Public Relations Error of a company - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss about theoutlining the PR errors made by a company in a real case from the business world; and make recommendations as to how the company should have handled the issue from a PR perspective. Answer: Introduction Public Relations, often abbreviated as PR, is an art of spreading and managing the information between an organization and its public, be it the internal public of the organization or external. The organization can be anything such as a private company, business, or government agencies, non-profit organizations and non-governmental organizations and others. It acts as a bridge which connects the road of communication between an individual or an organization and its publics. It is a way of gaining exposure of a company or individual to their publics through marketing communications, publicity and advertising (Austin Pinkleton, 2015). The aim of a Public Relations manager is to inform a particular companys publics and prospective customers about the companys products, leadership or political decisions. The report throws light on the Public Relations errors made by United Airlines company on the removal of Dr. David Dao from the Flight 3411, which was awaiting departure from Chicago to Louisville and was overbooked (Austin, Fisher Liu Jin, 2012). The report throws light on the duties and responsibilities of a Public Relations manager with an explanation of its publics and the factors which may influence his or her decisions. Moreover, this report contains a brief description on how the company should have handled this issue from a Public Relations perspective, along with some recommendations. Discussion Public Relations is the relationship state between an organization or a company or some famous personality and the publics. In other words, it is a process of communication that helps in building a mutual and beneficial relationship between an organization and its public. A Public Relations manager has loads of responsibilities for his/her company. He/she acts as the chief advocate for the company; the communicator, problem solver and opening maestro of the company who is responsible for the companys success (Bryce, 2017). United Airlines Incident On April 9, 2017, Dr David Dao was forcefully dragged from United Airlines, when he refused to move out of the flight, on the managements demand. David screamed when the officers were pulling him out of the seat. During this struggle, his face hit a seats armrest and he fell unconscious. He was dragged out of the flight with blood on his face. The management provided the passengers with travel vouchers in order to vacate the seats for four airlines employees, and Dao was one of the passengers. He refused to move out as he needed to go home, which resulted in such a horrific situation. The incident went viral which resulted in an outrage and several passengers criticized the Airlines management (Coombs, 2014). Public Relations error made by the Company The upsetting incident was handled in more disastrous way which enraged many. The CEO of the company didnt apologize for the occurrence of such a situation, rather stated that he felt sorry for re-accommodating such passengers. He defended his employees and said that the passenger was belligerent and disruptive. This led to intense criticism and the Airlines reputation was marred, as the angry customers threatened to stop flying with them (Cutlip, 2013). Moreover, they concealed many facts, regarding overbooking and more, from the media, which the eye witnesses revealed. This created a negative impact on the companys reputation in the eyes of the media. The company underestimated the power of the social media, which was its greatest mistake. They even made remarks on the behavior of Daos co passengers (Dozier, Grunig Grunig, 2013). How the PR manager should have handled the issue The Public Relations officer of the United Airlines could have easily handled the crisis situation in a different manner. One thing that should always be kept in mind is underestimating the power of social media can lead to serious consequences. The incident got instantly viral with millions of viewers from different parts of the world. The Airlines got severely criticized for this shameful act, which resulted in an outrage. In such a situation, the first and foremost duty of the Public Relations manager is to respond to the customers incidents quickly and directly apologizing to the people who got affected (Duh, 2015). The company is responsible for such a horrific situation, and, thus they must have shown empathy towards the passengers family. Secondly, the Public Relations practitioner must get all the facts clearly, related to the incident. He/she must be aware of the full situation, with every detail, before drawing a vague conclusion. After getting all the details of the incide nt, the Public Relations practitioner now must decide whose fault it actually was and based on that he/she must take actions, without any prejudices (Grunig, 2013). Thirdly, a Public Relations practitioner is always accused of withholding the companys information from its publics. This is ethically wrong. A companys publics have the right to know about the companys strategies or policies, its products, failure and success and others. Therefore, Public Relations manager of the United Airlines must be honest and transparent in front of the media. Distortion of the reality mars the companys reputation and progress (Helmig, Jegers Lapsley, 2014). Along with that, he/she should maintain integrity and transparency to avoid conflicts among employees. Fourthly, it is his/her duty to own the response. It was fully the companys mistake, therefore, the Public Relations officer should have the guts to own it and apologize for the situation. He/she must be able to address the problem properly to the media and the external as well as internal public of the company, knowing what to say and what not to say. It is his/her duty to put all the necessary tools in place in order to manage such a situation and see that such incidents do not occur in future (Hendrix, Hayes Kumar, 2012). Public criticism and recommendations from the PR perspective The United Airlines, after this incident, faced severe criticism from the media and people across the world. Many tweeted regarding the upsetting issue, expressing their hatred towards the flights management. Handling the situation in a smarter way could have helped the company to save its image to some extent. The Public Relations manager could have scanned the entire incident before letting the CEO comment on that (Johansen, Aggerholm Frandsen, 2012). He/she needs to make sure beforehand, whether such statements would be beneficial for the company and its future or not. It is his/her responsibility to build a scenario or a good image of the company in front of its publics and media. It is important to convince them that in future such horrific situation will not occur. This requires Public Relations manager to have good communication and convincing skills. Most importantly, he/she needs to be a good orator (Kunczik, 2016). Hiding failure details may mar the companys reputation. So the Public Relations manager must be honest, truthful and avoid hiding details of the company to its publics. Moreover, he/she should implement some strategy and policies to gain the trust of the people and the media in order to stick to the companys mission. This includes detailed description of the companys good will and image, the good things it has done in the past and what it is going to do in the future (Mehta Xavier, 2012). This may help the company gain some positive feedbacks and publicity. In such crisis situations, it is the companys duty to behave in a humble manner. The company must be empathetic towards the passengers. Behaving in an insensible manner can even worsen the situation and enrage the customers. Therefore, the Public Relations officer should open up and plan accordingly with the companys CEO, in order to gain their faith and trust. Managing such a crisis may be tough, but handling such sensitive issu es in a sensible way may prove beneficial for the company (Pang, 2013). A Public Relations practitioner needs to know the proper definition of ethics. Ethics is the study of right and wrong in human endeavors. It basically answers the question what to do? and what not to do?. He/she should know the organizational values. He/she must be as transparent as possible to maintain the credibility of the company or organization. Lying or distorting the reality may mar the organizations image. He/she must be able to manage crisis (Parsons, 2016). For instance, when the Airlines Companys employees took such a drastic measure of throwing out a passenger, it was the Public Relations officers duty to look after the matter without any biasness. It was his/her responsibility to convey this message to the companys owner without any distortion of the reality. The Public Relations manager could have applied some strategies in order to fix things, by apologizing in front of the media (Pearson Mitroff, 2013). A few months later, a giant rabbit was found dead on the United Airlines, which was flying to Chicago from London. An incident like this does not make international news, but due to the Doctors case, each and every mistake made by the Airlines group was shown across the world. Such was the negative impact of the company, that even the Public Relations officer couldnt manage the crisis (Smith, 2013). The brutal video drew huge attention of people even in China, which is an emerging market for the Airlines Company. Dao claimed that he was being targeted most likely because he is Asian. Therefore, this will also have an adverse affect on the companys business in that zone, as majority of the future passengers would have probably seen the video (Stacks, 2016). In order to avoid such a situation in the future and to gain customers trust and faith, the Public Relations officer of the company need to undertake several strategies and implement those. Being the companys life blood, it is his/her duty to change its impression and bring it into positive light. In my opinion, the company should not allow the security forces to get involved in situations where they are not required. Dr. Dao was being forcefully removed by the security agents from the flight even when he didnt pose any security risk. The Public Relations practitioner must make the companys employees clear regarding their duties and responsibilities (Wilcox, Cameron Reber, 2015). Secondly, none of the customers will be forced in giving their seats up, involuntarily, unless there is a safety or security issue. Therefore, it is the duty of the officer to undertake such strategies to save the companys image. Thirdly, if any customer voluntarily gives his/her seat up, he/she must be off ered with compensation up to 10,000 dollars. In the flight, where Daos incident occurred the passengers were given only 800 dollars travel credit, with expenses and accommodation for that particular time being (Ye Ki, 2012). The company must create a solutions team for the customers, whose task will be finding alternative solutions for the flights which are overbooked, like rerouting the customers in nearby airports. The Public Relations officer must be available, if any issue occurs at the time of selection. His/her duty is to make the customers understand in a very humble way. Crew members of the flight should be booked at least sixty minutes before the departure. Daos incident occurred because the Airlines tried accommodating four members from the crew, as because their earlier flight got delayed (Bryce, 2017). Staffs must receive trainings on how to behave with the passengers. The Public Relations officer must make the employees understand on how to handle tough and most difficult situations in the most effective and efficient way. Automated systems must be introduced through the apps, which will record a customers interest if he voluntarily gives up his/her seat in overbooked flights. In such a case , the Public Relations practitioner must check the entire issue and arrange for compensation. Even if any customers bag is lost, the company must be ready to pay compensation for the loss (Coombs, 2014). In this era of social media, news travels really fast, be it bad or good. Social media has the ability to bring out the truth. A Public Relations officer has no longer the ability to shape his/her opinion through a Press Release or House Journal. The raw and opinionated news have already started shaping peoples views. If any mishap occurs, anybody can record the entire incident and upload it very quickly. So there is no point of hiding the truth from the media and at times, media comes to know about an incident before the company itself (Austin Pinkleton, 2015). This gives rise to crisis situations. Over here, the Public Relations officer of the company comes to the rescue. With his strong communication skills and good command over language, he/she has the ability to turn any incident into the companys favor. At times, saying the word sorry can change everything. Therefore, it is his/her duty to take full responsibility of the companys wrong doings and manage things in accordance wi th that (Austin, Fisher Liu Jin, 2012). Conclusion To conclude, Public Relations managers are appointed by every company and reputed individuals. Famous personalities, especially politicians employ Public Relations professionals in order to maintain a good image in front of their followers. It is a strategy which helps any organization or individual in maintaining its corporate identity. The sole purpose of Public Relations is to develop a two way communication, in order to resolve the conflicts of interest and by seeking common areas or grounds of mutual interest. It helps to establish an understanding based on the truth, with full information and knowledge. Therefore, Public Relations is building a relating with a unit, that is, organization or any individual, on which it depends for its viability. Its practice as a profession can be regarded as art being applied to science. A Public Relations officer should be a professional journalist. He/she should maintain high moral and ethical standards as his/her conduct reflects the conduct of an organization or a company. Effective Public Relations helps in establishing a meeting point to the highest degree of adjustment between an organization and its publics. It is based on reality and not on images, whether true or false. Actions and deeds that serve the interest of the public are the basis of sound Public Relations. Recommendations The Public Relations manager needs to scan the future of the company where he/she works. He/she needs to build a scenario or a good image of the company in front of its publics. The Public Relations manager should have good communication and convincing skills. He/she needs to be a good orator. Moreover, he/she can write press releases, house journals, and present annual reports or organize a press conference, which will give detailed information about the companys products or what it deals with, its success and failure as well. Hiding failure details may mar the companys reputation. So the Public Relations manager must be honest, truthful and avoid hiding details of the company to its sponsors. He/she should open up and discuss plans with the companys publics in order to gain their faith and trust. Odwalla Foods Company PR crisis The Odwalla Foods Company had the worst nightmare when Washington State linked e-coli outbreak to Odwallas unpasteurized apple juice. It caught medias attention immediately and the outcome was so bad that the companys CEO Stephen Williamson promised to pay all the medical costs for those who got affected. It spent the next few months in building its good image and reputation. It focused on the relations, by advertising, publicizing and organizing press conferences. However, due to inefficient Public Relations, the Odwalla Foods Company lost the battle and suffered huge losses. Eventually, Coca Cola food Company bought the Odwalla Company for 186 million dollars in the year 2001 (Duh, 2015). Pepsi PR management Therefore, from the above example, it is evident that a company needs a good Public Relations officer, to manage the crisis, whenever needed. A good example of managing crisis can be the involvement of the famous aerated drink, Pepsi, with a case which marred the image of the drink in Washington. Rumor was; a syringe was allegedly found in the drink. There were more than fifty reports of tampering Diet Pepsi but all those turned out to be a hoax. Negative publicity is never ideal, no matter what the situation is. 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