week 8 - Public Relations Management in Organisations

System theory explains about a structure that is used to illustrate an organisation’s relationship with its environment. System organisation is not constant and it depends on the inputs and outputs (such as products, plan closures, services and job cuts) between the organisation and its environment.

Public Relations needs to connect the organisation and its environment to explore areas of growth. Adaptation is important to promote stability in an organisation’s relationship with its surroundings. PR practitioners need to maintain this positive effects by adapting organisation's policies to the environment in the organisation. If this adaptation tactic succeeds, it can result in employees being more committed and motivated in their job.

Systems used:
A closed system: Separated from the environment, this method gathers information only from the inside of the organisation. In this method, public relations functions are minor because the system doesn’t fit with how PR practitioners usually do things -- which is to gather information from the public. The opposite takes place in the Open system.

Open System: An organisation actively takes optimum information from outside the organisation (and often from their environment) that can bring positive effects to the organisation itself. However, PR practitioners must be critical in choosing only the information that they need.

"Same same but different”
Public relations and marketing are 2 different departments. Marketing is customer-oriented while PR is not. The function of PR is to build a bridge between the environment outside the organisation and the organisation. PR practitioners are often referred to as the people who interact with people outside the company. While marketing works to advertise and market products, PR is important educate people on products and services.


Building internal relationships within an organisation is also one of the fortes of PR. It is crucial because it helps to improve the atmosphere in their workplace. If the employees are comfortable with the environment in the organisation, it will increase worker’s satisfaction and result in higher productivity. Finally, PR practitioners can help workers to adapt to the culture in an organisation by providing interactions between employees that will encourage innovation and creativity.