Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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Item INTEGRATING STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT: EVALUATING PUBLIC RELATIONS AS RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT IN INTEGRATED COMMUNICATION(2009) Smith, Brian G.; Toth, Elizabeth L.; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)There is a gap in public relations and marketing communication literature. In spite of increasing professional use of integrated communication--a process by which organizations coordinate the communication functions and activities for stakeholder impact--public relations roles have been under-developed in scholarship. In fact, most insights on public relations and integration appear to be opinion-based and normative. Hallahan (2007) has argued that the literature is "fragmentary and hardly conclusive" (p. 308), and other scholars claim that integrated communication research is still in its pre-paradigmatic stages of development (Kerr, et al., 2008) as research emphasizes definitions and perceptions (Kliatchko, 2008, p. 133). This research--a multi-case study of three organizations that carry out varying levels of integration--addresses the need to outline and evaluate public relations and integrated communication from a theoretical perspective. This study considers public relations a strategic relationship management function, consistent with Grunig (2006a), Ledingham (2006) and other public relations scholars. This perspective is in contrast with that of marketing communication scholars, who consider public relations a marketing support function (Keh, Nguyen, Ng, 2007; Debreceny & Cochrane, 2004; Hendrix, 2004). This study demonstrates that concerns that integrating public relations and marketing may lead to marketing imperialism and "an inferior technical role" for public relations, as Hallahan's (2007) review of the literature discovered (p. 305), may be based in opinion only, and may not represent professional practice. In fact, higher levels of integration yield a greater emphasis on public relations as a strategic relationship management function. This research also demonstrates that integration occurs naturally, regardless of organizational structure. In spite of varying levels of integration evident at each organization (based on the structure outlined by Duncan and Caywood [1996] and Caywood [1997]) integration is a natural process based on internal relationships and connections--a process I refer to as "organic integration." This multi-case study fulfills three challenges facing public relations and integrated communication proposed by Hallahan (2007). It provides a research-based definition of integrated communication, considers the theoretical convergence of public relations and integrated communication, and it conceptualizes organizational communication and department structures (p. 309-313).Item Computer Mediated Communication and Negotiation: Effects of Media and Power on Relationship Development(2007-08-07) Cronin, Daniel Andrew; Cai, Deborah; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The dissertation examined the cues filtered out and Social Information Processing (SIP) approaches to relationship development in an intra-organizational dyadic negotiation by comparing the use of face-to-face (FTF) and e-mail channels. The study further examined the effect of power difference on dimensions of relationship development such as dominance, trust, affect, depth, formality, and task/social orientation. Individuals in organizations use technology based tools such as e-mail to perform a variety of communication tasks. The dissertation provides a test and expansion of SIP with regard to the effects of time on relationship development by testing the theory within a highly social process like organizational negotiation where there is mixed channel use. This dissertation also provides a test of e-mail's unique characteristics and their effects on the development of relationships in an intra-organizational environment. The hypotheses were tested using a dyadic data analysis technique know as the Actor-Partner Independence Model (APIM). One hundred and forty-eight students (74 dyads) participated in the study and negotiated three times. For the first negotiation, all participants used FTF to establish a baseline relationship measure and for the next two negotiations half of the participants used e-mail and the other half FTF. For the last two negotiations, a power difference also was introduced so that in half of the dyads in each group the seller had greater power than the buyer. The study produced results in three main areas related to negotiation and computer mediated communication: (1) interpersonal relationships develop over lean media like e-mail; (2) the characteristics of e-mail affect relationship development when compared to FTF; and (3) the preference to use e-mail for future negotiations is affected by prior e-mail negotiation experience with one's partner, computer mediated communication comfort, and the level of dominance one's partner exhibits in e-mail negotiations. With regard to interpersonal relationships and negotiation, the study suggests that individuals learn to manage their interpersonal relationships via e-mail because it can be a useful tool for managing one's persona. Bargaining power and bargaining role were only of limited influence on the development of interpersonal relationships when e-mail was used to negotiate.