PRL2002 Community Consultation and Development

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PRL2002Community Consultation and Development

• Lecture 1

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The Course Design

• Please refer to the Course Handout (please read
  the whole document carefully). Also ensure you
  read the Course Specification carefully.

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Our Journey - New Territory

• Community consultation is a relatively new field
  of academic study - we examine some quite
  contemporary material.
• You will need to use contemporary sources to
  access material relating to consultation - eg.
  internet, journal articles.

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Consultation as part of the Work of Public
Relations

• Organisations have changed to embrace the
  principle of communicating with publics
• Todays public relations professional works to
  develop relationships and involve publics in the
  life of the organisation.
• The concept of consulting with these publics has
  grown in significance and is a key part of
  contemporary public relations practice.

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Experiential Course Design

• Mutual Learning
• Participation in practice
• Opportunities to test consultative skills
• Requires your commitment, preparation and
  participation for it to work for everyone

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Connecting with the Real World

• Guest Speakers will be visiting - you will have
  opportunities to learn from professionals in the
  field.
• Assignment 2 will help you discover how Community
  Consultation is emerging as an area of public
  relations career opportunity

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Some Early Impressions

• Watch the following powerpoint presentation.
• Consider what you think community consultation
  involves.
• What ideas in the presentation seem to be quite
  cutting edge or controversial?

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Four Main Areas of Study
Section 1 The context of community consultation
Community Consultation and Development is placed
within a historical framework. The nature of
organisations is examined to show how a move from
command-control approaches to application of an
open systems model has brought about the need for
widespread and planned consultative practices.
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Four Main Areas of Study
Section 2 Theoretical Insights
Introduces the broad theoretical context which
relates to the concept of human systems, chaos
and new paradigm thinking. Includes the concept
of democracy and traces developments occurring in
organisations which show s the move to
participatory practices and perspectives.
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Four Main Areas of Study
Section 3 Consultant Considerations
Examines the roles, activities and skills, which
are required of the public relations professional
conducting community consultation. Issues
relating to facilitating adult and group learning
are also examined.
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Four Main Areas of Study
Section 4 Phases of the Consultation Process
A generic model of the Community Consultation
process is developed preliminary research and
planning. information dissemination and
awareness, planning and applying consultative
methods, information collation and analysis, and
evaluating consultative and participative
processes.
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Today The Context

• The changing nature of organisations
• The rise of active publics
• Leading to
• The establishment of community relations

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Organisational History

• Strong Silo approach
• The public be damned
• Hierarchical structures
• Autocratic leadership
• Information as control

At bottom, desire to command and control is a
deadly, destructive compulsion.(Hock 1999, p.24)
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The Fall of the Command-Control Organisation

• The Rise of Active Publics
• Organisations held accountable for impact (on
  environment, communities, society)
• Social responsibility
• Government intervention
• Open Systems approach

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The Industrial age, hierarchical,
command-and-control institutions that, over the
past four hundred years, have grown to dominate
our commercial, political and social lives are
increasingly irrelevant in the face of the
exploding diversity and form (Hock 1999,
pp.15-16)
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Society used to differentiate clearly between
public and private affairs. The company was
required to abide by institutionalised norms and
values of society But today it is no longer
sufficient to abide by institutionalised norms
and values ... The company is also required to
exercise the social responsibility of
participating in negotiations or discussions as
to which norms and values should apply
Companies also have the possibility of taking
part in policy making ... (Jensen Rud 1995,
pp.13-14)
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Companies that do not balance strategic intent
with community expectations are likely to find
their business aims and opportunities thwarted,
and even more damaging, discover that their
license to operate becomes increasingly curtailed
...
At the same time, the publics changed
expectations present significant economic
opportunities for companies.
(Burke 1999, p.xiv)
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Leading to
The Establishment of Community Relations
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Work for This Week

• TextIntroductionChapters 1 2
• Selected Readings1.1 to 1.8