Power, as Functions and Structures

Power is viewed in several ways in public relations; the managerial or structural-functional view of power is a central perspective. This view focuses on the roles, functions, and structures in organizations through which power is located and enacted. Power is the ability to get things done by shaping perceptions, decisions, and behaviors of others; influence is the process through which power is used or deployed. Public relations practitioners require power to help their organizations make informed choices about internal and external affairs and to communicate effectively with key groups and publics. Through their special knowledge of communications and publics, professionals can help organizations build positive relationships with others, solve problems, and acquire and maintain social legitimacy. To do so, however, practitioners must be in a position to participate in strategic decision making in their organizations.

Excellence theory, developed by James E. Grunig and colleagues (1992), reflects this managerial perspective and underscores the importance of strategic decision making. Public relations is a function that attempts to manage strategic communications to help organizations achieve particular goals with publics, solve problems, and capitalize on opportunities. Functions consist of individuals who are assigned roles and responsibilities that, if carried out effectively, help the unit support the organization. Power comes into play because decision making in organizations is often the result of conflicts and struggles carried out by competing functions or groups. For example, the public relations function competes with marketing, advertising, sales, human resources, and legal functions to obtain needed resources to fund preferred programs. The functions also compete to gain the attention of key decision makers and to win favorable decisions regarding tactics or strategies the organization should pursue in dealing with crises or other issues.

Many of these functional conflicts are intended to influence members of the organization's dominant coalition, the leading form of structural power in most organizations. Structural power includes authority (position in the hierarchy, membership in committees, and span of responsibility), [Page 669]controllable resources (budget, people, technologies and equipment), and the functional team (size and capabilities of the work unit). The dominant coalition is typically a group of senior executives who represent the apex of the hierarchy and control substantial resources. They make the crucial strategic choices, decide who gets what resources, and shape organizational values and beliefs through their decisions and actions. Public relations practitioners have long sought access to and membership in the dominant coalition to give the function a greater voice in such decision making. A function or profession so empowered can help plan, carry out, and evaluate an organization's communications with publics and thereby positively contribute to an organization's ability to meet its goals.

The work roles that practitioners carry out, and the perceptions of those roles by senior executives, are a related aspect of managerial power. David M. Dozier and Glen M. Broom (1995) studied public relations roles extensively and contrasted the technical versus managerial roles with regard to involvement in decision making. As technicians, practitioners carry out production activities (e.g., writing, design, and distribution activities), but are not engaged in policy decision making. In the managerial role, practitioners also have research, problem-solving, and strategic-thinking capabilities, and they are held accountable for results. Professionals who possess managerial skills, experience, and a managerial worldview are more likely to gain membership in the dominant coalition, or access to its members.

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