Effectiveness in multicultural public relations is assessed by the degree to which communication
1. Affirms participants’ cultural identities
2. Aspects the diversity of interpretation
3. Reinforces participants’ self concepts
4. Enhances the parties’ relationship
5. Embraces the constitutive nature of communication
6. Recognises the contextual nature of communication.
The social interpretative theory of multicultural public relations incorporates the immense necessity of cultural sensitivity on the part of the PR practitioner. But the debate arises in the area where the PR practitioner himself may be biased due to his cultural background or the misinterpretation of the receivers’.
The counter arguement would be the extended training in cultural intelligence. The appropriate method to tackle this problem would be to have representatives of different cultures. But this might not boost the effectiveness of the functioning of the organization which in the end aims to heighten the bottom line.
7 comments:
Hi Anu
I believe there is a growing interest now in multicultural public relations which may be because of the globalised nature of businesses today. Because cultural practices and communication can have an effect on public relations, practitioners need to better understand the influence of culture and diversity on public relations so as to be better equipped to develop appropriate messages and communicate across different cultures in a rapidly changing world. Bank’s,(2000) made a statement that public relations practice is potentially filled with embarrassments, missed opportunities, perplexed clients and inadequate performance that can result from misunderstanding cultural differences. This just shows some of the problems PR practitioners face when they do not take into consideration cultural differences when developing communication messages.
I don't think that multicultural public relations cannot be effective. It is true that it is all about communicating effectively to clients and the public, but having different perspectives that come from one's cultural background might just be even more rewarding. Business could take this as a communications strength and not as a weakness.
@Audrey: Definitely! I completely believe that hailing from a cultural backkground will help bringing in to the organization a different perspecitve on issues which otherwise could be redundant. But we should use the counter arguement to build on our so called weakness.
@Ophelia: I came across that quote by Banks as well and a good example of it can be found in the book called BEYOND CULTURE, by Edward Hall. he describes the difference between the Japanese culture and American culture. Hilarious situation but this can adversely affect in business dealings
Multiculturism is everywhere and in every sector of PR.. thereore should we really label PR under a multicultural tagline? Does this mean its along the same specialisation as Financial PR? Corporate PR? PR is communication based, so it is tempting to take it for granted that obviously Public Relations should take multiculturism into consideration. But does it?
It’s very interesting to see how the world is changing, and how people from different cultures interact with each other. Coming from Norway where the immigration laws are very strict, I was fascinated when I started at Westminster and found that 95% of the class was international students. However, going back to your point, I don’t think multiculturalism in PR is a problem for the industry. If nothing else, I think it will make the communication more creative and hence more effective.
Anu, I think that PR is like every other aspect of life when it comes to defferent cultures coexisting. It takes respect and acceptance of the differences to co- exist and work with people that are totally different Having a clue, as a PR practitioner, of how different people communicate is a good thing but I don't think that we should be more worried about cultural differences as practitioners than as humans living in a globalised world.
Post a Comment