Exploring strategic public relations management in China: current state and challenges

Abstract

Applying four generic principles that are most relevant to strategic public relations management, this study examines the extent to which public relations is strategically managed in China. Public relations practitioners from four types of organizations participated an online survey (N = 92) and an interview (N = 20). It was found that public relations mainly contributes to routine operations rather than strategic policy-making. While typically given a direct reporting line with top management, public relations departments are not trusted to handle government relations and are considered inferior to the marketing department. Practitioners in the survey indicated the use of all four models to various degree in their organizations, despite that interviews revealed the difficulty to implement symmetrical communication model as compared to the other three models. In addition, practitioners were more proficient in fulfilling technician roles than managerial roles.