Engaging collaborative communities: dialogue and campus sexual assault

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 296-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Madden
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Title Ix ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Campus Sexual Assault ◽  
Administrative Position ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Proactive Communication ◽  
University Officials ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose While universities continue to grow increasingly sophisticated in their communication functions, issues like sexual assault continue to pose a challenge. One reason is that these issues are emotional, complex, and often only dealt with at the point that they have become a crisis for the institution. The purpose of this paper is to understand the role that dialogue can play in proactively communicating about issues of sexual assault. Design/methodology/approach This study utilized 32 in-depth interviews with university officials from 21 different universities across the USA with responsibility for communicating about issues of sexual assault, including Title IX officers, victims advocate services, student affairs, and university communications. Findings Issues managers worked to create opportunities for dialogue on their campus communities by highlighting shared values. Within a dialogic framework, university issues managers were creating spaces for dialogue and developing alternative forms of engagement in an effort to empower students with the necessary skills to engage in dialogue with their peers. There was a recognition that dialogue is most effective when it is peer-to-peer vs coming from an authoritative or administrative position. Issues managers helped students to develop the skills necessary for engaging in dialogue with each other. Originality/value To advance public relations scholarship, there is a need to consider emotional and gendered issues that are often stigmatized. This can help practitioners to develop better, and proactive, communication strategies for handling issues of sexual assault as to avoid negative media attention and work to change organizational culture.

Guiding the conversation

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Walden
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Relations Practitioners ◽  
Frontline Workers ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Normative Expectations ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how public relations practitioners view their role in guiding their organizations’ frontline (nonnominated) employees’ social media use and the tensions that organizations must navigate when they interact with their employees online. Design/methodology/approach This study utilizes in-depth interviews with 24 PR practitioners in the USA. Data were analyzed via grounded theory’s approach to open, axial, and select coding. Findings PR practitioners engage in three activities to guide employees’ social media use: serving as a reactive-technical resource; supporting employee communities; and responding to incidental monitoring of social media posts. Research limitations/implications The study extends stakeholder theory by describing the normative expectations that are placed on employees when it comes to discussing the organization online. Practical implications Recommendations are offered for PR practitioners regarding the boundary-respecting management of nonnominated employees’ social media use. Social implications Findings point to a greater understanding about frontline workers’ roles in supporting their organizations and the need for organizations to carefully explain social media policies. Originality/value Scholars have not fully explored the challenges that firms face when they seek to influence employees’ personal social networking activities. There is new insight about the ways in which organization can ethically engage with employees in digitally mediated spaces.

Campus sexual assault: examination of policy and research

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Unnati Patel ◽  
Ronald Roesch
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Campus Culture ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Campus Sexual Assault ◽  
Victim Services ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Future Policy ◽  
Taking Action

Purpose Campus sexual assault has received a great deal of media attention in recent years, with much focus being placed on the factors unique to universities that enable these crimes to occur. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the circumstances under which these crimes take place and examine the policies of institutions across the USA and Canada to determine whether legislation from various governmental levels impacts the prevalence and incidence rates of sexual assault. Design/methodology/approach A review of the literature on sexual assault is conducted to gain an understanding of the contributory factors in campus sexual assault, and fields outside of psychology are included in the search to capture phenomena outside the perpetrator-victim dyad. Findings The findings suggest that unique variables exist in campus culture including prevention and intervention strategies put in place by governments and individual universities. Some of these policies are aimed at providing victim services, while others engage faculty, staff, and students in taking action from a bystander standpoint. Originality/value This paper also investigates the impacts that mandatory policies would have across North America, and suggests future policy initiatives to reduce the deleterious effects of sexual assault for students and universities alike.

Public relations in the age of data: corporate perspectives on social media analytics (SMA)

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy R. Fitzpatrick ◽  
Paula L. Weissman
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Social Media Analytics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Management Function ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Corporate Brands ◽  
Depth Interviews

PurposeThe aim of this study was to understand how public relations leaders view and use social media analytics (SMA) and the impact of SMA on the public relations function.Design/methodology/approachThe research involved in-depth interviews with chief communication officers (CCOs) from leading multinational corporate brands.FindingsThe findings revealed that although CCOs perceive social media analytics as strategically important to the advancement of public relations, the use of social media data is slowed by challenges associated with building SMA capacity.Theoretical and practical implications – The research extends public relations theory on public relations as a strategic management function and provides practical insights for building SMA capabilities.Originality/valueThe study is among the first to provide empirical evidence of how companies are using social media analytics to enhance public relations efforts.

The role and status of communication practice in the USA and Europe

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry Swerling ◽  
Kjerstin Thorson ◽  
Ansgar Zerfass
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Media Environment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Communication Practice ◽  
Attitudes And Practices ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Social Media Tools ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore trends in practitioners’ perceptions of their role within organizations as well as their influence among senior management both in the USA and Europe. It analyses practitioners’ beliefs about the status of their work as well as their understandings of the ways the new media environment is shifting their everyday practice. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on data from two surveys of public relations (PR) practitioners, one in the USA and the other in Europe. These data enable comparisons between communication practice in the two geographic areas. The paper focusses the analysis on senior-level practitioners who reported working within the communication department of an organization. Findings – The findings of this study suggest that practitioners in both regions are optimistic about the influence of communications within their broader organizations. However, European practitioners are more likely to adopt a “central but flexible” organizational strategy for managing the need to speak in many voices across media and publics. American respondents report much greater use of social media tools than do their European counterparts. These findings are discussed as they relate to the diverse circumstances characterizing the communication practice in each region. Originality/value – This paper provides a rare comparative look at attitudes and practices within PR and communications in two distinct geographic areas.

scholarly journals High-skilled female immigrants: career strategies and experiences

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 258-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saba Colakoglu ◽  
Dilek G. Yunlu ◽  
Gamze Arman
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Support Network ◽  
Career Experiences ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Skilled Immigrants ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Female Immigrants ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to uncover career-related issues that high-skilled female immigrants face and their strategies for rebuilding their careers upon migration for a diverse range of reasons including following a spouse, furthering education and self-initiated expatriation. Design/methodology/approach Using grounded theory to explore this topic, the authors performed 14 in-depth interviews with female immigrants that fit pre-determined inclusion criteria for high-skilled (e.g. educated, gainfully and professionally employed). The study context of immigration is the USA, and the authors performed interviews with high-skilled immigrants from Turkey – an underrepresented nation in the US migrant population. Findings Content analysis of in-depth interviews revealed five primary theoretical themes that captured the career experiences of these individuals: non-linear career entry, career orientation, strong commitment and will to succeed, socialization patterns at work and support network. Integrating these findings with theories on adult learning, the authors developed an experiential learning model of career reconstruction among high-skilled immigrants. Originality/value This study contributes to the global mobility literature by developing an experiential learning theory of careers and taking a gendered perspective to the career experiences of high-skilled female immigrants. It answers the questions: what are the individual and situation factors associated with career success among high-skilled female immigrants? and what is the process that high-skilled immigrants go through to rebuild their careers?

Legal and Political Responses to Campus Sexual Assault

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 311-333
Author(s):  
Michele Landis Dauber ◽  
Meghan O. Warner
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Title Ix ◽  
Justice System ◽  
President Obama ◽  
Campus Sexual Assault ◽  
Legal Remedies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Civil Justice System ◽  
Enforcement Activity ◽  
Do So

Despite a long history of reform efforts, college students remain vulnerable to sexual harassment and assault on campus. This article surveys that history from the 1970s to the present, including a flurry of enforcement activity under President Obama and a backlash and reversed course under Trump. Many of the systems—for example law, education, and public health—designed to ameliorate the epidemic of campus sexual assault have failed to do so. These failures have been particularly pronounced for victims who experience multiple intersecting inequalities. The resulting frustration with legal remedies through campus Title IX processes and the criminal and civil justice system has spurred a new interest in strategies to prevent sexual assault in the first place. Recent political developments, including the #MeToo movement, suggest a potential for democratic political accountability to make progress where legal reform efforts and campus prevention programming have thus far been unsuccessful.

Perceived impacts of special events by organizers: a qualitative approach

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Xie ◽  
Andy Sinwald
Keyword(s):  
Lake Erie ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Parks And Recreation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Special Event ◽  
Special Events ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Perceived Impacts ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on: first, what major impacts do organizers perceive special events to create, and how do they measure an event’s success? second, do these perceived impacts align with the major themes of economic benefits, social impacts, and community cohesiveness revealed in the existing literature? and third, why do event organizers perceive these major impacts? Design/methodology/approach – In order to gain a better understanding of the types of community impact event organizers anticipate from, and attempt to solicit through special events, this study makes use of a survey with open-ended questions. Such questions enable a broader discussion between interviewees and interviewers, giving interviewees greater response leeway and generating more material for the researcher’s analysis. Findings – Findings suggest that bringing the community together, producing economic benefits for local businesses, and creating socializing and educational opportunities for visitors are the primary impacts anticipated by interviewed event organizers. In particular, providing a positive experience by getting the community involved proves to be the key element to the success of any special event discussed. Research limitations/implications – There are a couple of limitations to the study. First, the study presented a relatively small sample. Second, these results may relate to the institutions located along Lake Erie where parks and recreation have long been viewed as an integral part of community life. Originality/value – This study represents a first attempt to complement the quantitative data in the former research with a qualitative study. Through in-depth interviews, it sets out to create a dialogue from the event organizers along Lake Erie in the USA to help better understand the impacts of special events prepared by Parks and Recreation Departments.

Lobbying: a critical dimension of business strategy

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clifford D. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Critical Dimension ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
Full Spectrum ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Empirical Estimates ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
The Usa

Purpose – This paper aims to prepare executives to pilot a US lobbying effort within the bounds of the US Federal law. Lobbying law may be thought of as the “regulation of regulation”, as it defines the ground rules for those wishing to have a direct impact upon all other regulatory systems. The article outlines what the US lobbying law requires, what it forbids and, perhaps most important, what the law does NOT regulate. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the full spectrum of US laws and regulations relevant to lobbying – including the Internal Revenue Service Code (tax code), the Federal Election Campaign Act, the Ethics in Government Act, the internal rules of both the House and Senate, the US Criminal Code and the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act – and organizes them into a single 2 × 2 matrix, explaining what all parties must do as well as what they must not do. Via this approach, the rules that govern the “marketplace” for lobbying in the USA are explained. The competition to shape US government policy transpires within this marketplace. Findings – Few activities the executive may engage in carry the potential payback of a well-executed lobbying campaign: empirical estimates range to returns on investment in the thousands of per cent. But the uninitiated may easily step over the line and invite both legal and public relations (PR) nightmares. Practical implications – Effective lobbying can afford a corporation or industry a lasting competitive advantage. Every well-rounded business strategy should include such a component, and every well-rounded executive should be capable of performing in this arena. A solid grounding in the legal matrix forming the boundaries of this activity is a prerequisite for effective performance. Originality/value – The paper organizes and outlines lobbying law in a fashion digestible by executives without legal training. It is of value to anyone wishing to engage in lobbying activities targeted at the US Government.

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