Publics

Relationship to the Organization

Publics' relationships to the organization are usually identified with a stakeholder analysis. J. E. Grunig and Repper defined a stakeholder as “people who are linked to an organization because they and the organization have consequences on each other” (1992, p. 125). In the stakeholder stage, public relations should engage in environmental scanning, conduct research on stakeholders, and build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders. The first step in a stakeholder analysis is to identify publics based on the consequences they and the organization have on each other. One approach to identifying stakeholder publics is to consider how they are “linked” to the organization.

J. E. Grunig and Todd Hunt (1984) used a linkage model based on the work of Milton Esman (1972), William Evan (1976), and Talcott Parsons (1976) to identify stakeholder relationships to organizations. The resulting model has four linkages that identify stakeholder relationships to an organization: enabling linkages, functional linkages, diffused linkages, and normative linkages.

Enabling and Functional Linkages

Enabling linkages are those that allow organizations to exist, such as relationships with government regulators and legislators. Functional linkages are those that allow the organization to function, by providing the resources (such as labor and raw materials) for the company to exist and market products or services. Organizations must maintain frequent communication with enabling and functional linkages to develop healthy long-term relationships, because the stakeholders in these linkages can have immediate consequences on the organization. The enabling linkages identify stakeholders who have some control and authority over the organization, such as stockholders, board of directors, governmental legislators and agencies, and so on. These stakeholders enable an organization to have resources and autonomy to operate. When enabling relationships falter, the resources can be withdrawn and the autonomy of the organization restricted.

Applying systems theory, J. E. Grunig and Hunt divided the functional linkages into input linkages and output linkages. Employees, unions, suppliers, contractors, and others link themselves with an organization by what they provide to the creation of an organization's products or services. Consumers, corporate purchasers, outlets, and other individuals or agencies that use the organization's products or services comprise the output linkage. Functional stakeholders are essential to the day-to-day operations of any organization and necessitate an open flow of communication.

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