Models of Professionalism in the PR Industry

Models of Professionalism in the PR IndustryProfessionalism is an attempt to translate one and only(a) give of scarce resources, specialist knowledge and skills into brformer(a)ly and economic rewards (Larson, 1977). It is describes as a sphere of expertise and identifying level of figure and competencies among habitual dealings practitioners which has been developed for over hundreds years ago in our club. Different cosmos likenesss (PR) associations shall practice contrary forms of man get out ethics. For example most of PR associations adopted Code of Athens while others have their own enter of ethics as guidelines. In accordance to Brown (1986), he delineate ethics as a set of values that establishes the criteria by which send will be judged. Ethics excessively ar culture-bound and therefore perform some difficulties for global cosmos relations practice. Thus, Code of Ethics is a formal statement of an organisations values on certain ethical and social issu es.The famous four models that influence the contemporary frequent relation theories of practice were suitable from Grunig and Hunts (1984). They comprised of globe agentry / in the earthly concern eye(predicate)ity that was dod to draw attention to an event. A two-way asymmetric will deal with the feedback from the cosmos by providing compelling colloquy. Whereas a two way symmetric is mutual understandings between the globe and organisation that was built through dialogue, listening and understanding. Other theories discussed are the systems scheme that helped to explain and predict organisation behaviours and contri nonwithstandingion of PR role to the entity as whole. A situational theory is a tools to categorise publics perceptions of a situation and their posterior behaviour and agenda setting theory discussed about the media and the way password is selected by media outlets for consumption by the public (Sheehan Xavier 2009).PR practitioner are demanded to be et hical as they go concernal. According to Seithel (1997), PR practitioner must(prenominal) be honest and trustworthy to cater the requirements of the public and individual organisation in order to protect those who entrust their hearty universe to the artal (try to rephrase the sentence- vague). They also need to protect their vocation values and commit themselves to uphold the profession by honouring its obligation and values. In order to quantify lordism, PR practitioner should demonstrate their skills on discussion special tasks. Professionalism are divided into three categories. First, it is an act to serve the manoeuver up spare-time activity of customer and public, Utility of vagueness (Kultgen,1988) which contributes to the ideological handling of functionalist models in the shin for status. Secondly, it acts as an ideology of advocacy (Simon, 1978) where professional is neutral and detached from the lymph glands purposes and also create an aggressive partisa n of the client working to advance the clients needs. Finally, they touch on a right that the public possesses by virtue of being the primary, generic unit in society. It is also denotes a benefit(s) from publics relationship with other units to catch the well-being of society as a whole.(nda ku paham) However as Bayles (1981) states not all responsibilities are those of individual professionals. Some are responsibilities of a profession as a whole and cannot be reduced to obligations of individual professionals.The use of professionalism normally linked in PR field with the expression of the need to meliorate occupational standing- body of knowledge, ethics and certification to understand the define characteristics of profession (Cutlip, Center Broom, 1994, pp.129-163 Grunig Hunt, 1984,pp. 66-69 Wylie, 1994). This is to improve the effectiveness of public relations as well as their image of presentation. But how? Any examplesFor example, convey of overt Relation in Malaysia does not belong to individual professional macrocosm Relations practitioner but its portals who desire the systematic, organized growth and teaching of state-supported Relations as a profession, who contribute positively to the nations perpetual growth and development in all spheres of human endeavours. This was subjected due to the different culture backgrounds and races in Malaysia. The main objective of Institute of Public Relation in Malaysia is to enhance professionalisms among public relations practitioners in Malaysia. To be much specific, the objectives of Institute of Public Relation in Malaysia are- 1.Supports research and other educational activities in public relations. 2.Giving advice and provide information and create opportunities for discussions on all aspects of public relation activities. 3.To evoke the understanding, development and recognition of public relations. 4.To established and prescribe standards of professional and ethical conduct and ensure the posting of those standards. 5.To encourage the attainment of professional academic qualification. 6.To nurture, promote and maintain contacts with public relation practitioners. The Institute of Public Relation in Malaysia (IPRM) has its own code of ethics to manage the practice of Public Relations in Malaysia. Public Relations practitioners in Malaysia are governed in two ways, firstly by the Code of Professional Conduct (Code of Athens) which was enforced by the institute of Public Relations Malaysia. Any negligence they can be fined and deregistered. Secondly, it is governed by the equity of the country where Public Relations practitioner can be sued or imprisoned for whatever offences committed under the law of the country such(prenominal) as Printing Presses and Publication function 1984, Seditition Act 1948, Defamation Act 1957, Copyright Act 1987 and Internal Security act 1960, revised in 1972.Institute of Public Relation in Malaysia Code of Ethics was adapted from the Cod e of Athens where all pieces should- 1.Conduct professional activities with respect for the public interest 2.Shall at all timedeal fairly and honestly with his client or employers, past and present, with fellow members and with the general public 3.Shall not by design disseminate false or misleading information maintain truth, the true and good taste. 4.Shall not engage in any practices which tend to screw up the integrity of channels of public communication. 5.Shall not create or use of any organisation purporting to serve some announced causebut actually promoting a special private interest of a member or his client or his employer which is not apparent 6.Shall safeguards the confidence of some(prenominal) present and formers clients and employers. Shall not disclose confidential information. 7.Shall not represent conflicting or competing interest 8.Shall not accept fees, commission or any other valuable consideration from anyone either than his client or employer. 9.Shall not attract business unfairly 10.Shall not purpose to prospective client or employer that his fee or other compensation to be dependent on(p) on the achievement of certain result. 11.Shall not intentionally injure the profession reputation or practice of another member 12.Shall not sedulous in or be connected with any occupation or business which is not consistent with membership of the institute. 13.Shall not seek to destroy another member with his/her employer or client, no shall he/she encroach upon the professional employment of another member unless both parties are assured that there is no conflict of interest involved. 14.Shall corporate with fellow members in upholding and enforcing the code.In Malaysia, system theory of public relations and strategy strengthen the concepts of public relations management in Malaysia. System theory (general system theory) is wide being applied to the field of public relation in order to explain and predict the organisational behaviours and explain how the public relations role contributes to the entity as a whole (Sheehan and Xavier, 2009). With the application of system theory, professional can work out their adaptive roles in shaping the standards of professionalism based on the concept of enrolment and adaptation of public relations. It is chief(prenominal) in creating transparency of the organisations to their environment. Professional public relations practitioners should be able to respond to the dynamic real world, curiously in competitive business environment (Cutlip et al., 2000 Cornelissen, 2004167) For example, case study through with(p) by Zulhamri Abdullah and Therry ThreadgoldWaste Management Company, CEOs stated that Unlike multinational companies which are taking a great concern over public relations as they have gone up and down, but some Malaysian companies have not really exposed to high competition and being having good at all time. Malaysian CEOs must be more than agile and competitive. co nverse is very important for a company to be appeared as the best company. This can be done by communication and engaging your business with external stakeholders. Thats why we invest in PR to be seen by our stakeholders. A real PR practitioner must be able to influence a CEOs thinking and judgement. Here, PR is a part of top management committee.This statement shows the importance of the role of PR in the company and how the CEOs trust the PR ideas and judgement towards decision- making. Good communication skills will help the PR to exploit the business deals with internal and external stakeholders. In order to realise this vision, the development of PR knowledge is important towards the professionalism in the field. For nurturing real professionals and improve level of competencies among PR fraternity, it will take a long process. A lack of talent, skills and competency among PR practitioners are the most critical issues faced by the organisations/sectors. Accreditation is an im portant requirement in professionalization of PR practice which is based on voluntary earlier than an imposed mandatory system. It should be more focus on providing technological and managerial knowledge and skills which is more complex and sophisticated.Social responsibility was the designing of IPRM and other PR Institute, in order to proof occupations value to the society by giving or putting facts which can be back up by the truth. Organisation in democratic societies exists with consent of the public so it is a must for the organisation to be socially responsible. There are some advantages and disadvantages of socially responsible PR. The advantages are by helping them to improve their professional practice through codifying and enforcing ethical conduct and standards of performance, stressing the need of the public. also they serves the public interest by discussing the view articulate in the assemblage and to promote human welfare by helping social system to adapt the c hanging needs and environments.Whereas as a drawback, PR gains advantages for and promote special interest, sometimes at the cost of the public well being, kill the channels of communication that confuses, and also corrodes the channel of communication with the cynicism and credibility gap.As shoemakers lasts, in order to be professional Public Relations practitioner, he/she must abide the code of ethics which have been provided by their organisations. They also should be trustworthy in handling specific task in order to gain trust from clients and the public itself. The level of skills to be professional will be judged through their expertise on handling the tasks given. ( dang ur conclusion not good enuf lah write more.. kalo boleh support with any statement)ReferencesAbdullah Z. Threadgold T. Towards the professionalization of Public relations in Malaysia Perception Management and Strategy Development. (accessed date 16/08/09)Barlett, J., Twyoniak, S. Hatcher, C. 2007. Publi c relations professional practice and the institutionalisation of CSR. Journal of Communication management, 11, 4, 281-99.Bivins, T. 1993. Public Relations, Professionalism, and the public interest. Journal of Business Ethics, Feb, 12, 2.Cornelissen, J.P. 2004. Corporate Communication conjecture and Practice. London Saga Publication.Cutlip, S.M., Center, A.H broom, G.M. 2000. Effective Public Relations. London Prentice Hall International, Inc.Institute of Public Relation in Malaysia.2009. Code of Ethics. http//www.iprm.org.my/index.php/code-of-athens/english-version (accessed date 16/08/09)Johnston J Zawawi C (eds), 2004, Public Relations Theory and Practice , 2nd edn, Allen and Unwin, Crows nest, NSWPieczka M. and LEtang J. 2006. Public relations and the question of professionalism, in LEtang and Pieczka (eds). Public Relations Critical Debates and coetaneous Practice.Mahwah NJ Lawrence Erlbaum, 265-78Sheehan M. Xavier R. (eds) 2009, Public Relations Campaigns, 1st edn, Copyri ght Agency Limited, Sydney NSW.