Perceptions of corporate communication as public relations

Reports on a mailed questionnaire survey of corporate managers and executives from fields other than communication and public relations (accounting, administration, engineering, legal, operations, marketing, etc.) in four major corporations. Analysis included frequency and mean tests plus factor analysis. Results suggest these managers and executives consider the public relations function to be significantly important to their organization. However, most of those surveyed do not know what the public relations function in their organization is or does. Respondents (n = 423) ranked external communication activities to be considerably more important than internal communication. Technical public relations skills were also considered more necessary than public relations management abilities. Few thought corporate communication or public relations people needed to be involved in strategic planning or organizational decision making.