Power in the Public Relations Department

Abstract

After learning that the environment and structure of an organization cannot explain fully why some organizations have excellent communication departments and others do not, public relations scholars have turned to another sociological theory, the power-control perspective, for an explanation. The power-control perspective says that organizations do what they do because the people with the most power in the organization—the dominant coalition—decide to do it that way. Organizations practice public relations as they do, therefore, because the dominant coalition decides to do it that way. Public relations has a better chance of being excellent, it follows, if the senior communication manager is a member of that coalition. This chapter discusses the nature of power and ways in which communication managers can gain the power necessary for excellence.