(Exclusive to PR News from the Institute for Public Relations)
How To Measure Strategic Relationships
What gets measured gets managed, says an axiom to which many CEOs subscribe. As important as media measurement may be, is that all you aspire to manage? James E. Grunig,
professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, and Linda Hon, professor at the University of Florida, are leading theorists on measuring and managing strategic
relationships as the ultimate value of public relations to an organization.
Research in interpersonal communication and psychology identifies four major indicators of successful relationships:
- Control mutuality - stability requires that organizations and publics each have some control over the relationship.
- Trust - measured in three dimensions of integrity (the belief that the other party is fair and just), dependability (the other will do what it says it will) and competence
(the other has the ability to do what it says it will). - Satisfaction - each party has positive expectations and believes the benefits of the relationship outweigh the costs.
- Commitment - each party feels that the relationship is worth maintaining.
Hon and Grunig argue that these indicators can be used to measure organization/public relationships, and that two types of relationships also should also be assessed:
- The Exchange Relationship - where one party provides benefits because the other has reciprocated in the past or is expected to do so in the future (such as a marketing
relationship). - The Communal Relationship - where both parties provide benefits because each is concerned for the other even when they might get nothing specific in return (such as some
corporate social responsibility programs).
Valid techniques and questions for quantitative as well as qualitative measurement of these indicators and types of relationships are available free at http://www.instituteforpr.com.
Contact: Frank Ovaitt, [email protected]