional theory (IT), this article examines the focus and form of CSR practice of companies in Kenya. It is evident from our findings that the nature and orientation of CSR differ across companies with operations only in Kenya and those headquartered abroad or with international operations. Significantly, firm-related drivers such as public relations and performance, as well as global institutional pressures explain the focus and form of CSR in Kenya. This article concludes that for the institutionalisation of CSR in Kenya, attention must be paid to conditions that stifle CSR uptake such as lack of government regulations, and the government's capacity and commitment to enforce regulation. The establishment of functional CSR institutions and a vibrant civil society that advance civil regulation ought to be encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The results reveal that government effectiveness is negatively related to total entrepreneurial activity. • The introduction of political freedom as a mediator between government effectiveness and entrepreneurship yields a positive relationship. • Religiosity moderates the indirect effect of government effectiveness on total entrepreneurial activity through political freedom. • The indirect effect will be stronger under low levels of religiosity than under high levels of religiosity. Given the ongoing debate on the relationship between institutions and entrepreneurship, this study aims to better understand the joint effects of two country-level formal institutions, government effectiveness and political freedom, and whether the informal institution of religiosity moderates this relationship. To achieve this goal, the current study used multiple datasets, including the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), World Governance Indicators (WGIs), and the WIN-Gallup International Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism. The data cover 85 countries from 2010 to 2017. The results suggest that the rate of entrepreneurial activity across nations is shaped by the interplay between formal and informal institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes an initial and a revised model of government-oriented public relation (PR) strategies based on the results of two content analyses of website news regarding the PR activities of 76 firms in general and six well-known firms in China in more depth. With the perspective of resource dependence theory, this model reveals that firms in China employ six types of formal PR strategies, including visitation, philanthropy, participation, publicity, party involvement and political propaganda, to manage their dependence on government for resources. Further, the implementation of such strategies involves a four-step process: organizing PR activities with economic, social and political significance; obtaining the involvement and recognition of the government; building firms’ resource, moral and cultural legitimacy in the government's eyes; and interacting with the government on the issues of firms’ dependence to influence government policies relative to firms. We also explore the differences that exist among firms with different ownership structures in the use of these PR strategies, the level of government involved and the issues pursued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]