Building relationships between organizations and publics: Examining the linkage between organization‐public relationships,evaluations of satisfaction,and behavioral intent

Many public relations practitioners have not incorporated relationship management theory into the practice of public relations because the quantitative and qualitative benefits derived from effective relationship management have been, more often than not, inferred rather than demonstrated. The current investigation was designed to measure respondents’ perceptions of their relationship with an organization and determine the ways in which organization‐public relationships were linked to evaluations of satisfaction and behavioral intent. The results showed that organization‐public relationships indeed were related to respondent satisfaction evaluations and behavioral intent, suggesting that organizations should attend carefully and strategically to the management of organization‐public relationships. Implications of these findings were presented, and limitations to the current investigation discussed.     

Anatomy of a product safety crisis: Fonterra’s recall crisis in China

In 2013, the global dairy company Fonterra recalled its potentially contaminated Whey Protein Concentrates (WPC 80). This recall crisis led to a drop in sales in China not only for Fonterra but also all dairy products originating in New Zealand. We adopted the Cultural Discourse Studies approach (Shi, 2015) to present a holistic analysis of Fonterra’s crisis communication behavior with regard to this crisis. We treat Fonterra’s reactions to the recall crisis as a discursive/communicative event with multiple elements and focus on its cultural orientation. Though Fonterra reacted to the crisis in a professional manner, it ignored special concerns from the Chinese market and was clearly deficient in intercultural understanding and in communicating with the public. This resulted in an ineffective and asymmetrical communication and consequently its short-term failure. This paper enriches current crisis communication literature by providing a cultural discourse studies’ paradigm in addition to discussing crisis communication in a global context.     

A consumer's view of crisis communication: Can an organization benefit from having a response plan?

Crisis communication research establishes the importance of relationships between organizations and their publics. While theoretical treatments and case studies support this relationship, limited empirical investigations have examined how organizational responses to crisis influence public responses. This study sought to determine if grocery shoppers responded differently to organizations engaging in crisis communication practices and those that do not. Results indicate that respondents express stronger intention to continue purchasing from an organization and see the organization as concerned and respectful of the consumer when it engages in crisis communication practices. The discussion section addresses implications of these findings for future research and public relations practice.     

The door opens to a thousand blossoms: A preliminary study of communication and rural development in China (1979–88)

The economic reform underway in China from 1979 has brought remarkable change to the country, particularly in rural areas. What role do communications play in the process? What kind of communications via different media occurred in the consequential rural change? Does it have something to offer about communication and development? What can be improved and what should be continued with regard to communications in rural China? The purpose of this paper is to try and find answers by looking at the communication activities in rural China, with data from newspapers, personal observations and other literature. The analysis is based on existing theories followed by conclusions and implications for policy and planning. It is pointed out that concerns about basic human needs are the fundamental guideline for communication for development. Communications would greatly enhance development when basic information needs are met, which leads to fulfilment of basic human needs.     

An exploratory study of word‐of‐mouth communication in a hierarchy of effects context

Word‐of‐mouth (WOM) communication is introduced within a hierarchy‐of‐effects context. The results of a laboratory experiment suggest that amount of WOM information about products is less important than valence of that information. Counter to previous research implying a disproportionate influence of negative information on product evaluation, negative WOM information in the experiment reported resulted in less familiarity with the mentioned brand. Further, a somewhat surprising finding indicated that brand‐specific negative WOM communication can have the effect of decreasing primary demand for an entire product category.     

Government public relations when trouble hits: exploring political dispositions,situational variables,and government–public relationships to predict communicative action of publics

Government agencies may face a crisis due to their inappropriate responses to natural or man-made disasters. However, crisis communication in government public relations has not been extensively researched. This study aimed to explore a segmentation framework to predict the communicative action of citizens by using political dispositions, situational variables and organization–public relationships (OPRs). Ideology, voting history, trust, and problem recognition were significant factors to predict pro-government megaphoning, whereas referent criterion was a significant factor to predict anti-government megaphoning.     

Bordering Populism in Immigration Activism: Outlaw–Civic Discourse in a (Counter)Public

This study involved a rhetorical ethnography and textual analyses of an anti-immigration group over a six month period. I argue the collective engaged in a deleterious form of bordering populism, in which communicators continually attack and praise the same targets. This populism was generated by outlaw–civic shifts between marginalized, outsider stances, and more official, general cultural logics. The group demonstrated a fragile, fracturing approach to a public issue, and local, vernacular practices that are employed to bridge pressures for agitative and integrative movement communication in a pluralistic, globalizing environment. Overall, each of the group's stark rhetorical shifts for and against the government, businesses, and immigrants concurrently crafted and dismantled rhetorical borders, creating an unstable (counter)public forgoing the possibility of democratic communication and community.     

A case study: the evolution of a ��facilitator model�� liaison program in an academic medical library

Question:

What type of liaison program would best utilize both librarians and other library staff to effectively promote library services and resources to campus departments?

Setting:

The case is an academic medical center library serving a large, diverse campus.

Methods:

The library implemented a “facilitator model” program to provide personalized service to targeted clients that allowed for maximum staff participation with limited subject familiarity. To determine success, details of liaison-contact interactions and results of liaison and department surveys were reviewed.

Results:

Liaisons successfully recorded 595 interactions during the program''s first 10 months of existence. A significant majority of departmental contact persons (82.5%) indicated they were aware of the liaison program, and 75% indicated they preferred email communication.

Conclusion:

The “facilitator model” provides a well-defined structure for assigning liaisons to departments or groups; however, training is essential to ensure that liaisons are able to communicate effectively with their clients.     

Janina Wójcicka Hoskins (1912–1996): Portrait of an Esteemed Librarian

In this article the author provides a glimpse of the life and work of Janina Wójcicka Hoskins, an influential Slavic librarian, who worked at the Library of Congress (LC) from 1951 to 1989. She emigrated from Poland during World War II. Through her efforts, the Polish collections at LC became the largest in the United States. She also mentored a number of younger Slavic librarians.     

The Development of News as a Viable Format in Philippine Radio (1960s–Present): A Study of DZRH and DZBB

This article traces the development of news as programming content in Philippine radio from the 1960s to the present. Two radio stations, DZRH and DZBB, were chosen for the study. Aside from their popularity among Metro Manila listeners, they are also similar in content (news and information-oriented programs) and have long histories. The case studies show the socio-political, regulatory, economic, and technological influences on the metamorphosis of DZRH and DZBB into news-oriented radio stations. Attention was given to the changes in news program format, news production, and the ratings and advertising of the two stations.     

Archives as networks: the geography of record-keeping in the Society of Jesus (1540–1773)

This paper examines the archives of a major Catholic order, the Society of Jesus. The quality and amount of Jesuit sources allows a very detailed reconstruction not only of how the archives were meant to function, but also of how they were used in daily life. While the Jesuits and their archives resemble many other early modern institutions, the wealth of documentation nevertheless makes them particularly suitable for a case study of early modern archival practice. The paper argues that the order consciously developed a network of archives that closely mirrored the institutional framework of the Jesuit bureaucracy. Ideally, smooth and swift movement of papers within this network was meant to provide easy access to relevant documents for users at all hierarchical levels. In reality, however, Jesuit record keeping remained far from this ideal. Papers were misplaced or simply got lost in the maze of archives.     

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure – Building capacities for the use of big data algorithm systems (BDAS) in early crisis detection

Public sector organizations at all levels of government increasingly rely on Big Data Algorithmic Systems (BDAS) to support decision-making along the entire policy cycle. But while our knowledge on the use of big data continues to grow for government agencies implementing and delivering public services, empirical research on applications for anticipatory policy design is still in its infancy. Based on the concept of policy analytical capacity (PAC), this case study examines the application of BDAS for early crisis detection within the German Federal Government—that is, the German Federal Foreign Office (FFO) and the Federal Ministry of Defence (FMoD). It uses the nested model of PAC to reflect on systemic, organizational, and individual capacity-building from a neoinstitutional perspective and allow for the consideration of embedded institutional contexts. Results from semi-structured interviews indicate that governments seeking to exploit BDAS in policymaking depend on their institutional environment (e.g., through research and data governance infrastructure). However, specific capacity-building strategies may differ according to the departments' institutional framework, with the FMoD relying heavily on subordinate agencies and the FFO creating network-like structures with external researchers. Government capacity-building at the individual and organizational level is similarly affected by long-established institutional structures, roles, and practices within the organization and beyond, making it important to analyze these three levels simultaneously instead of separately.     

From Fifty Editions of The Old Man and the Sea to Fifty Shades of Grey: A Glimpse of Translation Rights Market in China (2002–2012)

This article provides an overview of the market for translation in China in the last decade based on the data collected from official publishing industrial statements, recent book publishing surveys and news reports. While providing basic information of book publishing in the country, the author also probe the current trends and developments in the field of rights trade, book distribution and digital publishing.     

Comparing social media use,discussion, political trust and political engagement among university students in China and Hong Kong: an application of the O–S–R–O–R model

Adopting the Orientation–Stimuli–Reasoning–Orientation–Response (O–S–R–O–R) model of political communication effects, this study examines the mediating roles of online/offline political discussion and political trust on the relationship between social media information seeking and online/offline political participation in China and Hong Kong. Findings through structural equation modeling showed that the relationship between information seeking and online participation was mediated by online discussion for both samples. Moreover, the relationship between information seeking and offline participation was mediated by offline discussion, and offline discussion mediated the relationship between information seeking and online participation. Political trust did not mediate any of the relationships in China and Hong Kong and all significant paths involving political trust were negative. Implications of the findings for youth political participation in China and Hong Kong are discussed.     

Microform—Not extinct yet: Results of a long-term microform use study in the digital age

This paper presents results taken from 2008 to 2010 of an ongoing microform use study. The number of titles used is evenly distributed over time with microfilm being the most used format and newspapers accounting for half of all usage. When publications are available electronically, users may still use the microform version. This study illustrates how microform and electronic collections are complementary—electronic materials provide better access but microform is better for preservation. Users prefer electronic materials but will also use microform when there is no online version available or when the online version is not an exact copy of the original.     

Karol Estreicher (1827–1908) and his Bibliografia polska: Negotiating a National Bibliography in Nineteenth-Century Poland

Karol Estreicher (1827–1908) compiled Bibliografia polska [Polish bibliography], an extraordinary retrospective national bibliography of the body of written works of Poland. Chronologically covering the entire history of printing in Poland up to 1900, it consisted of three distinct parts: the nineteenth century; a universal chronological bibliography of Polish publications; and pre-nineteenth century, conventionally called Bibliografia staropolska [Bibliography of old Poland]. So far a total of 56 volumes of Bibliografia polska have been published. That total includes the 35 volumes that constitute parts 1, 2, and 3; the four volumes that, covering 1891–1900, were published outside the framework of the three parts; and the seventeen volumes that constitute the second edition of part 1, the nineteenth-century bibliography. It was an exhaustive but also complicated bibliographic opus. A prolific writer and literary scholar himself, Estreicher devoted—with remarkable endurance and resilience—50 years of his life to its making. Much of the complexity of his bibliography reflected the cultural and intellectual roots of the author and the way he interpreted the meaning of his project.     

Mass Spectrometric Identification of Adhesive Utilized in a Tian-tsui Tiara of the mid-Qing Dynasty (1776–1839 CE) in the Collection of the Tang Clan Folk Museum

ABSTRACT

This study identified and interpreted an adhesive used in the making of a tiara of the mid-Qing Dynasty (1776–1839 CE), in the collection of the Tang Clan Folk Museum. By performance of mass spectrometry-based proteomics, a sample of adhesive residue was identified as bovine collagen proteins at the molecular level with high confidence. The result highlights the first example of accurate determination of the origin of the adhesive adopted in the tian-tsui craft, providing novel information and contributing to study of the significance, development, and exchange of tian-tsui craftsmanship.     

Center for Czechoslovak Exile Studies in Olomouc: Survey of the Past Twenty Years of Activity (1993–2013)

The article describes activities of the Center for Czechoslovak Exile Studies in Olomouc particularly for the period 2004–2013. During this period the center acquired many significant archival collections.