Do public relations professionals understand corporate governance issues well enough to advise companies on stakeholder relationship management?

Abstract

The King Reports on Governance for South Africa are internationally respected for proposing integrated reporting in a triple bottom-line business context to improve corporate governance. The most recent report, King III, views stakeholder relationship management as a key tenet of corporate governance. The question that begs answering is whether Public relations professionals (PRPs) understand the principles of corporate governance well-enough to inform and guide organizations on the management of stakeholder relationships to ensure organizational sustainability. The views of senior PRPs at selected top performing companies were elicited on their practice of stakeholder relationship management in line with corporate governance principles. It was found that their knowledge on corporate governance was limited, although the importance thereof was recognized; six role functions are fulfilled in managing stakeholder relationships on a strategic or managerial level; these role functions are aligned with the King III principles on stakeholder relationship. The following three were of particular importance: developing corporate strategy, giving advice to senior management and managing crisis communication. Different terminologies were used to build relations with stakeholders and different approaches were used to profile stakeholders. It is recommended that organizations leverage the proven public relations function on strategic and managerial level in support of their corporate governance efforts. In turn, PRPs are encouraged to ensure a deep knowledge on corporate governance issues when counseling senior management on building stakeholder relationships to ensure organizational sustainability.