Case Study of United Airlines-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Write a report outlining the PR Errors made by company in a real Case from the Business World. Answer: Introduction Developing public image of an organisation in front of public and to manage issues in the company is most important job of employees. Public Relation theories are therefore considered significantly by organisations to make sound communication skills and maintain proper public relation process(Creative Commons, 2012). Professional trainees inculcate PR practices into their operations by outlining core principles of PR in business, third parties, governments and customers. In United States and other Western countries, PR has become a key strength in making organisational communication which is practised by management and associations. In strategic management, the role of PR practitioners has become vital to build public relations and accomplish the core objectives of organisation(Cornelissen, 2000). Many authors have identified PR roles in organisations and provided with various models that can be applied by management to enhance their PR practices. Theories if applied can provide mana gers with effective tools to formulate basic communication plan addressing organisations issues and requirements. The basic elements of public relation include media relation, issues management, internal communications and crisis communiqu. PR theories those are practised and prove beneficial to the firm are the ones that always lead organisations to develop healthy public relation and should be incorporated by managers to ascertain acceptable and tactful decision at the time of dilemma. No single theory single-handedly can help managements to accomplish public relation in organisation as different situations demands diverse solutions(Lint, 2017). Thus it becomes necessary for them to look into different perspectives and make close study of theories those are related to public relationship along with studying mass communication techniques(Hazleton, 2006). This report will make research of three PR theories that can provide assistance to the managers of United Airlines while making s uggestion for the below case study. Outline Of The Case Study One of the reputed airline industries CEO Munoz received an Oscar in the year 2017 and was given a title of U.S. Communicator of the Year by PR weekly magazine for which the company acknowledged immense reputation. Unfortunately the incident which happened one month later caused crash of $ 1 billion in value and was recorded as a worst PR disaster in airline industry(Netimperative, 2017). The misbehaviour of companys staff with an airline passenger Dr David Dao positioned whole airline industry in the microscope. The incident took place on 9th April 2017 where security officers hauled one of their paying passengers Dr David Dao off the flight that was scheduled from Chicago to Louisville in Kentucky. Dr Dao was so traumatised that he had to be admitted to the hospital. Other passenger showed responsibility and recorded the entire incident through their Smartphones to expose the bad behaviour of flight attendants. Dr Dao was forcibly pulled down the aircraft aisle along with his wife and children by security representative for overbooking his reservation. Instead of apologising for the injuries of Dr Dao caused due to misconduct of United Airlines staff, the CEO apologised only for the getting him re-accommodated with another passenger. Even the company failed to admit their part of negligence and accused Dr Dao to be disruptive and belligerent.Since the company did not reacted fairly, social medias got frenzy until Munoz made a written apology to Dr Dao. The fiasco clearly proves that if United Airlines would have made positive attempts earlier, lesser damages would have been made to its image. The company requires implementing PR theories in its operation so that such incident is not repeated(Lint, 2017). The Excellence Theory The excellence theory of Grunig and Hunt has been dominating the theory and practises of PR. The theory relates to different concepts like two way symmetrical communication, contribution to society, cultural difference, and ethics to maintain public relations. The excellence theory describes the role of communicators and management functions in performing their PR responsibly. Grunig have given more stress on optimising public relation model as two way symmetrical models that performs function of two way balanced communications to administer conflicts while improving indulgence with public(DeGroot, 2015). In strategic management practises, good relationships among organisations develops the power of achieving desired goals by both public and managements. By reducing negative publicity and providing expected service to stakeholders, PR practitioners can prove effective and can nurture extended symmetrical relation within the company and people(Grunig). The excellence theory further categorises into three sections i.e. Empowerment which suggests management to empower public relations as a crucial managerial function. Second section states Communicator role which suggests management to allow public relations play a part in administrative and professional role. Third section states Organisation of Communication function which suggests inculcating public relations as an integrated part of communication process and not only marketing or other management function(Rhee, 2004). Thus organisations support excellence theory as it enables them to pursue their mission by building public relations that supports in gaining ultimate goals. The communication programs made strategically also helps organisations managing interdependence amid considered publics. To build an effective organisational leadership, two way mutual communications is required to satisfy the workforce and build a strong brand. Another significant characteristic of excellence theory is diversity that corresponds to categorize people according to age, race, religion, etc. The theory states that to maintain different situation, the managers have to react according to the people present as not always their experience counterparts. Sometimes it becomes necessary for the managers to bend the situation and accept to undertake the responsibilities, especially when public support is negative. Many researchers claims that excellence theory does not qualifies to all necessities as this theory gives more stress on maintaining pubic relation rather than enhancing internal knowledge(BROWNING, 2008). In United Airlines excellence theory can help its managers to inculcate communication systems with public along with developing function of management crisis(Bi, 2014). The theory will help its co workers get an insight of customers they need to deal with and make assumptions about dealing the situations tactfully. The case study shows that due to some technical errors the seat got over booked which not the fault of in flight representatives. Still they could have man aged the situation properly after applying excellence theory into their system as it would have helped in enhancing their PR. Social Exchange Theory Social exchange theory interprets society as a sequence of interactions among people those are based on guesstimate of rewards and chastisement. In other words it means we get what we deserve according to our reactions made. The theory was founded by George Homans which was further developed by Richard Emerson and Peter Blau. According to social exchange theory, people are more likely to repeat those interactions that are liked by masses rather than disapproved ones(Crossman, 2017). Thus it becomes easier for managers to decide the required actions needed be taken with the help of past experiences of rewarded and failed ones. If any decision made by managers that gains continuous rewards or exceeds punishments, then rewarded ideas are inculcated in their PR practices. Social Exchange theory can be calculated according to the formula of: Behaviour or profit= Reward from interaction-cost of interaction(Redmond, 2015). The theory when applied to general practises of organisation, rewards gained can be in the form of normal gestures, public support, increased profits, sound publicity and brand recognition. Punishments here refer to bad publicity, decrease in share profits, discontent among customers and disapproval from government. This theory is also applicable to social media from organisations perspective. Since social media plays an important role in nowadays business world, both negative and positive attempts are made by them. Social media become a link in between organisations and public. Thus critical monitoring of social media becomes vital for big companies and shall not be underestimated when it comes to emotional factors. The case study of Dr Dao has proven the bad effects of social media from companys perspective as it had made the incident spread worldwide within no time. If United Airlines would have implemented social exchange theory into their PR practises such disaster may have been avoided(Corbishley, 2016). Basic principle of social exchange theory is applied when people or organisations seeks to gain something of greater value than costs for which social decisions are needed to be made. The variables of costs and profits changes and are relevant to persons needs who demands fair decisions. Social exchange theory demands interaction between two people at least in which both expects to gain rewards that can be tangible or intangible. Social exchange theory also implements motivation to make increased returns by applying specific interactions with public to develop interpersonal relationships(Adrienne, 2015). While developed social exchange is made in workplace and social groups, it may develop social power and control over social networking also. Although many critiques have questioned about this theory as it deals with social structures only rather than individuals. The theory over simplifies human interactions and conduct in public relations as decisions are judged by assumptions only. The system is based only on reward and punishments rather than describing the ability to manage situations. Thus, along with social exchange theory other theories shall also be implemented in order to avoid PR disasters. Agenda Setting Theory To attempt solving issues regarding public interest, examining the mass media coverage is very important. The media whether digital or public are important associates that decide the amount of coverage is required to be given on specific issue. The theory of agenda setting was introduced by Donald Shaw and Maxwell McCombs in the year 1972(Dinsdale.). The theory had evolved itself from agenda setting into major mass communications field in todays world of business practices. To become efficient in maintaining public relation it is necessary to understand the theory of agenda setting and to incorporate it into PR practices has became very crucial. The relationship between public agenda and media can be defined in terms of salience. The transferring of leading informations from media to public is made that is further decided about how much the information or issue is important. The media covers the issue and repeats in front of general public until it affects their decision making. The media not only transfers basic issues details but also adds certain characteristics to it in order to make information more important. The theory not only reflects negative issues but also spreading positive information that may help organisations develop. In Dr David Dao case, media played a crucial part which raged general public to such an extent that United Airlines had to face immense losses of profits as well as reputation. Thus agenda theory needs to be studied crucially and must be implemented in United Airlines to tackle mass Medias precisely. The theory further expands into three parts that details the level of its implementation. Policy agenda setting is the first level in which consideration of affects of media coverage and its ability to influence others is made. Socially significant those are non complex in nature are easily absorbed by general public. Therefore an adequate amount of attention is provided by them and while presence of public is higher, the news is pretended to spread in prompt manner. Also to garner people support and interest becomes easy if the topic is related to general group. Second level i.e. media agenda setting decides which type of information shall be represented socially by Medias and news publ ications by organisations. Normally editors, journalists and publishers are contacted to make agenda settings by PR practitioners of companies. Different elements are studied by gatekeepers of Medias while deciding upon which information shall be disclosed in front of public. The final stage of agenda setting is public agenda setting which deals with community behavioural reaction to mass communication. The theory calculates the reaction of public and the amount of effects the information may make to any company. Public gets involved quickly as they find the issues being interesting and can likely affect them also. Many business competitors also take advantage and make viral marketing strategies by distributing false informations about their rivals(McCombs). The role of PR professionals is to influence public interests on behalf of their company by using agenda theory. The representatives of social media rely on PR professionals of companies to get informations while making agendas for mass media. Normally big organisations hold press conferences and public meeting in which media coverage is made in order to share significant information with nation. PR practitioners must make a precise decision on what agendas must be put on that shall prove beneficial for the firm and public. Therefore the above theory is made to inculcate thought out manner of making decisions by PR managers and regulate informations tacitly that does not hamper the reputation of their company. In the case of United Airlines, the PR professionals seemed to act unconsciously which led the entire company fall into coverage of bad publicity. The theory if applied into companys PR practising system shall prevent getting vulnerable to such catastrophic situations(Matei, 20 10). Recommendations After making study of different PR theories and analysing PR errors in practical world, it can be said that not one theory can provide assistance to PR professionals. Since different situations demands different undertakings, the PR practise applied shall be decided tactfully and only then after accomplishes the role of a PR practitioner. Different models of PR theories has been reviewed in this report that can be applied in the situation of removal of Dr David Dao from United Airlines. In the above report three different theories have been studied that covers foremost requirements in modelling PR practice in an organisation. The case of Dr Dao is an example that shows that any bad news is broaden swiftly(Fogg, 2017). By applying agenda theory in their PR practice, the company could have stopped media making exaggerated reports of the incident. Also United Airlines could have made immediate press conference in which PR executors or the CEO himself have made apologies(Phelps, 2017). T he misconduct made by them hurtled the sentiments of general public as they put themselves under Dr Daos situation. Thus applying excellence theory here could have made PRs handle the situation accordingly. Inculcation of excellence theory in PR managers along with other staff members is also necessary so that they could understand their responsibility and avoid misbehaving in such dreadful manner in future. Technical errors can always be resolved tacitly and does not require making inconvenience to people(El-Erian, 2017). By applying social exchange theory, United Airlines can enhance its public support by giving people more value and integrate their demands into operation. Since the theory demands involving mass public in their managerial functions, the decisions on spot could have made in favour of Dr Dao and avoided the case to happen. Therefore on concluding note it can be said that to inculcate suitable PR theory is very significant and PR professionals must handle issues afte r making precise analysis of situations before implementing PR theories. References Adrienne. (2015). Social Exchange Theory. 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