Sorting Out the Chaos for Public Relations Leaders

Marc Compte-Pujol, Joan Cuenca-Fontbona, and Paula Pineda-Martínez

Introduction

The volume you have in your hands includes a series of works derived from various scientific research that focus on the leadership of people responsible for public relations and communication in organizations. These leaders face constant and sudden changes in their environment, to which any organization is exposed. Unfortunately, this context has become normalized.

The starting point is found in the fundamental purpose of public relations, a discipline dedicated to managing communication in environments characterized by instability, insecurity and complexity. This may include dynamic, uncertain or conflictive scenarios, as well as embarrassing crises and information overload among various social actors. Since its inception, public relations have conceived and executed communication strategies aimed at mitigating conflicts that may affect the reputation of the parties involved, while promoting authentic and solid relationships between the organizations they have represented and their various publics, as well as with other social groups they have been able to serve. This discipline, based on empirical research, has developed strategies, facilitated decision-making and trained the different actors involved to face turbulent environments with proven effectiveness (Anderson-Meli & Koshy, 2020; Cutlip & Center, 1978; Grunig & Hunt, 2000; Heide & Simonsson, 2015; Johansen et al., 2012; Kim et al., 2019; Kunsch, 1986; L’Etang, 2009; L’Etang et al., 2016; López Menacho, 2018; Losada-Díaz, 2018; Matilla & Marca, 2013; Mazzei & Butera, 2021; Murphy, 2000; Ulmer et al., 2018; Wilcox et al., 2015; Xifra, 2017; Yaxley, 2022).

The hyperconnected society we live in is a constant melting pot of chaos and permacrisis (Sriramesh et al., 2020; Taylor, 2010). The speed with which information about any event or situation spreads raises all the alarms and shapes the communicative and relational interactions between social actors, both at local and supranational levels. In this context, the ability to reach agreements among disagreements becomes more crucial than ever.

Non-linear and disruptive change has become the norm for organizations and society in general (Ragas & Ragas, 2021). War conflicts, climate change, drought, poverty, inequality and the silent increase in violence, abuse and exploitation are just some of the most notable events today, with economic, political, technological, and social consequences whose scope remains unpredictable for organizations and their audiences.

In this context, called with the acronym VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) (Baran & Woznyj, 2021; Dühring & Zerfass, 2021; Ragas & Ragas, 2021), public relations emerge as a vital resource to help organizations to address these challenges. This is because the strategic component of communication, inherent to the discipline, is essential to confer agility to the organization (Baran & Woznyj, 2021; Dühring & Zerfass, 2021; Ragas & Ragas, 2021; Werder, 2021). In this sense, the praxis of public relations plays a fundamental role in reducing uncertainty and ambiguity, simplifies the complex issues facing the organization and monitors any volatile factors that could otherwise increase organizational fragility and complicate its understanding for key audiences. The corrective that public relations provide is to persistently build positive images and cultivate support and alliances with these audiences (Dühring & Zerfass, 2021). Furthermore, by providing constant interaction with stakeholders, public relations fosters innovation and facilitates organizational evolution (Ragas & Ragas, 2021), with two-way communication being the cornerstone of this adaptation process (Baran & Woznyj, 2021).

Recovering the notion of agility, understood as the ability of individuals, teams or organizations to anticipate and respond quickly to change (Baran & Woznyj, 2021), this competence becomes essential among leaders in charge of guiding their organizations in the midst of turbulence (Baran & Woznyj, 2021; Dühring & Zerfass, 2021; Ragas & Ragas, 2021). According to Baran and Woznyj (2021, p. 1), “For organizations, agility involves ongoing sensing and monitoring of the environment and of the organization’s stakeholders to detect and respond rapidly to weak signals of threats or opportunities.” Therefore, it is not surprising that authors such as Dühring and Zerfass (2021, p. 96) highlight that public relations, based on theories such as systems theory (Cutlip & Center,1978; Grunig & Hunt, 2000), the theory of complexity (Gilpin & Murphy, 2008; Murphy, 1996, 2000; Nothhaft & Wehmeier, 2007) and contingency theory (Long & Hazelton, 1987), address aspects related to the agility that should characterize the professional profile of public relations and, consequently, enable to manage the tumultuous environments that disrupt organizations. Thus, whether due to increased confusion, noise, or lack of understanding of the organizational environment, each of these phenomena represents a struggle and an opportunity that continually tests the practice of public relations (or demands responses by part of public relations).

Effective leadership that speeds up the handling of these scenarios requires a detailed analysis of the context, a crucial aspect to promote precise and appropriate strategies. According to authors such as Baran, Woznyj, Dühring and Zerfass, public relations leadership, through the communication strategy it promotes in organizations, must necessarily consider both the internal and external environment, which includes a variety of publics, such as employees, government authorities, industrial actors, competitors, activists, clients, among other audiences.