Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Organizational roles are abstract maps summarizing the most salient features of the daily activities of organizational members. Katz & Kahn (1978) considered roles central to the structure of organizations; organizations can be regarded as open systems of interrelated roles. Roles are defined as “recurring actions of an individual, appropriately interrelated with the repetitive activities of others so as to yield a predictable outcome” ( Katz & Kahn 1978 , 189). In →  Public Relations , practitioners perform a wide range of activities. Despite such diverse activities, researchers have discovered systematic patterns in the roles that practitioners play. Enactment of various roles has important consequences for practitioners and the practice of public relations. Indeed, practitioner roles are among the most studied areas in public relations research. Glen Broom began studying roles of practitioners in the 1970s ( Broom 1982 ). Drawing on the relevant literature, Broom conceptualized four practitioner roles that he later tested using experimental and survey designs. The “expert prescriber” was conceptualized as the organization's acknowledged expert on public relations. Expert prescribers make recommendations to those who run the organization with the expectation that top managers in organizations will comply. The “communication facilitator” was conceptualized as a “go-between.” ... log in or subscribe to read full text