Making known matters

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT - Making Public Relations Work: Jon White and Laura Mazur; Universities Press (India) Ltd., 3-5-819, Hyderguda, Hyderabad-500029. Rs. 260.

IF ONE were to pinpoint the single most important key to the success of any organisation, one will say ``strategic planning''.

This encompasses all the principles of good and result-oriented management. Just as we say ``well begun is half done'', similarly ``well thought-out, well-planned and well-executed strategy ensures meeting the goals set out by the organisation.''

This is particularly important in the area of public relations which covers a wide gamut of the organisation's activities besides its challenging nature. Every organisation is expected to perform well but it is equally important to communicate the success story, and all that has gone into it, to the relevant target public.

This is the theme of the book under review. In today's highly competitive and challenging business environment, it is important for the managers to communicate their companies' strategic objectives, details of the action plan, and, finally the end result. This is particularly essential in difficult times such as disinvestment, corporate take-overs, industrial and other mishaps or conflicts between management and various interest groups.Way back in the early 1980s, corporate management of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) decided to extend its business network to include foreign markets. This necessitated a strategy for identifying the countries where BHEL goods and services were needed, the media available in those countries and ways and means for marketing BHEL's overall image plus BHEL's brand image in those countries.

As head of corporate public relations, the reviewer took up this activity in right earnest. The strategy, planned in close communication and in association with the company's international operations division, did bring favourable results. While corporate public relations played its role in planning and executing the communication strategy, international operations division worked in the field and eventually BHEL did make a dent in the global market.

This book has been jointly authored by Dr. Jon White and Ms. Laura Mazur. Dr. White has a rich background as an academic as well as working extensively with leading organisations in the U.K., Canada and the U.S. Ms. Laura Mazur is an accomplished business writer besides being the author of management guides for international marketing and public relations. Together, they have brought out an excellent volume, rich in content, both theoretical and applied with several case studies covering a wide range of issues in communication. The case studies are well chosen for their relevance in today's work situation in national and international organisations.

The book is divided into four parts - public relations and communications management; special areas of practice; managing relationships; and issues in the practice. The authors have rightly said that the function of public relations is to have a dialogue with all the different target publics. These include not only the media and the share- holders but employees, the community, government at various levels, customers and suppliers.

Each company must define its public relations strategy in the way best suited for its needs. For companies operating beyond their shores, the biggest challenge for the public relations practitioners is to manage programmes across borders consistently and effectively. For this, the PR practitioners have to be very innovative, open and, above all, result-oriented.

The book will be of particular interest not only to the students of communication and public relations but to practitioners in these areas. Decision-makers in the media will also find good deal of material as food for thought and action.

C. K. SARDANA

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