Two or the most general functions of Public Relations are Societal and Organizational. The societal function of Public Relations “…society within the scope of Public Relations defines those who are outside an organization” (Boynton, 2002), more succinctly the general public. While Organizational general function of Public Relations are directed toward the internal facets of an organization. The combination of the two covers the audience that Public Relations seek to communicate with for the benefit of the company and its image. When a Public Relations campaign is started it must properly communicate with both the society and the organization to be effective and meet its defined goals.
Archimedes, a small original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for spinal implants, made a revolutionary discovery during the normal course of product development which led to a decision by the senior staff to become a direct supplier of spinal implants. The discovery allowed spine implants to produce an appreciable amount of bone in-growth into the implant and greatly improve the outcome for spinal surgery patients. This decision has implications not initially seen by the senior management and to mitigate the problem, both internally and externally the Public Relations team must formulate a plan to communicate this new direction.
The Public Relations problem arises, both internally and externally, from the decision to migrate the company’s direction from OEM manufacturing to supplier of implants. This process will greatly reduce the number of manufacturing contracts from other spinal implant companies, since they will now be direct competitors. The reduction in contracts will reduce the need for the larger workforce and result in a large number of displaced workers. With the larg ...