PRS201 Public Relations Theory and Practice

 Write a 2,500-word report; outlining the PR errors made by a company in a real case from the business world; and make recommendations as to how the company should have handled the issue from a PR perspective. Your answer should draw on your knowledge of PR theory, practical considerations, and your own creativity.

Choose one of the three companies/issues listed below:

• United Airlines’ removal of Dr. David Dao from Flight 3411, which was awaiting departure from Chicago to Louisville, and was overbooked.
• CommInsure, the insurance arm of Commonwealth Bank, pressuring doctors as part of its strategy to avoid payouts to ill and terminally ill patients
• Volkswagen’s diesel emissions scandal.

Public relation is essential to be maintained for an organization so that growth can be attained. With the increase in the economic changes it is evaluated that if the organization do not have effective public relation, then it can be difficult to survive in the competitive environment. By taking into consideration public relation, it is seen that there are many problems that are faced by the organization. In this report, the discussion will be made on the topic that is based on United Airlines recent mistreatment of passengers and how the company has faced the issues for attaining goals and objectives.

This case has given focus on how public relations of united airlines have provided assistance in analyzing the negative impact on the brand image of the organization.

Public relations goals and issues

  The case study discusses about the United Airlines passenger. In this case, the passengers are asked to leave the flight on a Chicago- Louisville Flight, removal of the first class passengers on a Hawaii- La Flight. This case gives a reflection on the American biggest case that was circulated by the social media. In this, the people are dragging the passenger due to the overbooked flight (Van Dijck, 2013). It has given negative impact on the image of the company and also there is lack of public relation issues faced by the United Airlines.  The main emphasis should be given to enhance the public relation and also on the PR issues related to the organization.  The business can enhance its effectiveness if the public relations are maintained properly (Pritchard & Howard, 2015).

Public Relation and Communication model followed

It is important for the organization to increase the public relations with the stakeholders. If the company does not have effective public relations, then it can be very difficult to attain profitability and growth.  There are various methods that can be taken into consideration by the organization, so that there can be an increase in the public relation with the stakeholders. The company takes into consideration social media methods like newspaper, a cyber-computing system that assists the company to interact with the customers and other stakeholders (Killian & McManus, 2015).  

It is analyzed that the CEO of the company take into consideration social media and various methods, so that the actual happening cannot be accessed and also that why the employees were forced to leave on a Chicago Louisville flight, removal of first-class passengers on a Hawaii – La flight. By taking into consideration the social media, the company was not able to attain the targets. The social media crisis began on April 9th Aboard Flight 3411. In this flight, the four members were said to leave the space for the crew members (Boyd, 2014).

 The incident that took place was recorded and the videos and pictures were viral on the social media sites. This incident has given negative impact on the image of the company.  The video was viral due to the lack of public relation. The public relation is not so good and the video and pictures went viral on the national and international level.  The CEO of the company also conducted an online meeting. In the meeting, the discussion was made and also he apologizes to the public and explained the case to the people by taking into consideration social media channels.

United Airlines has to take into consideration alternative solutions

The CEO of the company should consider various methods so that the public relation effectiveness can be enhanced.  The company has to face many issues due to the ineffective public relation. It is seen that the social media and web information channel was found not so effective, when the discussion is made with the public (Wittman, 2014). The negative impact was given on the image of the company and also people considered the services ineffective. The response to the public was not so good and also they face many issues. The public relation of the organization is not so good, and it has given direct impact on the profitability and goodwill of the company (Pepe, 2014). It is also seen that the management and CEO of the company declined to justify the incident which has given a bad position to the company in the market.  There are many clients who opposed the services that are offered by the company and this is all due to the ineffective public relation in the company.   It is important for an organization to have proper public relations, so that the company can effectively conduct the activities and achieve the goals and objectives (Ruths & Pfeffer, 2014).

Research, Planning, Implementation and evaluation activities the company takes into consideration to resolve the issues

The company has faced the disaster of the public relation due to the incident of the American third biggest carrier which was being viral online for dragging the passenger due to the overbooking in the flight. By having the negative impact on the image of the company, the airlines faced many issues. The negative impact was due to the video that was uploaded to the social media. The company established various public relation policies on which the company has given emphasis. The policies were introduced in the press conference and also the important information was circulated by taking into consideration effective social media, so that the negative impact of the video can be minimized (Chang et al., 2015).The case that took place was evaluated and proper information was shared by taking into consideration the entire scenario at that moment. The CEO said that the information that is spread is false and half of the incident was present in a wrong manner.  When the program was implemented, proper views and thoughts are taken into consideration to describe the business operations (Holloway, 2017).  Google image section was also considered, so that the images can be presented in a correct manner.  

United airlines tried their level best to enhance the goodwill in the market. For the betterment of the stakeholders, the actual information was publicized. The share of the company and also the brand image goes down on a high amount.  The activities that have been recommended by the company is related to the cyber computing enterprises resources planning to communicate effectively all the details to the public. This will help to enhance the level of productivity and profitability of the organization (Bamber et al., 2013).

Concept of Open and closed communication

Open and closed communications are two types of organization in which the entrepreneur conduct the day to day operations in an effective manner.  It is seen that the open system organization is connected with disclosing all the information with the society and the stakeholders by taking into consideration systematic reporting frameworks (De Neufville, 2016).  The open system organization tries to keep the organization transparent and also enhance the activities of the organization. An open organization tries to interact with the environment by taking into consideration the concept of giving and receiving the information. By taking into consideration closed organization it is seen that the overall efficiency is enhanced in the business. It also enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization (Cacchiani et al., 2016).

The impact of open and closed organization gives impact on the reporting framework of the organization.  There are many open system communication that is conducting the activities on the international level. If the closed organization is compared then it is seen the company is less inclined towards the sharing of the information with the public (Chen et al., 2017).

 By proper evaluation of the annual report of the company, it is seen that the company has followed the concept of an open organization that takes into consideration harmonization in its IFRS rules and domestic accounting standards to enhance the transparency of the organization. The public relation will be affected by taking into consideration the open and closed organization. It is seen that the public relation is related to build and maintain the internal and external relations. Public relation helps the organization to enhance its value and also the profitability can be achieved in an effective manner.  

If the organization has proper public relation then profitability can be easily achieved.   The focus should be given on adopting the effective public relation in its value chain activities, then the company can easily save from the disaster that is taking place in the company.  After uploading the video it is seen that the company face many problems and also the negative impact is given on the image of the company (James & Rajendran, 2013).

Public relation plan of the United Airline

The crisis takes place on April, 9th aboard flight 3411 in which total 4 members are asked to leave the seats and to make a space for the crew members. The company takes into consideration social media and cyber computing system so that the strength can be maintained by the CEO of the company.

Objectives

The main objective of the company is to maintain the brand image in the market, so that the company can easily accomplish the goals and objectives.

Goals

To enhance the effectiveness of the public shared information, the company should follow proper cyber computing enterprises resources planning. If the focus is given to cyber computing then the communication can be conducted effectively (Blain, 2017).

Message

The company has reduced its brand image and also the overall outcome of the business.

Strategies

The company gives focus on the strategies that give a positive impact on the image of the company. The company tries to take into consideration newspaper and also computing system so that the effectiveness of existing communication channel can be enhanced. Effective strategies should be adopted by the organization, so that the activities can be conducted inefficient manner and also the positive impact is given on the image of the united airlines.  If the company adopts proper strategies then it can help to grow and also enhance the market share in the competitive environment (Clark, 2017).

Tactics

The company should give focus on enhancing the effectiveness by adopting new cyber computing enterprises resources planning system in its public relation methods.  It is seen that existing working activities of the company failed and also the public relation was less effective. Public relation is essential to be considered by the united airlines, and then only it can be possible to survive in the competitive environment (Cook & Billig, 2017).

 Evaluation

The case of the united airline was related to the use of social media and also other advertisements methods like newspaper, a cyber-computing system that failed to use at the time of giving justification of the incident (Vasigh et al., 2014). When the CEO of the company analyzed the downfall in the turnover and efficiency, then he has taken into consideration web information system and social media so that the public relation can be increased. It is essential to disclose the case and also to discuss about the incident that why employees were forced to leave Chicago – Louisville flight, removal of the first-class passenger on a Hawaii – La Flight. The negative impact is due to the video that was viral and it can create negative impact in the mind of the consumers (Kousoulidou & Lonza, 2016).

Objectives to be attained by the organization

By analyzing the situation of public relation, it is seen that the company has failed to attain the goals and objectives of the organization.  The company has taken into consideration various methods that help to enhance the goodwill in the market. If the goodwill is enhanced, then profitability can easily be attained.   The action plan also played a great role to implement new public relation system in the organization (Zou et al., 2017).

Analysis of the factors in the organization

By giving emphasis on the annual report, it is seen the public relation of the company was not so strong and also the image of the company was affected due to the video that went viral on the domestic and international level.  The organizational culture of the united airline is not client oriented and also many customized services are failed.  The public relation of the company is not so good and also the communication methods that are taken into consideration by the organization are not so effective to survive in the competitive environment.  United airlines faced many issues related to the revenue. The revenue of the company falls and it has affected the image of the company. Advertisement and web pages are used by the company, so that proper communication takes place with the stakeholders. It has also given a reflection on the public relation system of the organization.

Conclusion

By taking into consideration the case study of the united airlines it is seen that negative impact was given to the image of the company. The profitability of the company is also affected by the incident that took place.  It is seen when the image of the company become negative, then it is very difficult to build it again in the competitive environment.  By evaluating the annual report it is seen that overall profitability and growth of the organization is decreased which has given effect on the working pattern. The public relation introduced by the company is not so effective, that failed to attain the objectives and the goals.  It is analyzed that if united airlines could not be able to adopt new cyber computing enterprises in the business.

It is important for an organization to take into consideration effective communication and cyber computing enterprises planning for accomplishing the goals and objectives. Now, in the end, it is seen that to enhance the efficiency of the business and also to maintain goodwill in the organization. To increase the image of the company in the market, it is important for the united airlines to operate the activities in an efficient manner. Now, in the end, it is concluded that united airlines have to enhance the efficiency of its business and also to enhance the overall effectiveness to mitigate the negative impact of that case.  

Recommendations

 By analyzing the case study of the united airlines, it is seen that the company should take into consideration new cyber computing enterprises, so that the growth and profitability can be enhanced in an effective manner. It is essential for an organization to give focus on maintaining the public relation, so that the goals and objectives can be accomplished in a proper way. If the company does not have proper goodwill in the mind of the consumers, then it can lead to serious problem in accomplishing the profitability and growth.

References

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