Relevance of public relations in building the corporate reputation of an organization: An exploratory study of two manufacturing organizations in Ghana

Abstract

In a globalised world that is also very competitive, businesses are faced with the enormous challenge of surviving and staying strong. One of such big challenges is building and managing the reputation of the organisation. Corporate reputation has been identified over the years as one of the most important intangible assets of any organisation. The success of any organisation is strongly linked to how it is perceived by its stakeholders. Scholars across various disciplines, including marketing, sociology, communication and management have devoted much attention to this phenomenon. In order to build and manage a strong reputation, an organisation must be able to communicate effectively with the stakeholders. Effective communication allows an organisation to convince and persuade its stakeholders to remain loyal in the face of keen competition. Studies have shown that public relations should be at the forefront of such communication activities. Public relations facilitates the efforts of the organisation to build and manage a positive reputation in the eyes of its stakeholders. This paper tries to understand the relevance of public relations in building the corporate reputation of an organisation. The paucity of literature in a developing country like Ghana makes this research even more essential. The qualitative research approach was used in gathering data. Face to face interviews were held with two communication managers of two multinational companies to provide input for the research. Result demonstrated that public relations plays a critical role in building the reputation of an organisation. The day to day communication activities of an organisation's PR department coupled with other activities such as social responsibility, feedback and constant engagement with the publics contributes largely to positive evaluation of the organisation. This outcome has significant implications for the practice of public relations.