The role of public relations in decision making: Center Parcs
Center Parcs is a case study in how organisations make decisions that have a negative impact on their reputation. It’s ultimately a failure of corporate governance.
The U-turn by Center Parcs less than 24 hours after announcing its decision to close on the day on the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II was inevitable. The company originally said that it was closing as a mark of respect and to allow as many colleagues as possible to be part of the historic moment.
It emailed customers with bookings yesterday to inform them to make alternative arrangements. It also shared the information on its social media accounts. The conversation spilled over on social media and was picked up by the national media.
There are any number of alternative ways that Center Parcs could have managed this situation and allowed its staff and customers to be part of the funeral.
My research studies at Leeds Business School are investigating the role of public relations as part of an organisation’s strategy and decision-making process. My thesis is that public relations enables a better understanding of the value of stakeholder relationships.
The public relations function almost certainly wasn’t part of Center Parc’s decision-making process or if it was, it was ignored. If it had been part of the process, it would have pointed out the inevitable backlash to the company’s plans. It is likely that it will be involved in future decision making that impacts Center Parc’s stakeholder engagement.
The first place to look to understand why organisations don’t consider a broad range of stakeholders in making decisions is its governance and management structures. The Center Parcs board has no female representation and limited discernable diversity; marketing is represented but not public relations, employee engagement or customer experience.
