A Quantitative Assessment of Public Relations Practitioners’ Perceptions of Their Relationship with the Organization They Represent

This study attempts to identify how public relations practitioner roles and organizational decision-making style impact the relationship that is shared between the practitioner and the organization they represent. Based on Internet survey research methods, research findings indicated that organizational decision-making style was a minimal factor in influencing the relationship shared between the practitioner and the organization they represent. Practitioner role did, however, have a significant influence on the levels of trust, commitment, satisfaction and control mutuality between the practitioner and the organization they represent. Low response rates prevents confident generalization of the results of this study to the entire Public Relations Society of America population. Findings support the relational theory of pubic relations. Specifically, trust, commitment, satisfaction and control mutuality influence the quality of the relationship between the public relations practitioner and the organization he or she works for. Public relations practitioner roles, manager or technician, were also found to have a significant influence on the relationship. The rational model for organizational decision-making style also influenced relationship quality