Culture

Culture and Public Relations in the 21st Century

Robert L. Wakefield (2001) asserted that in the 21st century, public relations practitioners face new challenges. Once primarily a domestic undertaking, public relations has gone global. The increased number of multinational organizations, ease of transnational and worldwide communication, and global marketplace have redefined the practice of public relations. Although some organizations and industries are more often affected, changes reverberate throughout organizational practice.

Sriramesh (2003) questioned “whether there is such a thing as domestic public relations anymore because of the international outreach of organizations of all sizes and types as a result of the recent spurt of globalization” (p. xxv). A previous subspecialty, international public relations is now synonymous with general practice. Thus, skills in communicating with multiple publics across differing cultures are essential.

Sriramesh (2002) noted that “PR practice in the 21st century has, and will continue to, become multinational and multicultural in nature” (p. 54). However, “precious little information exists to help multinational organizations to understand the global nature of their public relations or to guide them as they develop resources not only to get their messages out to increasingly cross-cultural publics but also to anticipate and respond to behaviors by those publics that could affect the organizations” (Wakefield, 2001, p. 639). This lack of information hampers efforts and places achieving organizational goals in jeopardy. “Multinationals need to understand the nuances of public relations between countries, or even in different regions within countries, and how misunderstandings of those nuances can bring problems on a global scale” (Wakefield, 2001, p. 640).

Views of Culture

Work on culture, organizations, and public relations describes two lenses used in assessment. One takes a primarily internal focus, viewing organizations as distinct cultures, with their own beliefs and practices, emerging from and adapting to surrounding cultures. The other is more external, examining the role of public relations in adapting to and influencing culture and cross-cultural issues. Wendy Hall (1995) suggested culture and cultural difference must be addressed on two levels. The first is the organizational level. For example, some organizations, even in different nations, share similar cultures, perhaps due to their type and structure. The second is the national or individual level, which recognizes that culture varies by country with individuals, groups, and organizations being influenced. Understanding of both levels is essential.

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