Week 2 Paper

Week 2 Paper

Microsoft is a company that employs many people. The issue of laying-off workers from the company would affect both the organization and the society. Laying-off workers is a societal function because many people would lose their jobs. The society would not benefit as much and there would be many jobless people. Again, the media may get wind of the news and it would soon spread. Depending on how the coverage is done, the organization may be presented in a positive light or may in turn portray a bad image of themselves to the public. Issues of employee dismissal or retrenchment may also be an organizational function because they would affect the working of the organization. The organizational structure would be affected and one would have to take on additional tasks to fill the gap that has been left by the laid off workers.

Media relations are a function of organizational PR. The media is an important function to the public. First, it can represent an organization in either a positive or a negative light. Secondly, it acts as the voice of the people. It is important for any organization to have a good rapport with the media so that it can represent itself positively. The other organizational function is the human resource function. This includes all the employees within the particular organization. Employees are considered as an organization’s internal customers. Management has a duty to treat them with the dignity that they deserve. The employees represent the organization to the outside world. Any visitor who intends to be a consumer in of that particular organization’s products and services will first talk to an employee of the organization rather than the management. They should therefore be aware of all the organization is about. They should be aware of its mission and vision. In the case of Microsoft, all the employees should know what the company stands for. The management and all the employees therefore have a responsibility of treating their internal customers well. They can either build the organization or contribute to its downfall. They represent the image of the company (BLS, 2010).

Publicity is a societal function. It concerns itself with the way the society and the public relate to one another. Publicity’s societal function can be viewed through social responsibility. The organization has a responsibility to the society. It is a two way process. The society benefits because the organization provides jobs to the local people. Secondly, the organization cannot survive in a hostile and unresponsive society or place. The organization therefore benefits because the society provides a favorable environment to work. In addition to providing jobs, the organization could also do other additional work for the community. Matters of the environment are a good illustration of what the organization can do. This is the reason why social responsibility can be viewed as a societal function.

The difference between publicity and media relations is the fact that media relations are how the company or the organization relates to the media. Publicity is inclusive of the organization and the public. The public have a duty to demand services from the organization. How the public acts with the media, concerning the organization in publicity. Publicity can damage an organization based on how it is presented (Grunig et al, 2007).

There are a couple of similarities and differences between organizational functions and societal functions of PR. Both of them create awareness to the intended parties through communication. They utilize various methods of doing this. Both want to project a positive image of the organization towards its public. The information that is presented should be truthful and beneficial to the intended audience. The major difference between the two PR function is the public. Societal PR considers the outside public. This is inclusive of all the consumers and potential consumers. Those who have no interest in the organization are also considered. The organizational PR delves on the organizations public. The aforementioned public usually refers to the employees of the organization. It is also inclusive of the organizations suppliers. It conveys message to the internal public in the organization. The mode of communication used in organizational and societal PR to transmit information may therefore differ (Karpf, 2010).

References:

BLS. (2010). Public Relations Specialists. Retrieved 21 September 2010, from http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos086.htm

Grunig, E. J., Grunig, A. L., & Toth, L. E. (2007). The future of Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management: Challenges for the Next Generation. New York, NY: Routledge

Karpf, J. (2010). Organizational and Societal Functions of Public Relations. Retrieved 21 September 2010, from https://portfolio.du.edu/portfolio/getportfoliofile?uid=163081