Analyzing the influence of global communication on the practice of public relations by major global brands: a Case study of Samsung

Topic

With the current innovations, growth, and maintenance of technology, global communication has advanced and spread globally. Public relations practices face different challenges as a result of this advancement global communication. This improvement of global communication has changed the production, distribution and display of information. There are several forms of global communication platforms that aim at meeting the demand of the public. Bell & Emory (2011) outlines that the internet provides a platform for communication revolution in the internet based media. Global communication offers three main challenges to public relations: Updates, represents organizations technologically and spreading of information. According to Brown & Hayes, (2009) public relations consists of organized communication, both inward and outward, between the public and the organization with the aim of meeting a certain objective through mutual understanding. Basing on the fact that technology is rapidly changing, public relation practitioners use global communication as a tool of communication due to its efficiency and information spreading power.

Basically, the way in which public relations has been transformed by the introduction of new media. Taking the public practitioner as a communication facilitator, he or she acts as interpreter, liaison and medium between the public and the organization (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2011). The act as sources of information and official contacts between the organization and the public. Global communication has currently changed this perception of public relation since the public practitioners have been replaced by global communication such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and blogs among others. They provide the organization with a several forms of information sources.

This proposal aims at focusing on the impact of global communication on public relation practice by major brands. Most global brands use blogs, Facebook and twitter to share their information, gain new relationship and improve the existing ones between the organization and the public. The global brands use global communication because it enables the organization to make their messages to reach their audience faster (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2011). They can create and share information immediately. Global communication gives a platform for sharing and engagement. Global communication is cost effective, it enables an organization to increase both brand and visibility awareness.

Background of the Study

Different opinions have emerged basing on the effect of global communication on public relation or rather the way people relate publicly within an organization. Tuten (2008) states that public relations in the current age of digital growth requires an understanding of how organization collect and share information with the aim of influencing them in accordance to their goals and objectives. This requires a criteria that inclines or compacts with the current digital age.

Global communication has a tremendous effect on the way people relate publicly. Global communication entails all the ways that people exchange ideas and information globally within a short period of time. This involves the use internet based platforms that give platforms for information sharing. They include all the social media platforms for example Facebook, Twitter, blogs and websites. According to Yin (2008), blogs of employees share huge information that encourage conversation, marketing of products and also gives room for a two way form of communication.

Global communication especially when based on the marketing of digital products like the products of Samsung has increased among consumers globally. This has resulted in a new form communication that is fact and more efficient than other forms of communication. It is important to assess the overall effect of global communication on public relations with a special focus on Samsung. This is because Samsung has its products being marketed and consumed globally (Eikelmann, Hajj & Peterson, 2009).

Samsung is a South Korean company that is currently rated as the largest producer of electronic devices worldwide. It was founded in March 1938 by Lee Kun-Hee. It primarily deals in a wide range of consumer and industrial electronics. They products include; memory cards, semiconductors and digital media devices.

Marketing of this products require an advanced and efficient form of communication. This includes forms of global communications that ensures that information is shared globally and in a short period of time.

Literature Review

 Introduction

Getting a literature review on the usage and consumption of global communication involves looking at the theories and researches that have been done that concern global communication. In this research theoretical frameworks have been used to give a review on the consumption of global communication (Dury, 2008).  Experts of global communication use several theories to explain the effect of global communication on the organizations and individuals. They include the theory of media richness and the social cognitive theory.

Theoretical Frame Work

Theory of Social Presence

Dubois and Gadde (2012) narrated the use of technology as a way of spreading information to a wide area within a short time. Basing on their research, social media influences the way organization share information, market their product and the way they interact with other people. They claim that this is the best way to boost public relations since the current generation spend most of their time in the internet. This influences the way people interact.

The Media Richness Theory

This theory is a narrative that Martin (2009) described that it takes suggests that the different types of social media existing in the current world differ in the way they spread, share and receive information. It suggest that this difference depends on the primary usage of the social media platform. Martin explained that social media is used as a tool for global communication since it has the ability to give feedback within a short time. He narrated that this is the way organization currently relate or converse with the public as a way of boosting public relations.

Statement of the Problem

Many worldwide organization currently aim at using global communication to perform their daily chores that aim at boosting global communication. This is because they aim at growing their global communication with their customers and workers. This influences the way information is processed and transmitted globally. This will make the organizational tasks and obligations to spread globally and within a short time. An effective form of public relation boosts the production and marketing of organization goals. An existence public relation results embraces the way managers, employees and clients will relate in a positive way.

This research aims at finding out the effect of public relations in Samsung, a global company. Some common complaints from clients are that the employees and the management of Samsung do not communicate effectively or rather do not give a required feedback. In most cases, the clients complain that they do not get feedback in the complaints they give.

Objectives of the Study

General Objective

The objective of this research is to get a complex analysis on the effects of global communication on public relation in Samsung.

Specific Objectives

1. To discover the forms of global communication used by Samsung.
2. To find out how the management, employees and clients of Samsung use global communication.
3. To determine the effectiveness of global communication at Samsung.

Research Questions/Hypotheses

Main research question:

1. What is the impact of global communication in the way professionals of public relation communicate?

Other research questions:

1. What is the mode of communication between public relation practitioners? Whether internal or external.

• What impact does global communication have on the techniques of public relation?

Methodology

Introduction

This is the part that outlines how enquiries will be done. It includes the decisions that the researcher makes concerning the cases of study, methods of data collection and the data analysis process. It entails the processes of planning and execution of the research study.

Research assumptions

The research will be assumed to be qualitative in nature this is because it aims at understanding the effects of global communication on public relation in major global brands (Eisenhardt, Kathleen & Graebner, 2007). This is a social phenomenon that is purely obtained from quantitative data and aims at bringing out the opinions of people. Qualitative research aims at looking at the social world from the point the point of view of people reactions or rather finding out their social behavior in a natural world.

Research Design

This research will base on a case study as a way of making the research more practical. A case study research is associated with an analysis of a specific community, place, setting or even organization and are often preferred since they provide the context for answering particular questions. The participants of the research will be Samsung staff who use global communication to communicate with the public and customers.

Target Population and Sample Size

So as to answer the research questions that have been identified above, the best respondents with primary information have to be identified. This will involve choosing people with either experience or knowledge on the use of global communication. The participants will be selected from a social network that the researcher has knowledge on or is familiar with. 30 (Thirty) participants will be chosen and selected to participate in the process, this will give adequate time. English language is chosen to be used to conduct the research this is to make the interaction between the researcher and the respondent easy and efficient.

Individual interview will be chosen so that it gives adequate freedom with the responses that are obtained from one on one interview. Group interview often kills individual sincerity, this is because in group interview people are swayed and convinced by the ideas of their fellow interviewees (Eisenhardt, Kathleen & Graebner,  2007). It also limits them and makes them not freely express their thoughts.

An approach called dyadic approach to interviewing will be used. This is an approach that enables a researcher to create lose interaction with the respondent so that the respondent expresses the personal experience or rather give a more detailed response.

Sampling and Sampling Procedures

A purposive sampling procedure will be used where the thirty respondents from Samsung using global communication as they interact with the customers. This ensures that that the selected respondents have the knowledge and experience on the use of global communication.

Data Collection

Primary Sources: Qualitative Interviews

Data will be obtained from interviews and reviews of the existing data. This will enable the researcher to get deeper understanding and the complex parts of the research. The guides of interview will be developed so that it aids in the flow of the interview. When doing a qualitative research, interviews are used because they give room for deep research and analysis of experiences, opinions and feelings (Freberg, Graham, McGaughey & Freberg, 2010). The interviews will be in a format of semi structured to give room for opinions of the information and flexibility of the semi structured interview.

Secondary Sources: Content Analysis

To gather information on the effects of global communication on public relations in Samsung secondary information will be used. Reports and publications will be reviewed as they contain documentaries that are vital and detailed. Substantive amount of information from newspaper articles and journals will be collected. Secondary data gives room for comparative analysis in a research (Gillin, 2009). This gives a room for comparison between the raw collected data and the existing information. This however ought to be taken keenly because secondary data might have originally collected for a different purposes other than the current research.

Data Analysis

Analysis of the data will be based on the information from the thirty respondents provided through an open-ended interview questions. The information will be read severally to obtain the main information from the respondents concerning the knowledge and experience that respondents have about the effects of global communication on public relation in Samsung. The important information relating to answering the interviews will be categorized in such a manner that those carrying similar information should is grouped together. Themes that will be used during analysis will be obtained from resultant information form the interview questions.

Potential or Likely Findings

Basing on the fact that global communication is aimed boosting public relations, the way in which Samsung relates with their clients and the way employees relate among themselves will proof to show the effect of global communication on public relations. Customers of clients also share their own information among themselves as they try to find out the effectiveness of the products of Samsung. This boosts the relationship between people. The sites and blogs created by Samsung as they tend to lure customers is the main factor of communication that leads to public relation.

Bibliography

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