Perspectives on Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Perspectives on Operations Management - Essay Example An efficient operations strategy can help the business entities to win the race and stand at top of the crowd in competitive environment. Operations Strategies for new Wal-Mart store X Company is the chain of independent retail outlets in Hartwell in Essex and opening a new Wal-Mart store at edge of the town. The advice is needed about the potential operation strategy in response to the recent opening of Wal-Mart store. I have prepared a plan for the future business operation strategy for the new Wal-Mart store. There are some extracts of my research are mentioned below Operational Strategy According to many successful financial advisors, Operations strategy for any business has a direct impact on the profitability levels and corporate strategy. Structural design is the main element of the operations strategy. As the Company X is running its business as a retail outlet and want to set the new business operation strategy for new Wal-Mart store. There are some key points for the struct ural design of new operations strategy. Meet the target demand: As the company is opening its new Wal-Mart store at the edge of Essex. So the target customers are the people of Essex. In addition, the company can take advantage form the new customers because of the location of new Wal-Mart store. It is clear that, the company is going to meet with the high level of customer demand. In this case, the company need to ensure first that it have the capability to meet with the high level of demands. For this purpose, company should access the target demand level and take certain steps to meet with the target demand. Cost of the products: If the company want to win the competitive race, then it should set the prices of their products that are unbeatable. Management should set the prices that provide the good value for their products. Services: The management of the new Wal-Mart store should ensure to provide the high quality services to potential customer. The management should provide th e services according to the customers’ necessity. Use of Technology: In current modern trends, technology is referred as a primary toll for an efficient operations strategy. In the case of retail business technology can be used in effective manner to manage the day to day operations of the business. For example, use of security cameras to keep an eye on any unusual activity or use of bar code reader to track all the sales in efficient manner. Layout and design of new Wal-Mart store: The secret of efficient operations strategy for any retail business lies in the layout and design of retail outlet. That’s why the management of the new Wal-Mart store should set a catchy layout and design for its new store that will save the time of potential customers. The layout should be in such way that enables the customer to access all the necessary things easily. The management should set the service layout that can create an open shopping environment that helps the customers to fin d the things what they are looking for quickly. Selection of Employees: Selection of staff for new Wal-Mart store is one of the primary factors that can help to develop good operations strategy. Skilled and trained staff can help to manage the routine operations in more appropriate

Illiberal Practices of Liberal Regimes

Illiberal Practices of Liberal Regimes Should liberal societies tolerate illiberal practices? Discuss with reference to Kukathas. Most liberal democracies would claim to be liberal societies with hardly any or no restriction on liberal practices such as freedom of speech, freedom of religious belief, or freedom of information. However, not all of the liberal societies have the same levels of illiberal practices potentially restricting the freedom of their citizens. Liberal societies need to consider whether they should tolerate illiberal practices for various pragmatic and theoretical reasons. Not all of the liberal societies are the same and therefore tolerate different levels of illiberal practices. The level of illiberal practices that liberal societies will tolerate can depend, as will be discussed, on whether there are threats to those societies than can justify illiberal practices being used to safeguard those liberal societies from greater damage. Alternatively, toleration of illiberal practices depends on whether any particular liberal society sees a need to intervene when other liberal societies would not. The following discussion, as to whether liberal societies should tolerate illiberal practices, is with reference to the arguments of Chandran Kukathas in the ‘Liberal Archipelago’ and his other works. Kukathas and his work have aroused controversy especially with regard to whether minority groups should receive extra protection or special treatment in liberal societies, for instance being able to educate their children in separated schools. Discussions of liberal societies have shifted in emphasis to pluralism and whether it should be promoted or not. That change of emphasis from past debates occurred due to a greater recognition of the increased diversity in multicultural societies and the increased social conflicts or disagreement that can entail. No liberal society is free to operate without restraints, whether those are legal restraints or illiberal practices that have evolved over time or have been applied upon an ad hoc basis. Liberal societies have to find a balance between the greatest amount of freedom for every individual within those societies with the need to maintain stability plus law and order. Liberal democracies are regarded as the best form of state that allows liberal societies to flourish with the least number of illiberal practices (Comfort, 1993 p. 345). Kukathas himself contends that although not perfect in practice that ‘democratic states have been kinder and gentler rulers’ (Kukathas, 2003 p. 195). A problem with the toleration of illiberal practices is that people’s definitions of illiberal practices differs widely and is entirely subjective. The illiberal practices of some people are the necessary and common sense measures advocated by others to maintain law and order. Liberalist me asures do not even have to be introduced by liberal societies, for instance Russia, France, and Prussia in the 18th century or present day China have adopted economic liberalism without lessening the authoritarian grip of the state (Held, 1996 p. 70). The acceptable level of illiberal practices tolerated in liberal societies is dependent on how much interference from the state in the political, economic and social spheres of societies is considered justified. Liberalism as a political, economic and social concept had evolved and changed over the centuries. Liberalism has been subject to changes and trends just like the other ideologies such as socialism and conservatism. In its original guise liberalism called for the minimum amount of state interference as possible in social and economic affairs. Liberalism contends that states were only needed to ensure that people had basic legal rights and that the property of the wealthy or businesses was protected. This classical liberalism wa s linked to the political ideas of John Locke and the economic liberalism of Adam Smith amongst others. Kukathas finds Locke’s views appealing, as Locke was a strong supporter of religious toleration and freedom of conscience (Held, 1996 p. 70). Classical liberalism stresses the freedom of individuals to do what they like, when they like and be free to use their money and their property as they like. New liberalism, which developed towards the end of the 19th century, stresses the importance of society and the role that the state has in providing welfare as well as promoting equality. Adherents of both types of liberalism claim that their form of liberalism is the true form, making the other redundant. Classical liberalism gives a greater scope for the acceptance of illiberal practices as it stresses minimum state intervention. On the other hand, new liberalism is more likely not to tolerate illiberal practices, particularly if those practices prevent welfare provision and social equality (Schumpeter, 1954 p.394). Aside from maintaining law and order plus preventing the poorest starving to death, no illiberal, or for that matter well-intentioned liberal practices, were to be tolerated, that was the belief at the centre of classical liberalism. Liberal societies emerged at different times and at different rates. Economic liberalism often emerged before political and social liberalism. This would explain how illiberal societies could embrace economic liberalism without embracing political and social liberalism. From the 19th century a more proactive form of liberalism termed new liberalism emerged that intervened in societies to tackle social and economic problems such as basic levels of welfare provision. As the 20th century progressed liberal societies embraced further interventions to ensure full employment and to counter social issues such as race and gender discrimination. The issues of diversity and multiculturalism have changed the debates over the illiberal practices that liberal societi es should tolerate. These issues have added complexity as to how illiberal is defined and whether some groups should have their illiberal practices tolerated to further diversity or whether no illiberal practices should be tolerated from any group (Bellamy in Eatwell Wright 2003 p.33). The post –war consensus on high spending liberal democracies with ever expanding social and welfare provisions, with an increasing emphasis on the pluralist nature of liberal societies was challenged by neo-liberals such as Fredrich von Hayek and John Rawls. It was such views that had a strong influence upon Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan (Bellamy in Eatwell Wright, 2003 p.39). Hayek and Rawls have also proved influential on Kukathas’ ideas concerning liberal societies tolerating illiberal practices. Rawls believes that economic liberalism needs to be combined with social justice. It is Rawls later works that interested Kukathas the most as Rawls displays libertarian views that he shares with Kukathas. Rawls thought that distinct ethnic or religious groups should receive differing levels of toleration depending â€Å"on the extent to which they can be allowed an equal place within a just system of liberty† (Rawls, 1993). Kukathas himself is an advocate of classical liberalism where state intervention is kept to the lowest possible minimum rather than later versions of liberalism in which the state intervenes more frequently to achieve set economic, social, and political aims. Kukathas has provoked debate by stating in his works that the states of liberal societies should not even intervene to promote the interests of minority ethnic or religious groups, liberal societies should only permit the toleration of these groups. Kukathas believes that the toleration accorded to such groups should not be dependent on how liberal the internal practices of such groups are. Once groups have received toleration then they can run themselves as they please as long as they are not breaking any laws. If any individual members of these groups are unhappy then they should not look to liberal societies to help them, all they need to do is leave their particular group. Liberal societies should not promote the interests o f any groups ahead of all the groups, or any particular sector within society no matter how well intended its motives are, also they should not make such treatment conditional. Toleration is beneficial to the whole of society; special treatment for individuals and groups is not. Discrimination in favour of certain groups does not benefit them in the long term and is harmful to society (Kukathas, 2003 p. 5). Kukathas regards all groups that form voluntarily to be enhancing liberal society, which includes those with illiberal practices. States are the main actors that threaten liberal society when they restrict such groups. The illiberal practices of these groups might not be illegal activities and whilst they remain within the law, no action should be taken against such groups. The motivations for such groups to form can be due to a sense of being different from the rest of society. If liberal societies are truly open and democratic, then they should accept that some people are oppos ed to the majority of the populations’ beliefs and behaviours. For people that wish to safeguard their diversity forming separate groups is a means to live how they want to live. To such groups illiberal practices are a way of maintaining their distinctiveness from the rest of their society. Groups may also believe that their illiberal practices are not illiberal at all and can be justified as part of their culture and beliefs (Kukathas, 2003 p. 36). There is one freedom that Kukathas believes that liberal societies should promote above all other freedoms and rights, which is freedom of conscience. Freedom of conscience is so important for the proper functioning of liberal societies that these societies should be prepared to tolerate illiberal practices to ensure that freedom of conscience is maintained for the maximum number of people and groups within each liberal society. Allowing freedom of conscience is perhaps the best way of achieving and maintaining a diverse and multicultural liberal society. Governments should not intervene in the internal matters of illiberal groups to remove their illiberal practices. If illiberal practices are based upon the freedom of conscience of individuals or groups then liberal societies should tolerate such practices. If individual members of such groups change their opinions and no longer accept the group’s ideological or religious viewpoints then they can leave the group. As long as i ndividual members are free to leave, then there are no reasons to end the illiberal practices of such groups (Kukathas, 2003 p.36). Kukathas does admit that some members of these groups may find it more difficult to leave than others could, for instance women and children. Women in such groups may face disadvantages such as being unable to support themselves outside of their groups through lack of education and skills. Groups may also be difficult to leave because they use propaganda to persuade doubters to remain or intimidate members into staying within the group. Kukathas again argues that liberal societies should tolerate those illiberal practices if groups ultimately allow members to leave them. As soon as illiberal practices become life threatening to members that wish to leave then it is appropriate for liberal societies to stop tolerating illiberal practices. Therefore, state intrusion into the illiberal practices of groups should be a last resort rather than undertaken lightly or with little respect for their freedom of conscience and association (Kukathas, 2003 p. 107). Kukathas contends that there are two main types of religious or social groups. There are those groups that are a ‘Union of Liberty’ and those groups that are a ‘Federation of Liberty’. States are less likely to intervene in the affairs of the Union of Liberty groups than they are to intervene with a Federation of Liberty group. Groups that are a Union of Liberty type are less likely to have illiberal practices, whilst members are more likely to be able to leave these groups without any obstructions. In contrast the groups which are Federation of Liberty type are more likely to have illiberal practices and are more likely to prevent members leaving their fold. The Union of Liberty groups are more likely to have a strategy over shared property rights and the rights of children to leave their membership, as the parents chose to join and the children did not (Kukathas, 2001 p. 43). When liberal societies opt to tolerate social and political freedoms such as freedom of religion and conscience they are voluntarily restricting their rights to intervene in the internal affairs of political or religious groups. However, the rights of states to intervene to restrict such freedoms still remain. The rights to intervene and therefore no longer tolerate illiberal practices can be used if or when groups abuse their freedoms to abuse others. Such views are put forward by those that disagree with Kukathas willingness to tolerate more illiberal practices rather than less. Kukathas’ views on pluralism and multiculturalism plus whether illiberal practices should be tolerated have been criticised by many contemporary liberal writers and academics. Those that argue against Kukathas’ views on tolerating illiberal practices most notably include Will Kymlicka. Kymlicka contends contrary to Kukathas that liberal societies are justified in denying toleration to ethnic or religious groups that have an illiberal or authoritarian hold over their members. Kymlicka sees that the majority of liberal societies tolerate illiberal practices not through choice but because of their benign negligence. Kymlicka views the tolerance of illiberal practices in liberal societies as being undesirable, especially when that the freedoms of individuals are subordinated to the freedoms of the illiberal groups that they belong to (Kymlicka, 1995 p. 239). Liberal societies should not have to tolerate illiberal practices especially when these societies have the ability to stop such illiberal practices at any point they wish to. Liberal societies should certainly end illiberal practices before the freedom and the safety of group members is at risk. Freedom of conscience should not be given priority over freedom of association or speech. At no point should liberal societies decide to place freedom of conscience above the personal safety of any of its citizens. Whilst the state in liberal societies should not have to decide on whether groups should allow their members to leave, the state does have a duty to uphold law and order or public safety or if they are under actual or potential threat. Kymlicka argues that illiberal practices are easily recognisable. Illiberal practices occur when groups â€Å"simply assign particular roles and duties to people, and prevent people from questioning or revising them† (Kymlicka, 1995 p.94). Brian Barry is another critic of the concept that liberal societies should accept or tolerate illiberal practices. Barry is arguing from a different viewpoint than Kymlicka when he criticises Kukathas for proposing that liberal societies should tolerate illiberal practices. Unlike Kymlicka, Barry is not a strong advocate of multiculturalism. In fact he argues that multiculturalism can introduce illiberal practices in to liberal societies that should not be tolerated. The basis of his arguments against the illiberal practices linked to multiculturalism are that minority ethnic and religious groups should not be allowed to exclusively educate their own children. For if these groups educate such children then they may not learn about equality and political moderation. If not monitored groups educating their own children can pass on religious and political extremism on to them. The governments of liberal societies have shown most concern over Islamic schools and the perception that they will increase illiberal practices. Muslims argue that their children are not catered for in non-Islamic schools. For instance, Britain has not provided public funding for Islamic schools, although it does for Christian and Jewish schools. In Northern Ireland, separate Roman Catholic and Protestant schools have arguably helped to maintain the sectarian divisions. By contrast, the French have kept their schools strictly secular since the revolution and will not tolerate Muslims (or any other religious group) trying to bring religious elements into schools. Education is a vital area to consider when it comes to deciding if liberal societies should tolerate illiberal practices. Therefore, deciding what should or should not be permitted and taught in schools is a highly contentious area. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks there has been a closer scrutiny of the education that Muslims receive in schools and mosques and whether tolerating illiberal practices is good or bad for the security of liberal societies (Barry, 2001). Therefore, to some extent liberal societies should tolerate illiberal practices with certain limitations to operate. Liberal societies have to maintain a balance between all the individuals and groups within them. A Liberal society usually attempts to give individuals and groups as much freedom as possible, which is what distinguishes liberal societies from illiberal societies. It should be remembered that illiberal practices are not necessarily illegal and that the state will not intervene if groups with illiberal practices keep their activities legal. Liberal societies tend to tolerate as much as they can. Toleration though has limits. Liberal societies will not tolerate illiberal practices that threaten the safety of individuals or that risk breaking down law and order or inciting violence between groups on racial, ethnic or religious grounds. There are political, social and philosophical arguments as to why illiberal practices should or should not be tolerated. Kukathas’ s trongest arguments in favour of tolerating illiberal practices is that allowing individuals or groups freedom of conscience is more important than the liberal or illiberal nature of their practices. For Kukathas toleration is the key to achieving a well- balanced diverse multicultural liberal society. Toleration is more important than making special provisions for minority groups, which are discriminatory and counter-productive. Critics of Kukathas counter his arguments by stating that liberal societies should not tolerate any illiberal practices that restrict the freedom of individuals, especially if such illiberal practices place people in danger. Much of the debate between Kukathas and his critics hinges around the rights of individuals to leave groups with illiberal practices. The thorniest issue regarding individuals leaving groups is whether children have to remain in these groups even when they did not chose to join in the first place. Kukathas contends that groups should be tolerated as long as members are free to leave. Critics of Kukathas believe that groups with illiberal practices should change those illiberal practices or at least guarantee that members can leave whenever they want to before they are tolerated within liberal societies. Critics of groups with illiberal practices point to the problems that members of these groups can face, such as not been educated, being educated with extremist views, being physically and mentally abused or simply forced to stay in these groups. Governments should not stand by and let those things happen if they can be prevented. The arguments over the toleration of illiberal practices in liberal societies have been brought in to greater focus in relation to issues concerning religious and political extremism, particularly in relation to Islam. The dividing lines between promoting diversity and multiculturalism on the one hand or appeasing to illiberal and possibly illegal practices can be blurred. Bibliography Barry B, (2001) Culture and Equality: An egalitarian critique of multiculturalism, Polity Press, Cambridge Bellamy R ‘Liberalism’ in Eatwell Wright (2003) Contemporary Political Ideologies 2nd Edition, Continuum, London Comfort N (1993) Brewer’s Politics, a phrase and fable dictionary, Cassell, London Held D, (1996) Models of Democracy 2nd edition, Polity Press, Oxford Kukathas, (2001) Can a Liberal Society Tolerate Illiberal elements? Policy 17, No. 2 Kukathas (2003) the Liberal Archipelago: A theory of Diversity and Freedom, Oxford University Press, Oxford Kymlicka W, (1995) Multicultural Citizenship, Oxford University Press

Rebecca Nurse: Fact Vs. Fiction :: essays research papers

In his article, â€Å"Why I Wrote The Crucible,† Arthur Miller speaks of the 1950’s â€Å"which nobody seems to remember clearly†- a time of fearful insanity and unrest. Anyone could be accused. Showing excessive opposition ensured prosecution. Most shrunk back from disputing the McCarthy hearings for fear of their safety. Now, this period of panic is viewed as absurd. As Miller describes Hitler as being almost comical to his generation, the modern generation sees the Salem witch trials as foolish scuffles between ignorant people. The actual events were much different as perceived. Just as a feud with a neighbor seems trivial to those not involved but of intense frustration to the embroiled , the trials were not silly and insignificant. The trials were more about personal issues between rivals than witchcraft itself- the witchcraft was a weapon for Salemites to obtain revenge on their enemies. A tool Miller uses to show the reader this emotion is Rebecca Nurse, seventy-year-old grandmother, wife, and respected member of Salem society. Miller modifies her character in his play. Some facts remain true in the play, others are altered, and some have been neglected altogether. What did he change, and what did he regret to? Why did Miller take such liberties with Rebecca’s character in his play? Rebecca Nurse and her husband, Francis, were both well-respected people in the town of Salem Miller describes. They owned about three hundred acres, and after a land dispute with the Putnams, they broke away from Salem and founded Topsfield. Miller mentions that the founding of Topsfield upset the old Salemites. This is true - aberration was resented in Puritan society. The essence of Puritanism is in the intensity of the Puritan's commitment to a morality, a form of worship, and a civil society strictly conforming to God's commandments . Certain Puritans were â€Å"saved† despite their sins, while the remainder of society led lives strictly following the saved clergy’s interpretations of God’s will. Salem’s minister, Mr. Samuel Parris, was God’s man, as unfit for this title as he may have been. Like Proctor, Rebecca and her husband no longer hungered for religion when Parris became their minister. Their disgust for Mr. Parris cut down on their chur ch appearances. In a judgmental, religious town as Salem was, even an unpleasant minister was no excuse to avoid church. A few Salemites resented the Nurses for their rise in social status as their lands stretched through town.

Employee Recognition Programs Essay

All business entities, big or small, have human resource. Commonly known as employees, these people are an organization’s most valuable asset. These are individuals within the firm who serve as the organization’s human capital and work toward achieving the goals of the company. Without human workforce, establishments will not be able to perform its day-to-day operations. Even if an organization is not labor intensive, it is incontestable that a firm still needs human resource to manage and look over its undertakings, and continuously thrust the company towards proper administration, profitability and success. The improvements and changes in the industry and economy besides increased awareness of employees as a valuable resource has changed the focus from controlling to managing this resource† (Purdy, 2007). As more and more organizations rely on human workforce, there is now the need to manage the most dynamic resource of a company, who are its employees. Recruiting the right kind of employees and training them to become productive are not only the seeming obligation of a company. But more importantly, keeping these employees motivated will not only enhance them personally but will encourage high performance, which will benefit the organization as well. â€Å"Employee morale within an organization has a direct impact on the satisfaction level of its customers and the company’s ultimate success† (Fretwell, 2002, p. 1). For that reason, companies perform different kinds of employee recognition programs that will significantly improve employee morale. One very important detail to remember is that the leader of the organization must have the ability to identify and recognize decline in employee morale, factors causing such, and acceptance of this condition. After which, there are many feasible areas to work on to be able to work out and tidy up the problem. It is very crucial to start with the management. One of the most important steps is to correspond. Communication is always important in maintaining a smooth professional relationship between employees and the management. Encourage the employees to come forward with issues, suggestions, conflicts, complaints, and feedbacks. Listen carefully; do not leave the employees hanging. This way, management will be able to know clearly what factors are causing the employees to perform in such a way that disintegrates their work. Also, they will be able to know the multiple viewpoints of the employees, which if properly attended to, may have the effect of high morale. This method has always been simple and costs nothing at all! Plus it provides a powerful solution to morale problems. Once the leaders know the problem, it is easier to find probable solutions and ways of improving the esteem of the employees. Make sure the employees have a clear understanding of their professional goals within the organization. Keep them up to date about the business, making them feel more involved. Encourage creativity and be consistent in the administration of rules and policies. This way, the employees will not feel they are being treated with prejudice once they get penalized for mistakes. Make them understand what they are going through. However, sometimes, letting the employees do they own work is what they need. They want to feel they are trusted to get their work done. Teambuilding can also help eliminate negative feelings and actions by fostering respect among employees. The power to make decisions help employees realize their importance to the company, and this increases the esteem of the employees. Also, in order to get work done, and done right, the leaders of the organization need to give the employees the skills and tools for them to complete their tasks. This includes giving them support and the training that they need in order to improve or hone their abilities. Management must also identify and nurture those people who perform well and must groom them for leadership roles. At the same time, it has to identify and help the average performers to improve themselves and their productivity. Acknowledging the work of the employees always gives them a reason to work harder and become recognized, making them even more enhanced and productive. Simple awards may do, like what establishments often offer, like â€Å"Employee of the Month† awards may be a step towards recognizing the employees’ hard work. Moreover, giving promotions to excellent and highly improved workers enable them to boost their confidence in terms of their work and push them to work even harder. Provide a better working environment by assuring the safety of the employees while at the workplace. This gives them the guarantee that they are well taken care of by the management. Higher financial remunerations, bonuses and benefits promote the value of loyalty from the employees to the organization. With better compensation, employees are able to give high regard for their work and tend to become satisfied of what they are doing and whom they are working for. Develop incentive programs that improve both employee attitude and attendance rates. Most often, lack of incentive is the reason why employees do not get motivated to work. Examples of this programs include â€Å"the ability to cash-in unused sick days at the end of a specific period, allowing employees to leave early one Friday per month of perfect attendance, bonus pay for periods of perfect attendance, and gifts such as savings bonds or gift cards for periods of perfect attendance† (Bushman, 2007, p. 4). Most importantly, beyond putting into primary importance the achievement of success and profitability is the need to take care of the organization’s people. If the employees believe that their bosses do not care either about the task or them, then they will not care either. And naturally, the company and its operations will suffer. Building morale in an organization may not be as hard as one thinks The key to motivating employees is having them feel valued and appreciated by their superiors and within the company that they working hard for. It requires for each and every employee to feel a sense of achievement in career, a sense of belonging at the workplace, a sense of contribution to the organization, and a sense of appreciation for their involvement in the pursuance of the organization’s goals to achieve high employee morale, and eventually higher productivity and overall success.

Ethical Dimension of Private Corporations: Products and Danger and the Media Essay

Communication is the bedrock of any successful relationship. This doesn’t only apply to individuals as social beings but also groups both formal and informal. A breakdown in sound communication is often the source of many conflicts and at times crisis. Brad Fitch concurs with this in his book, the Media Relations Handbook of Public for Agencies, Associations, Nonprofits and Congress, when he states that communication is the conveying of message between two people. And that in public relations the message is conveyed through various vehicles, which are otherwise referred to as the public relations practitioner’s tools. These tools may vary from one organization to another but there are some basic tools that are common to most public relations shops. (23) In our contemporary world, the most reliable mode of conveying information is unarguably the media. This is because the media has diversified its mode of communication making itself accessible to audiences even in the most remote places. Above all, the media enjoys the trust of the public because it serves not only as the watch dog but also the mouth piece of the society. Alison Theaker also agrees with this fact when he alludes in his book, The Public Relations Handbook, which one of the reason public relations practitioners use media relations to get their message across is that the media plays crucial role in the forming public opinion. (Chapter 10) Subsequently, any media outlet worth its salt would utterly desist from engaging in any practice that would bring their dignity in question, and particularly so in the eyes of the public. One such practice is hinging their trust on a skewed public relation practice as the source of their news. It is thus prudent for any public relations practitioners of any organization to observe integrity in the course of their duty. This will boast the image of the organization in the perception of its various publics and more particularly the media. An organization has a lot to reap by presenting itself as a reliable source of news to the media. In any case, one of the most objective ways a media outlet can report on an organization is when they get the information through its public relations practitioners. Therefore how an organization uses the media to communicate to its other publics is of utmost importance. This not only determines the willingness of the media to cooperate but also how the targeted publics will respond. What then are the criteria an organization can employ to positively and effectively use or work with the media to reach out to its publics? Media Relations Defined The line delineating both media relation and public relations is not fine. Journalists often use the two terms interchangeably. But for starters, it is important to find out how the two terms marry and even differ. In Media Relations: Issues and Strategies, Jane Johnston argues that media relation is much more than just using the media to reach out to the targeted publics through writing press releases, and fielding media conferences. Indeed, the tenets of media relation consist of an insight on why we make communication choices and put them into practice. Therefore, a concrete theoretical underpinning is crucial for media relation, which in essence covers a broad spectrum of public relations. (28) However Johnston points out that before media relation can be theorized, it is important to get to the knowledge base of what consists of mass media itself and also what incorporate a deep understanding of the Fourth Estate, as it is often referred to and ultimately, the question of media ownership. (28) This is important in the sense that the ownership of a media outlet goes a long way to affects its objectivity or subjectivity on certain issues, especially political. In turn, this determines the audiences that will continue using that media channel as a source of news and information. And in cases a media outlet takes a radical, even controversial stand, it definitely scares away some of its audiences that don’t necessarily buy their opinion. A public relation practitioner using such a media outlet to convey its message should bear in mind that he/she is likely to miss reaching to the target audiences effectively as some, especially those contesting the media house stand may not be looking at it as a reliable source of news and information, leave alone using it. Sriramesh and Vercic agree with this in their book, The Global Public Relations Handbook: Theory, Research, and Practice. They claim that maintaining effective media relations demand that the public relations professionals understand the people who control the media outlet and whether such control does extend into editorial content. This is because some media houses operate free from the control of their people who own the outlets whereas others are only partly free. (13) Effective Application of Media Relations Every organization has communication needs by the virtue of having publics that it needs to communicate with. This could be during the launch of a certain new product or publicizing the details of an ensuing crisis. The media, though it is one of an organization’s public acts as a crucial bridge between an organization and its other publics. How well the media is used to reach out to the other publics by an organization goes a long way to determine the success of the public relations practice. For starters, the public relations department needs to come up with a campaign. This could either be to correct the image of the organization, which could be dwindling in the eyes of the public or it could be explain the features and advantages of the new product in the market. Alison Theaker points out in his book, Public Relations Handbook that to ensure the success of any such campaign, the first step that a public relations practitioner must take is to get their issue(s) into the media agenda. This is crucial because the media influence how people think. Therefore, if the public cannot buy the organization’s point of view, they will inevitably rely on the media’s point of view, even though it could be a garbled account. Often the media report inaccurately in cases where there is a crisis in an organization and there is limited news available from the public relations department. In the modern world, the ease with which varied points of views of a certain crisis reach people has increased considerably with the advancement of technology, the internet being the major source. However, most people still get most information through the media. Therefore, if the public relations practitioner of an organization is the main source of information on a subject, for instance, the launching of a new product or the fall out between the employees and the establishment, it is possible for them to shape the tone of debate about the product. The effort of getting commanding the media agenda is what Brad refers to as pitching a story. He points out that public relations practitioner of any organization has an agenda and wants the media houses to promote his/her messages. And if one wants to advance the goals of his/her organization then he/she must expend ample time by pitching story ideas to journalists. This demands preparations, the extent of which depends on the complexity of the story. The steps involved in pitching a story include: first narrowing the topic. Second is organizing and compiling the documents that may be needed to supplement the story: this could be previous reports, the organization’ in-house publications, information by the experts from a particular department in the organization. Then follows the development of talking points on the most news worthy aspects of the story; they need to be jotted down in advance and confirmed as valid arguments by the relevant experts in the organization. Then after determining the necessity of interviewing the management is when the news people can be called. Worth noting is that, it is imperative that the public relations practitioner succeed to get the attention of the media in order for him/her to get into their agenda. Apart from demonstrating themselves as credible sources of news, the public relations practitioners have to adequately prepare the message that they intend to bring to the public domain. The media is in business and wouldn’t work on any information that doesn’t fall within their criterion of news worthiness. The public relations practitioners should therefore not present to the media any message that is outside their definition of news. Such messages won’t be publicized by the media. The process of message development is one of the most difficult aspects of a public relations practitioner’s job because it demands savvy political skills, coordination among diverse interests within an organization and most importantly creativity. Developing a message and communication plan is the tangible beginning of the partnership between a public relation office and the media. 49) In order for an appropriate message to be created, the specific characteristics of the targeted public should be borne in mind, without forgetting their specific communication needs like language appropriateness and the media channel. The advantages of taking into consideration the above requirements before setting out to design a message cannot be overlooked. The failure to address them in a message means that a campaign will most definitely fail to achieve its goals. A message, according to Brad Fisch’s definition is a precise elaboration of an idea or a vision with the intent of bringing out a broad theme or to mobilize people to carry out a specific action. A good message, therefore, must be short and clear as this enables easy comprehension; it must also bear a value based image: this enhances its reception to the targeted audience. And ultimately it must connect with the targeted audience in a meaningful way. In a market place, Brad points out; a slogan sums up a product’s image. The message development does vary on the basis of the particular type of organization under which it is being crafted. The way a manufacturing company designs it message is not the way a communication company will design their. This is because the publics of the two organizations do vary, hence the particular channel and language to reach them effectively. There are two categories of messages which Brad outlines. This he defines as strategic and campaign messages. Strategic messages are broad in themes, they also bear ideas, which guide and shape all communication processes. Such messages are composed of general ideas. To add on that, they do not have a clearly measurable outcome and their goals may or may not fit into a limited time period. Strategic messages come in the form of company marketing or branding in a commercial set up; whereas, in a public affairs environment, the strategic message is tied to the overall, long-term mission of the organization. (Media Relations Handbook, 50) Campaign message on the other hand, consists of messages that predominantly intend to mobilize publics towards carrying out a certain activity. For instance, a telephone organization could be losing oodles of money through vandals who are stealing cables and booths. This heinous work is definitely interrupting the operations of the company and even affection its various publics. Using the media, the public relations office of the company can come up with a message soliciting help from the public to stop the vandalism. This message could consist of a passionate appeal to the public to forward any such vandals, with a promise of a reward and protection. The message could also outline the effects of vandalism to the public at large, one of which is the interruption of communication. In sum, a campaign message is a subset of a strategic message. This is due to the fact that its composition is made up of specific ideas. To add on that, it has a definite time limit or in other words, a particular practical result, which usually is a measurable outcome. A campaign message often results in legislations to curb a vice or legalize an idea. (51) Through the interactions between an organization and the media, the public relation facilitates a central part in presenting words and images to society which in turn shapes perceptions. Due to that, one fact that should be taken into account during the development of the message it is important that the public relations practitioner be in the know of how news is manufactured. He /she must be conversant with the qualities that add up to a news story: press men won’t get interested with a story that contains no news. These qualities include prominence, proximity, timeliness, impact, conflict, novelty, money and human interest. These news values frame an event and render it comprehensible to the public in terms of ideological system. They form the basis on which reporters use to select what makes news or not. ( Johnston, Media Relations, 29) After developing the message, the next stage is reaching out to the media which will in turn pass it over to the other publics. One way this is done is through press releases. Brad argues that press release is the fundamental tool in public relations. One of the benefits of press releases is that they form short, clear, historical records and policy positions, announcements and events of an organization. The sole goal of a press release is to convince journalists to do a story from its contents. Previously the main audience of press releases was the journalists. But technology, particularly the use of the website has nowadays expanded audiences of press release beyond journalists. In order to quickly get the attention of journalists the press release precisely proves that it’s worth their pursuit. In this case, the wording of the headline and the intro are of utmost importance. (25) The other ways through which the message can be sent out to the publics is through letters to the editor in newspapers and magazines, op-eds, advertorials or press conferences. In this discuss, we won’t focus on them for they in essence seem to play a peripheral role as the modes of communication in media relations. The successful development of the message is the threshold of successful communication. Nonetheless, far from creating a punchy message that is acceptable with the media and sending it out, it advantageous for the public relations practitioner to have an in-depth knowledge about the media industry itself. Contrary to what it seems, the news media isn’t only made up of one established conglomerate. It is rather made up of a range of different elements, and within them are many individual workers who work as independent thinkers. Thus, the news media should be considered in the context of individual news worker. This will enable a public relations practitioner to adequately developing and enhancing professional relationships with media practitioners. ( Johnston, Media Relations 42) Getting to know press men as individuals does create a fertile ground for the prosperity of media relations. For one, once a cordial relationship is established between the two, a public relation practitioner will not be trying to reach out to a stranger to get help communicate with the publics of his/her organization. Neither will he/she be having an opportunity to compromise the professionalism of his/her work or that of the press people. He/she will be enjoying an opportunity to be explained to the public through media ‘friends’ who are willing to relay his/her point of view about the product or crisis in question. Another way to enhance a robust media relation in an organization is by creating a clear cut structure of the public relations department. This will involve the job description of each and every personnel in the department. Besides erasing the duplication of duties, such an arrangement grants the onus of communicating to the media to only one person. This helps to improve consistency in the message that is reaching the publics through the media; this personnel is what Brad refers to a principal. He argues that in any public affairs-related operation there should a person who should be the leader and thus the spokes person of the organization. Much of the communication that an organization is responsible for creating will therefore have to flow through him/her. It is recommended that that principal be conversant with almost all the activities of the organization and even know the people in charge at all levels of the organization. (Brad, Media Relations Handbook, 5) Johnston posits that media relations are mostly considered not a complex issue as management; or as urgent an issue as crisis management; neither as personal as community relations nor as specialized as financial relations but rather a ‘soft’ part of public relations. However, since media relations plays a crucial in each of the areas of public relations , it is more useful to regard it as providing important access point and avenues for the industry as a whole. Subsequently, a strong working relationship with the media translates into smoother practices right across the spectrum of public relations activities and functions. The value of media relations can hardly be overlooked. The media have come to define themselves as a site where politics and public life are played out. Due to that any issue that is not validated by the media is considered less important, as not having any significance on the public agenda. The media, therefore, helps to position a person, issue, event or organization within the context of public life. Consequently, the value of media relations lies in tapping the media’s radar and ultimately the media’s agenda. (Jane Johnston, Media Relations: Issues and Strategies, 11)