THE EMPLOYEE-PUBLIC-ORGANIZATION CHAIN IN RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF A GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION by Yunna Rhee Completed under the supervision of Dr. James E. Grunig Department of Communication University of Maryland Author’s note: Special thanks are due to all the interviewees and informants, for sharing their insights for this research. Submitted to: Institute for Public Relations For the 2003 Lindenmann Scholarship May 2004 Table of Contents ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................................ 1 PURPOSE AND INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 2 BACKGROUND INFORMATION ....................................................................................................... 3 REMEDIATION THROUGH COMMUNITY RELATIONS ................................................................................. 5 The Community, Education, Government, and Public Affairs Directorate (CEGPA) .......................... 5 Community Advisory Council (CAC)............................................................................................ 6 Envoy Program............................................................................................................................. 6 Summer Sundays .......................................................................................................................... 7 OPERATIONALIZATION.................................................................................................................... 8 PUBLIC RELATIONS AS RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT FUNCTION............................................................ 8 ORGANIZATION-PUBLIC RELATIONSHIPS (OPR) ..................................................................................... 8 EMPLOYEE-ORGANIZATION RELATIONSHIPS (EOR) ............................................................................. 10 EMPLOYEE-PUBLIC RELATIONSHIPS (EPR) .......................................................................................... 11 CULTIVATION STRATEGIES .................................................................................................................. 11 THE LINKAGE RESEARCH: SYNERGY AMONG INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS ...................... 13 Research Questions......................................................................................................................... 15 METHODOLOGY............................................................................................................................... 16 PARTICIPANTS..................................................................................................................................... 17 INTERVIEWS........................................................................................................................................ 18 DOCUMENT ANALYSIS AND PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION...................................................................... 18 DATA ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................. 20 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS.................................................................................................................. 21 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION............................................................................................................ 21 RQ 1. CLIMATE FOR RELATIONSHIP BUILDING ..................................................................................... 21 Organizational Practice/Procedure................................................................................................... 22 Leadership Behavior ................................................................................................................... 22 Community Involvement Training............................................................................................... 24 Paid Time/Departmental Support................................................................................................. 26 CEGPA as Communication Counselor/Hub of Information.......................................................... 26 Organizational Rewards.................................................................................................................. 27 Institutional Rewards .................................................................................................................. 27 Personal Rewards........................................................................................................................ 28 Summary of RQ 1........................................................................................................................... 28 RQ 2. ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT............................................................................................... 29 Summary of RQ 2........................................................................................................................... 31 RQ 3. EMPLOYEE-ORGANIZATION RELATIONSHIP (EOR) & EMPLOYEE-PUBLIC RELATIONSHIPS (EPR)... 32 Dual Commitment .......................................................................................................................... 33 Interpersonal Communication/Informality....................................................................................... 36 Educational Value/Building of Internal Communities...................................................................... 37 Empowerment through Involvement................................................................................................ 38 Summary of RQ 3........................................................................................................................... 39 RQ 4. EFFECTIVE CULTIVATION STRATEGIES....................................................................................... 40 Visible Leadership.......................................................................................................................... 40 Face-to-face Communication .......................................................................................................... 41 Openness........................................................................................................................................ 42 Listening ........................................................................................................................................ 43 Access............................................................................................................................................ 44 Responsiveness............................................................................................................................... 46 Continued Dialogue/Patience .......................................................................................................... 47 Educational Communication ........................................................................................................... 48 Networking..................................................................................................................................... 49 Respect........................................................................................................................................... 49 Sharing of Tasks............................................................................................................................. 50 Summary of RQ 4........................................................................................................................... 51 RQ 5. EMPLOYEE-PUBLIC RELATIONSHIPS (EPR) AND ORGANIZATION-PUBLIC RELATIONSHIPS (OPR). 52 Envoys as Credible Reference......................................................................................................... 53 Skepticism toward Mass Media....................................................................................................... 54 Summer Sundays as an Initial Forum for OPR................................................................................. 55 Summary of RQ 5........................................................................................................................... 57 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................... 58 IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................ 58 A NORMATIVE THEORY OF INTEGRATIVE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT...... 58 Proposition 1 .................................................................................................................................. 59 Proposition 2 .................................................................................................................................. 62 Proposition 3 .................................................................................................................................. 64 Proposition 4 .................................................................................................................................. 68 Proposition 5 .................................................................................................................................. 69 LIMITATIONS .....................................................................................................................................