Intercultural Public Relations: Theories for Managing Relationships and Conflicts with Strategic Publics - Paperback

by Lan Ni (Author), Qi Wang (Author), Bey-Ling Sha (Author)

Intercultural Public Relations: Theories for Managing Relationships and Conflicts with Strategic Publics develops a coherent framework to unify the theories of public relations and intercultural communication, and, within the framework, examines empirical studies of intercultural interactions.

This book follows an intercultural approach, which considers how individuals and entities with dissimilar cultural identities interact and negotiate to solve problems and reach mutually satisfying outcomes. This work provides a theory-driven, empirically supported framework that will inform and guide the research and practices of intercultural public relations. Furthermore, it provides numerous levels of analysis and incorporates the use and challenges of social media.

The book examines theories and issues in three integrated processes:

• Identification of publics
• Relationship management
• Conflict resolution

These areas represent the most critical functions that public relations contributes to organizational effectiveness: scanning the environment, identifying strategic publics, and building long-term, quality relationships with these publics to reduce costs, gain support, and empower the publics themselves. In doing so, the book adopts simultaneously public-centered and organization-centered perspectives. This unique work will serve as an essential reference for students, practitioners, and scholars in today's global public relations environment.

Author Biography

Lan Ni, Ph.D., is Associate Professor at the University of Houston. Focusing on identification of publics, relationship management, and conflict management, she examines how public relations in intercultural settings can both benefit organizations and empower publics, especially immigrants and minority groups. Supported by multiple funding agencies, her research has been published in major journals and consistently shapes her teaching.

Qi Wang, Ph.D., is Associate Professor at Villanova University. She is interested in theorizing and observing interpersonal and intercultural communication in various contexts, with the goal of promoting individual, relational, and organizational wellbeing. Her research has won multiple awards and has appeared in top tier journals in the communication field.

Bey-Ling Sha, Ph.D., APR, is Professor at San Diego State University. She has been thinking about cultural identity since kindergarten and theorizing about intercultural public relations since her M.A. thesis at the University of Maryland. She is an award-winning public relations scholar, teacher, and practitioner.