Graduation Year
2011
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Granting Department
Mass Communications
Major Professor
Kelly Page Werder, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Kimberly Golombisky, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Kelli Burns, Ph.D.
Keywords
management, public relations, communications, corporate culture, organization theory
Abstract
Almost 30 years ago, public relations scholars began to process the idea that the concept of culture was important to public relations practices. In particular, scholars questioned what influence culture might have on the communication process and relationship building between organizations and their stakeholders. Yet, today culture is still an understudied concept in the public relations literature. The purpose of this study is to analyze how of organizational culture, as defined by Sriramesh, J. E. Grunig, and Dozier (1996), is significant to the relationship outcomes in public relations. The theoretical framework for this study consists of organizational culture theory and organization-public relationship theory. A quantitative survey was used to measure an external public's perceptions of organizational culture and organizational-public relationships within an academic department. The research measures of authoritarian/participative culture to determine how it is related to the dimensions of organizational-public relationships, including control mutuality, trust, satisfaction, commitment, communal relationships, and exchange relationships. The results suggest how an organization can utilize perceptions of organizational culture and relationship management from external publics to develop and implement effective communication strategies.
Scholar Commons Citation
Fonseca Rivera, Cherisse, "Public Perceptions of Organizational Culture and Organization-Public Relationships" (2011). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/3105
