Institutionalizing Public Relations in China †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Institutionalizing Public Relations in China A Sociological Analysis of the CPPC. Answer: Public relations has always been conceived as a strategic management tool. However, organizations practice public relations for socio-political reasons as well. A good example is the presidential press conferences in the US, which have been practiced since the 1930s. In 1993 the Chinese government also started holding press conferences with the aim of benefiting the government. Institutionalization is a process of construction based on some logic of collective action. Once public relations is institutionalized, it becomes a regular social pattern. Institutionalized actions can be exterior or objective. Firms must conform to external environmental pressures like social values, norms, and beliefs to maintain a good public image. Legitimization, institutionalization and public relations are closely related. As a firm involves in legitimate actions, it builds a good public image. If these actions are habitualized, institutionalization is ignited. Legitimacy and authority rely on three principles- traditional, legal-rational and charismatic. Institutionalization of PR under Legal-rational system helps in creating a good organizational image. The traditional approach deals with the long-term effects of institutionalization while charismatic approach depends on a particular person with charisma. Taiwes in 1984 divided the charismatic leadership style of the Communist Party of China into revolutionary, performance-based, nationalist and synthetic. Performance-based principle stresses on goal achievement, while revolutionary and synthetic are based on the personalities of the leader. In China, it was learnt that relying only on Performance-based source of legitimacy was inconvenient, with growth of nationalism and soft power. Therefore, combining utilitarianism and performance-based approaches would provide an active form of legitimacy. China has also strived to improve its legitimacy by using legal-rational factors like the direct election systems and retirement system established by Politburo. In evaluating Institutionalization in socio-political activities, three elements are vital; impact on behavior, the existence of stability over time and structural features. In the case study, both qualitative analysis through evaluation of extensive historical sources, in-depth interviews and official documents and quantitative analysis through the study of the texts of CPPCs from 1993 to 2011were conducted. The study showed that after the 1980s more political conferences were held to showcase governments accountability to the people. In 1983 a spokesman mechanism was established in Chinas central government. The NPC and CPPCC also developed their new spokesmen in the same year. The process of institutionalizing the CPPC has two sets of structural relations- those between NPCSC and other government administrative organs and the communist party, and those within the NPCSC itself. The Presidential conference in the US and the CPPC have similar formats. They both start with Presidential speech and then a question and answer session. In the US, formal and informal press conferences can be held in various locations at specified times. On the other hand arrangements for CPPC are done in advance, and there is pre-submission of questions. The opportunities to ask questions in the CPPC are very limited as compared to the US. The people who get opportunities to ask questions and the questions they ask are dictated by those in administrative departments. These restrictions show how the Chinese government has rationalized its legitimacy in institutionalizing public relations.