Book review: Strategic Communication Management

Strategic Communication Management is an enduring guide to understanding and enhancing the value of public relations in management.

I revisit Strategic Communication Management every six months or so in my PhD studies. It was written by Dr Jon White and Laura Mazur, and published almost 30 years ago by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The book is still available as a re-print for around £10. You might even get lucky and find an original edition via a second-hand reseller.

It’s an excellent book that remains a standout text about the contribution of public relations to management. It’s a mix of theory, practice, and case studies.

The book opens with an executive summary, a charter if you like, that sets out the developing role of public relations in management.

I revisit the book regularly because it illustrates the limited progress that has been made in advancing public relations practice in management over the past 30 years.

You can check out the executive summary for yourself.

1. Public relations is poorly regarded by management. It is mainly seen as a presentational activity

2. The function of public relations is to manage organisational relationships

3. The precise nature of the contribution of public relations to management is the topic of debate

4. Each company has its own public relations strategy. It is highly situational

5. One of the biggest challenges of public relations practice is managing programmes across borders

6. There’s a long-term and short-term aspects to measuring public relations. This is a relatively new area of understanding

7. Modern practice demands a rethink of how to deal with a diverse collection of journalists

8. Public relations contributes to other management disciplines, such as marketing and internal communications

9. Crisis is an area where management demands a strategic public relations response

10. A reorientation of the purpose of business is inevitable to account for societal and environmental concerns

Many of these points, particularly the last one, could have been written yesterday.

Jon has mentored me for several years and regularly calls out my use of the phrase “work in progress” in my writing about public relations.

There is a reason: organisations and management repeatedly fail to take full advantage of the contribution of public relations practice. How can we as public relations practitioners, improve this situation?

You’ll understand why Strategic Communication Management is a book to revisit. It continues to speak to the future of practice and remains a codex to unlock the value of public relations in management.