Master of Arts, Miami University, 2010, Speech Communication

There has not been a single study on the practice of public relations in Kenya despite the country attracting multinational corporations that are increasingly using public relations to build relationships with key publics. This pioneer quantitative study explores the public relations models that inform the practice of public relations in Kenya, the cultural values that influence such practice and the correlation between the public relations models and cultural values. Results show that two international models of public relations – personal influence and cultural interpreter – are the most used by practitioners in Kenya, while individualism and femininity are the most experienced cultural values in that order. Results of the correlation between the public relations models and cultural values show a strong positive relationship between the personal influence model and the femininity cultural value. This correlation points to the practitioners' strong desire for good interpersonal relationships with colleagues, supervisors, clients and key publics.

Committee: Dr. Marjorie Nadler PhD (Committee Chair); Dr. Gary Shulman PhD (Committee Member); Dr. Judith Weiner PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2018, Leadership and Change

Multiple voices from educational and professional arenas have called for change in the way in which public relations undergraduates are prepared to navigate complex communication challenges in the 21st century. Some scholars have advanced leadership as a way to address this change, identifying the undergraduate public relations curriculum as the ideal place to introduce future practitioners to leadership as a way to better prepare them to initiate and participate in positive social change in complex contexts. However, scholars have neither made in-depth connections with leadership theory and practice, nor provided a framework for designing a curriculum for incorporating leadership into public relations undergraduate programs. The purpose of this research was to examine the practice of inclusive leadership and communication in an exemplary organization in order to answer the question: What would an undergraduate public relations leadership (PRL) curriculum look like? Portraiture was used to uncover and illustrate the key ways in which inclusive leadership and communication manifest at a successful Chicago-based interactive technology firm. Findings support the idea that an inclusive leadership and communication culture is created through direction, alignment, and commitment (DAC). Furthermore, the research provides evidence that inclusive leadership and communication skills can be developed through practice and support. An analysis of sample public relations undergraduate programs was used in conjunction with research findings to bridge the gap between inclusive leadership development and public relations undergraduate education. A public relations leadership (PRL) curriculum was created to help public relations undergraduate students better develop leadership, communication, and relational skills. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and Ohiolink ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.ed (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lize A. E. Booysen DBL (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre PhD (Committee Member); Pete Smudde PhD, APR (Committee Member); Dean Mundy PhD (Other) Subjects: Communication; Curriculum Development; Education; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Marketing; Mass Communications; Personal Relationships

MA, Kent State University, 2015, College of Communication and Information / School of Media and Journalism

This exploratory qualitative study supports the applicability of Latane's Social Impact Theory to the measurement of influence, particularly online. Depth interviews and ethnography produced a lexicon of influence attributes that fit into Latane's hierarchy of Strength, Immediacy and Number of sources. The research shows that strength factors dominate in impact on influence, namely importance (mainly who the influencer is) and salience (what characteristics the influencer possesses,) with closeness in space/time also a contributory attribute. The data also indicate that the way the communication industry has been measuring influence, by social media activity, a la Klout, is not as important as evaluating the propensity to be influenced as well as the characteristics of the influencer. A robust review of relevant literature grounds the research, and specific recommendations for measuring influence in a holistic manner are included.

Committee: William Sledzik MA (Advisor); Michele Ewing MA (Committee Member); Stefanie Moore MA (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Journalism; Marketing; Mass Communications

MA, Kent State University, 2012, College of Communication and Information / School of Media and Journalism

Employing a case study and qualitative research using thematic networks, this thesis examines the impact of country and corporate culture on public relations crisis response. Tokyo Electric Power's Company's handling of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster in 2011 will be considered along with the proposition that Japanese culture directly affected the corporation's crisis communications response. This thesis considers the influence the country's traditional corporate culture has on governance, lifetime employment, hierarchy, diversity, and information sharing. It extends this analysis to Japan's unique culture using Hofstede's Cultural Index. Finally, the thesis examines the evolution and current role of public relations practitioners and firms within this culture. In considering the proposition, the author explores: • how local corporate culture can have a dramatic impact on public relations crisis response; • how country culture directly affects corporate culture; • why the public relations function in an open society must be more than a collecting and distribution point for C-suite communications; and • how Hofstede's Cultural Index and Thematic Networks can be useful in illuminating potential challenges for public relations professionals. This thesis adds to the what the author discovered is a scarce body of knowledge on this subject and encourages additional study in the area of country and corporate culture and its affect on public relations in-country and globally. While much has been written about country culture and organizational/corporate culture, the blending of these topics with public relations practice provides insights that will assist practitioners in the planning and execution of PR practices, policies, and programs.

Committee: Bob Batchelor Ph.D (Advisor); William Sledzik PhD (Committee Member); Gene Sasso (Committee Member) Subjects: Cognitive Psychology; Communication; Energy; Ethics; Management; Mass Communications

Master of Arts, University of Akron, 2010, Communication

Crises happen indiscriminately and without warning to organizations of every type. Institutions of higher education are places where students can pursue education to brighten their futures, but even they face potential crises. In the same way that crisis mismanagement can perpetuate the escalation of a crisis, miscommunication at the time of a crisis can cause irreparable damage to an organization's reputation and, ultimately, its future. Research indicates that preparation is essential to swift crisis resolution and prevention of crisis escalation. A crisis public relations plan enables an organization to be prepared to respond to key constituencies in the midst of a crisis by providing in depth guidelines of what to say and to whom. This thesis examines literature on crisis public relations for the purpose of creating a crisis public relations plan for Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

Committee: David Ritchey Dr. (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1966, Communication Studies

Committee: Raymond Yeager (Advisor) Subjects: Business Administration; Communication

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2020, History (Arts and Sciences)

World War II was a media war. Most previous scholarship on the press focuses on censorship, propaganda, or the adventures of war correspondents. This dissertation takes a new direction and shows how the press and public opinion influenced the conflict. U.S. military leaders attempted to use the press as a weapon to improve morale, build public support for national strategies, assist Allied relations, confuse the enemy, and inspire soldiers. The media and public opinion, however, also began shaping military actions on the battlefield. Commanders in Europe and the Pacific competed with other Allied forces for prestige objectives, waged public relations campaigns to have their theaters receive priority for supplies, and vied with each other for headlines. This influence of the press on the battlefield demonstrates how the media was an essential, though previously overlooked, component of total war. Nevertheless, the media-military relationship formed during World War II did not translate well into later limited wars.

Committee: Ingo Trauschweizer (Advisor); John Brobst (Committee Member); Pach Chester (Committee Member); Sweeney Michael (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; European History; History; Journalism; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Military History; Military Studies; Modern History; Political Science; World History

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2019, Leadership and Change

More than a decade after the emergence of social and digital media, professional communicators increasingly use these channels to interact with a wide array of stakeholders. Simultaneously, public relations (PR) and communications leaders seek to understand whether their efforts to communicate and engage with stakeholders through these channels are effective in establishing and building relationships, as well as to measure “effectiveness” in the new technology-driven communications landscape. With this study, I addressed a gap in the academic research with regard to understanding the effectiveness of social and digital media as a communications tool by assessing employees' perceptions of their organization with respect to five communication concepts, both in general and based specifically on the company's social media communications. I assessed the relationship between the employee stakeholder and the organization from two viewpoints: first, from the viewpoint of the employees with whom the organization is communicating, and second, from the viewpoint of the communications professionals who post social and digital media messages on behalf of the organization. The results showed that an intervention to educate employees about the organization's social and digital media communications did not result in employees' increased positive perceptions of the organization as a whole or of the organization's sites with regard to each of the five communications concepts. The increase in employees' positive perceptions of the organization's social and digital media sites, which reflected the communication concept “promoting communal relationships,” was significant at p < .10; also, increases for three individual statements that were part of the communications concepts were sufficient for statistical significance. The intervention did result in statistically significant increases in employee use of social and digital media to engage with the organization and in usage of specifical (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mitchell Kusy PhD (Committee Chair); Carol Baron PhD (Committee Member); Mike Porter EdD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Management; Marketing; Mass Communications; Multimedia Communications; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Web Studies

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2019, History (Arts and Sciences)

During the Cold War, U.S. and Thai leaders were engaged in trying to win the hearts and minds of the Thai people. Much of the literature on U.S.-Thai relations has been from the American perspective and mainly examines economic and military aspects. This dissertation looks at the relationship by drawing from U.S. and Thai government sources to examine both countries public diplomacy and public relations programs in Thailand. From 1957 to 1979, the United States and Thai governments sought to stymie the influence of communism and to build the Thai nation by using the resources of the United States Information Service (USIS) and the Thai Ministry of Interior (MOI). The USIS promoted capitalism, modernization, and anti-communism, while the MOI built up the monarchy, Buddhism, and Thai nationalism. Both organizations used mass media, cultural exchanges, rural development, humanitarian aid, and religious and state ceremonies to convey the U.S. and Thai government's messages and programs. One purpose of the USIS and MOI was to show that communism was a threat to economic development, to Buddhism, and the monarchy. However, promoting anti-communism and building up the institutions of the monarchy and Buddhism divided the country. USIS and MOI programs strengthened the political and public image of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. This dissertation argues that the USIS and MOI played an important role in stymieing communism and strengthening the Thai state.

Committee: Chester Pach (Advisor); Ingo Trauschweizer (Committee Member); Alec Holcombe (Committee Member); Drew McDaniel (Committee Member) Subjects: Asian Studies; History

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1983, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Education

MA, Kent State University, 2015, College of Communication and Information / School of Media and Journalism

Social media has changed the way people receive and interpret messages, compared with traditional media. This study found the interactivity of social media can enhance audience experience and enhance persuasive effects of messages. Social media comments, in particular, can influence people's perceptions of an issue or message source, raising the possibility for comments to serve as a tool for strategic public relations; however, the persuasive effects of social media commenting are underexplored. This study investigated the persuasive effects of commenting on public health issues—specifically the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine—via Facebook. It explored commenting effects on source credibility, MMR risk perception, and attitudes toward government vaccination mandates, parental responsibility perceptions, and school requirements for vaccination. Two survey-based experiments—a pilot study with a single factorial design (support comments vs. attack comments vs. no comment) and the other with a 2 (support vs. attack comments) × 2 (support vs. attack prior information) fully crossed factorial design—were conducted to examine such effects. The results of these studies demonstrate that exposure to supportive comments following a CDC Facebook post in favor of MMR vaccination led to increased source credibility, while exposure to attack comments led to decreased source credibility. In addition, supportive comments following the CDC post had a positive effect on perceptions of Facebook as a useful platform for issue discussion; attack comments had the reverse effect. I conclude by discussing theoretical implications for media framing and practical implications for public relations practice.

Committee: Danielle Coombs Ph.D (Committee Co-Chair); Chance York Ph.D (Committee Co-Chair); Stephanie Smith MPA (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2015, Public Administration

Public relations is a critical function of a democracy as government must create policies and programs, generate awareness, inform, encourage input and engagement, solicit support, and measure results. Furthermore, government has a responsibility to protect and promote public interest. Thus, public administrators must practice public relations. However, existing models developed in the corporate context make practicing public relations in government challenging. This study examines the differences between the public and private sectors and advocates a new public relations framework, allowing government to practice public relations more effectively. Although research has discovered differences between the two sectors, there has been little attempt to create an alternative model of public relations for government use. This is important research since new models of governance and administration have engaged citizenship at the root of their practice and public administrators are tasked with increasing public participation in environments characterized by cynicism and distrust. Today, public relations must be able to assist administrators with the task of establishing and maintaining relationships with citizens. Based on the review of literature in both the communication and public administration disciplines and findings from this study, which utilized interviews with practicing public communicators in city and county government in the state of Ohio, the author proposes an alternative framework of public relations for the public sector. This new model, entitled the Government-Citizen Relationship Framework, recognizes the differences between the public and private sectors, assimilates the study findings, and incorporates an endogenic tradition by utilizing both the relationship dimensions in the relational theory of public relations and public participation decision making to help establish relationships with citizens and build community. This study atte (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Raymond Cox III Dr. (Advisor); Francois Doamekpor Dr. (Committee Member); Ghazi Falah Dr. (Committee Member); Namkyung Oh Dr. (Committee Member); Julia Spiker Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Public Administration

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2009, Speech Communication

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role organization-public relationships play within the field of enrollment management. The study examined the differences in perceptions of student-university relationships between the institution in which the student enrolled and an institution in which the student did not enroll. Additionally, the study explored whether student-university relationships were associated with students' future behavioral intentions. The results of this study indicated that students have a stronger perception of relational dimensions for the institution they choose to attend than the institution they chose to reject. The dimensions of a personal and community relationship were found to be positively correlated with students' intention to persist in enrollment and graduate. Furthermore, relational dimensions (personal, community, and professional) showed to be positively correlated with students' intention to remain connected in the future with their chosen institution. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Committee: Marjorie Nadler PhD (Advisor); Lawrence Nadler PhD (Committee Member); Judith Weiner PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Higher Education

MA, Kent State University, 2009, College of Communication and Information / School of Media and Journalism

The role of public relations is to build and maintain cordial relationships between an organization and its relevant publics. Faculty members represent a university's important public because they are critical to the success or failure of its overall goals.This study measured faculty members' perceptions of their relationship with Kent State University based on six relationship indicators - ”trust, control mutuality, satisfaction, commitment, and communal and exchange relationships. The study was grounded in organization-public relationship scholarship. An online survey was administered to Kent State University faculty members over a 10-day period. Respondents indicated their level of agreement or disagreement with statements describing their relationship with the university. The study found that faculty members believed they have minimal control in the relationship. Faculty members also believed the university engages in exchange relationships more than it does communal. Other findings revealed feelings of neglect among part-time and non-tenure track faculty members.

Committee: Jeanette Drake PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Max Grubb PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Michele Ewing APR (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Higher Education; Journalism; Management

PHD, Kent State University, 2007, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Political Science

Since its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakhstan has undergone a slow political and psychosocial change, which is reflected in the coexistence of the former authoritarian and emerging liberal-democratic perspectives and public discourses. Currently, there are mounting pressures for democratization of the political system, which would furnish a more diversified structure of political opportunity for all aspiring political leaders. The important issue, however, is how both old and new leaders are perceived by citizens in terms of their leadership style, and to what extent their leadership style meets expectations of the Kazakh citizenry? This study sought to answer the question, What are the characteristics of perceived typical and ideal public leadership styles in Kazakhstan? Q methodology was utilized to measure perceptions of both the general citizenry and political experts concerning the characteristics of typical and desirable leadership styles. The theoretical framework and research design were based on Little's (1985) psychosocial leader model in conjunction with best-practices leadership theory by Kouzes and Posner (2002). The resultant factorial design enabled examination of leadership styles based on three leader types (Strong, Group, and Inspiring) and five leadership practices (leader's image, communication style, ways of getting work done, leader-follower relations, and ways of motivating subordinates/followers). Through the prism of public perceptions and preferences, the study sought to discern characteristics of typical and ideal leadership styles as reflective of actual and desirable leader-follower relationship patterns. Analysis included correlation, factor analysis, and interpretation of the emergent factors. Three distinct perceptions of typical leaders (Power-Wielder, Elite Leader, and Old Communist Guard) and one ideal leader (Inspiring Statesman) were identified, and each typical leader perception was compared to the idea (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Steven Brown (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1971, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1960, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1964, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1964, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1969, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: