WHY IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF MANAGEMENT IMPORTANT IN PUBLIC
RELATIONS
DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS
Managementistheprocessbywhichmanagerscreate,direct, maintain andoperate purposeful
organisations
through
systematic,coordinated
andco-operative
humanefforts
(McFarland,1979:6).
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an
individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a non-profit
organization) to the public in order to affect their public perception.
Public relations (PR) refer to the variety of activities conducted by a company to promote
and protect the image of the company, its products and policies in the eyes of the public.
Thus it aims to manage public opinion of the organization. Public relations encompasses a
broad range of activities.
More soManagementperformsthefollowing functions and also a PR Officer has to be
knowledgeable
in
management
process:Planning,
Organising,Staffing,Directing,andControlling.Brief Explanations:
1.
Planning:Thisis commonlyreferredtoas thebasicmanagement function.
It hasto do with the preparation for the future operations
ofabusinessactivity.Itprecedeseveryother
managementfunction.Koontzetal.(1982:156)seeplanning
as
“decidinginadvancewhattodo,howtodoit,whentodoit,and
whoistodoit;itbridgesthegapfromwhereweareandwhere
wewantto
be.”Simplyput,
aplanis
afuturecourseof
actions.It
isdeterminationofcourseofactiontoachievedesiredgoals.
Withproperplanning,managersminimiseconfusions,
risks,
wastagesandpoorperformance.
2.
Organising:Organisingmaybeconsideredaspreparationfor
puttingplansintoaction.Itistheprocessofbringingtogether both physical,
financialand
human
resources
and
developing
productiverelationshipamongstthemforthepurposeofattaining
organisational
goalsandobjectives.Okafor(2011)citesHenri
Fayolassaying
that“toorganiseabusinessistoprovideitwith
everythinguseful forits
functioning(i.e. raw material,tools,
capitalandpersonnel).”Organising asamanagementfunction involves:




3.
identificationof activities
classificationor groupingof theactivities
assigningof duties
creating responsibilities and assigning authorities to coordinate.
Staffing: This hasto do with the function of manning an organisation
andkeeping itmanned.Themainpurposeistoput the rightpersonon the
rightjob at the righttime. It entails searching, selecting, recruiting,
replacing,
training
and
developing
ofstaff.Italsoincludesremunerations,performance
appraisal,promoting,transferringandretiringof staff.
4.
Directing:Thisistheinterpersonalaspectofmanagementwhich
hastodowithinfluencing,guiding,supervising, instructing and motivating
subordinates
forthepurposeofachieving
organisational
goals.Foramanagertodirectwell,he/shemust ensure thatsubordinates
understand
clearly
what
they
are
expected
todoineachsituation.Thisimpliesthatmanagement
mustgiveprecise
ordersandspecifyclearly howandwhen,who shoulddo what.
5.
Controlling:Thisreferstomeasurementofcurrentperformance
andcorrectionof
deviations(ifany)toensureachievementof
organisationalgoals.Thepurposeofcontrolistoensurethat
everythingworkin accordancewiththeplannedstandards.
Controllinghasthesesteps:




establishmentof organisationalstandardof performance
measurementof theactualperformance
comparing theactual performance with the organisational standardto determineif
thereis anydeviation
correctingdeviations,if any.
A PR Officer must be familiar and efficient in some of these skills in Management. These
includes:
Managerial
skillsareotherwisereferredtoeffectiveleadershipskills.
Theyareleadershipskillsthatsuccessfully
encourageteammembersto
dotheirjobeffectively.Theyincludeamongothers:
1.
Strategicthinking:Thisistheskillofabilitytoscrutiniseand
evaluatesituationsandcomeoutwithadevelopmentplanforthebettermentof
theorganisation,bothinthepresentandinthe future.
2.
Effective communicationskill: This skill enables leadersto efficiently
communicate organisational plans to members for theircomprehension
andtoinspireandmotivatethemtogreater performance.
3.
Resilience:Thismeansbeingflexible.Itmeanstheabilityto
knowhowtohandledifferentproblems;knowing
thekindof
solutiontoprovidetoeveryproblem inordertoachieve organisationalgoal.
4.
Planningskill:Planningisanother
importantmanagerial
skill.It
istheabilitytoplanaheadoftimetoachieve
the
aimsofthe
organisation.A
managerneedsto havevisionforhisorganisation foritto succeedin collaborationof
theeffortsof othermembers.
5.
Technicalskills:Thisimpliesthat
managersshouldnotonly
havetheoreticalknowledgeofthejobbutmusthavethepractical
skills;thiswouldenablethem
leadand
directbyexample.This
skillisveryimportantinmediaorganisations especiallythe broadcast.Amanager
oftelevision
orradio
stationshouldknow
thetechnical
aspectofthejob.Heshouldknowhowtooperate
studioandcontrolroomequipment,etc.
6.
PublicRelationsskills:Thisistheabilitytorelateeffectively
withbothhisstaffandtheexternalpublic.
7.
Administrative skills: This has to do with having good knowledge
andskillstomanagebothhumanandmaterial resources. It entails the abilityto
coordinate and control effectivelyandefficiently.
8.
Othermanagerialskillsincludetheabilitytolisten,tolearn,to
predictwhatwouldworkandwhatwillnotwork,etc.
IN CONCLUSION
Public Relations officers require management skills and knowledge,
management
is
very
important
in
every
Organisation.
Managementperformsveryimportantfunctionsineveryorganisation.
Also,managementsharescertaincharacteristicswhichmakesitunique
Thesefunctionsand characteristicsare applicablein virtuallyevery organisation
includingthemediawhichisourmajorconcerninthis course.
REFERENCE
Koontz,H.&O’Donnel(1982).Management.Auckland:McGrawHill.
“ManagementStudy Guide2008-2012.”www.managementguide.com.
Retrieved25/08/2012.
discern,to