Lecture One, Week One - Thursday July 25

Issues Management and Issues Management and Strategic Planning Strategic Planning

PRL2001PRL2001

Course Examiner - Elizabeth Dougall

Lecture One, Week 1, Semester 2 2002

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Course OrganisationCourse Organisation

A one hour lecture & a two hour tutorial weekly Tutorials start next week

Consultation Times: Wed 9:00 pm – 12:00 noon Thurs 9:00 am – 10 am Location: Q211 Telephone: 4631 1055 Email: dougall@usq.edu.au

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Text and Reference MaterialsText and Reference Materials

Heath, Robert L., 1997, Strategic Issues Management - Organisations and Public Policy Challenges, SAGE Publications, California.

Book of Selected Readings

Library Resources - Books, Journals, Electronic Databases. Some relevant topics include: issues management, public policy, public opinion,

reputation management, mass communication concepts and theories.

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Course ObjectivesCourse Objectives Clarify the purposes of an

issues management program and understand the importance of proper and legitimate planning;

Establish mechanisms and develop standards for issues management and crisis control;

Formalise an issues management structure;

Develop offensive activities that enable the co-ordination, control, analysis and reporting of strategic management procedures;

Know how to develop positive relationships with key publics.

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TopicsTopics

Planning and Investigation - Developing Survival Strategies; Concepts of Communication; How and When to Communicate; Understanding Public Policy; Taking Control – the Scanning Process; The Role of Communication and Strategic Planning; Confronting a Crisis; The Crisis Response Mechanism; Elements of the Crisis Management Plan; Evaluation and Policy Design; Principles of Effective Crisis Management;

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AssessmentAssessment

2 assignments 1 exam

Tutorial presentations and group participation will be required for the assignments. Assessment details will be provided in tutorials.

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Objectives – Week 1Objectives – Week 1

Understand the basic concept of issues management

Explain the significance of external environments in issues management

Define an “issue” Understand issues management within the

context of the development of public relations Outline Renfro’s issue lifecycle

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What is issues management?What is issues management?

There is no single, widely agreed-upon definition of issue/issues management.

The discipline is still evolving.

According to Yancey Crane (1995) An Issue is “a gap between corporate

performance and stakeholder expectations.” Issues Management is the process used to

close that gap.

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Issues management is ….Issues management is ….

The management of organisation and community resources through public policy process to advance organisational interest and rights by striking a mutual balance with those of stakeholders.

It supports strategic business planning and management by understanding public policy, by meeting standards of corporate responsibility expected by key stakeholders, and by using two-way communication to foster understanding and minimise conflict.

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Issues management is ….Issues management is ….

It adapts products, services, or operations. It is not limited to media relations, customer relations, or government relations.

It is engaged in strategic business planning options that may change operations, products, or services as well as communicate to establish mutual interests and achieve harmony with stakeholders.

It is expected to keep the firm ethically attuned to its community and positioned to exploit, mitigate, and foster public policy changes as they relate to the corporate mission.

(Heath, 1997)

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What is issues management?What is issues management?

The issues management process is said to have begun in the US with Howard Chase in 1976. His model encompasses five (5) steps:

Issue Identification Issue Analysis Priority Setting Issue Action Evaluate Results

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The Evolution of Issues The Evolution of Issues ManagementManagement

In the 1970s consumer and other advocacy and activist groups, government legislators and major stakeholders in company concerns began to demand more accountability from corporations and from government.

This was a direct result of the information revolution

More than ever publics had access to media and information that brought new knowledge

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The Evolution of Issues The Evolution of Issues ManagementManagement

Publics became more vigilant of the operations of business and government

The mass media contributed to the “exposure” process.

Organisations began to attempt to respond to these demands in various ways.

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The Evolution of Issues The Evolution of Issues ManagementManagement

Originally issues management was about changing attitudes - usually of the corporate critics such as advocacy and activist groups.

Largely one way asymmetrical or possibly two way asymmetrical (scientific persuasion);

Advocacy advertising was the tool with which issues were addressed (Heath & Cousino, 1990)

“Issues management is a product of activism and the increasing intra and inter-industry pressures by corporations to define and implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) - as well as debate in public what the standards of CSR should be.”

(Heath & Cousino, 1990)

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The Evolution of Issues The Evolution of Issues ManagementManagement

“..advocates of issues management were communication specialists…many executives assumed that critics of business could be ‘shouted down’…”.

Issues Management started with a “communication bias” which featured ‘issues advertising’.

This type of advertising produced a backlash. Some companies shouting loudest deserved

regulation most.(Heath & Cousino, 1990)

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The Evolution of Issues The Evolution of Issues ManagementManagement

1978 - Public Affairs Council Issues management is “…a program which

a company uses to increase its knowledge of the public policy process and enhance the sophistication and effectiveness of its involvement in that process…”

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The Evolution of Issues The Evolution of Issues ManagementManagement

The key functions identified were planningmonitoringanalyzingcommunicating

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The Evolution of Issues The Evolution of Issues ManagementManagement

IM evolved alongside strategic business planning

The functions are interrelated - environmental scanning in particular.

Issues management is a comprehensive activity which consists of specific functions, some of which require the expertise of public relations practitioners, and the performance of which can strengthen the rationale for including public relations in the dominant coalition of corporations.

(Heath & Cousino, 1990)

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The Evolution of Issues The Evolution of Issues ManagementManagement

“No uniform view of issues management appears in public relations texts, the basis by which a discipline codifies itself. Most texts which discuss issues management treat it as a communication tool. A few emphasize its issue monitoring functions. What is largely ignored is its role in strategic planning and corporate social responsibility”.

(Heath and Cousino, 1990)

“It is becoming more important to assess what is good for the corporation in a more holistic setting.”

(Yancey Crane, 1995)

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The Evolution of Issues The Evolution of Issues ManagementManagement

Heath and Cousino suggest that issues management requires four functions:

involvement of public policy experts in strategic business planning and management;

issue communication issue monitoring and analysis efforts to meet changing standards of corporate

social responsibility

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Issues and ‘areas of concern’Issues and ‘areas of concern’

Issues can take many different forms.

They can range from having an extremely narrow, limited focus to being broad general topics that can affect virtually every public (stakeholder or stakeseeker) an organisation must deal with.

For example, the environment is not an issue but an area of concern.

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Issues and ‘areas of concern’Issues and ‘areas of concern’

Logging, wood chipping, waste management and ozone depletion are issues; the generic term - environment - is not the issue, it is simply the area of concern.

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The Lifecycle of an Issue . . .The Lifecycle of an Issue . . . Renfro (1993) argues that the early stages of

the issues development process include Birth - in changing personal or social values, new

technologies, new impacts, social change etc. Definition - an event that defines and focuses the issues

in the publics mind. Name - the development and acceptance of a single

word or phrase Champion - a person or person who campaign the issue Group - formal or informal groups who participate in the

issue process Media Recognition - helps moves the issue up the

public agenda.

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Questions for TutorialsQuestions for Tutorials Can you identify any current examples of an

organisation attempting to influence public policy, for example,legislation & regulation?

Was it successful?

What are the implications for the organisation’s relationships?

Is there any evidence of the organisation using managed communication?

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Before next weekBefore next week

READ Heath’s Preface and Chapter one in order to develop a grasp of his approach to the discipline - in particular, his theoretical assumptions and framework.