The role of public relations in corporate diplomacy: how relationship cultivation increases organizational legitimacy

Marschlich, Sarah; Ingenhoff, Diana

doi:10.1080/1062726x.2021.1981332

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Most organizations engaging in public affairs in Kenya tend to be international corporations with regional headquarters in the country. This has strong links to the literature on organizational and corporate diplomacy (Marschlich and Ingenhoff, 2021). Organizations such as Google, Microsoft and IBM are examples, making Kenya, alongside Nigeria and South Africa, a leader in sub-Saharan Africa.…”

Section: Public Affairs and The Public Interestmentioning

confidence: 73%

Organization–government relationships in sub-Saharan Africa: the emerging public affairs industry in Kenya

Kiambi

Arceneaux

Golan

2023

JCOM

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PurposeThis paper offers grounded insights on organization–government relationships, or the practice of public affairs, in Kenya.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth interviews were conducted with senior Kenyan practitioners. Interviewees represent national corporations, multinational corporations with offices in Kenya, consulting agencies, parastatal intergovernmental organizations, national government and county governments.FindingsResults suggest Kenyan public affairs is centered on relationship management, research and intelligence gathering, risk management and strategic communication. Second, while lobbying is a tactic, it is not synonymous with the broader scope of public affairs strategy. Third, the absence of educational training, a professional body to oversee the profession and the perception of public affairs as “bribery” are threats to the profession's growth.Research limitations/implicationsFindings should not be interpreted to represent “Africa's public affairs industry,” rather a snapshot of the profession contextualized in Kenya.Practical implicationsKenya needs a professional body to manage the public affairs profession at a national level. It also needs an established curriculum in its higher education environment. Lastly, as one of the fastest growing markets in the world, understanding the public policy environment will benefit multinational organizations looking to expand and operate in Kenya.Originality/valueThis study contributes diverse and inclusive insights on the practice of public affairs in a leading economic and political actor in sub-Saharan Africa. It also expands organization–public relationship theory to articulate engagement with governmental stakeholders.

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Section: Public Affairs and The Public Interestmentioning

confidence: 73%

Organization–government relationships in sub-Saharan Africa: the emerging public affairs industry in Kenya

Kiambi

Arceneaux

Golan

2023

JCOM

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“…Fitzpatrick et al (2020), in their recent investigation into the corporate diplomacy practices of US.-based MNCs, concluded that foreign corporations intentionally use corporate diplomacy to build relationships with critical actors in host countries, including other corporations and host governments. Others have explored corporate perspectives on corporate diplomacy practices and found that MNCs use corporate diplomacy as a communication strategy to develop various intangible assets, including legitimacy (Marschlich and Ingenhoff, 2021). The study revealed that news media actors rank among the most important institutional actors in a host country that MNCs seek to communicate and engage with (Marschlich and Ingenhoff, 2021).…”

Section: Ccijmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Others have explored corporate perspectives on corporate diplomacy practices and found that MNCs use corporate diplomacy as a communication strategy to develop various intangible assets, including legitimacy (Marschlich and Ingenhoff, 2021). The study revealed that news media actors rank among the most important institutional actors in a host country that MNCs seek to communicate and engage with (Marschlich and Ingenhoff, 2021). However, which role media play in influencing MNCs' legitimacy has not yet been examined, which prompted us to develop two research questions for our study: RQ1.…”

Section: Ccij 287mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, our findings also imply that regulative media legitimacy hardly plays any role in the news about corporate diplomacy. Although the UAE government exercises significant power over local mass media (Kirat, 2005) and although corporate activities have been found to align with the government's agenda (Duthler et al, 2015;Marschlich and Ingenhoff, 2021), the news articles that we analysed hardly addressed corporate diplomacy initiatives with governmental expectations. Nevertheless, the institutional linkage between the MNCs and the government (e.g.…”

Section: Constructing Media Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of local news in constructing media legitimacy: how news media frames the sociopolitical efforts of multinational corporations in host countries

Marschlich

Ingenhoff

2022

CCIJ

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PurposeFor corporate communications, it is crucial to know how news media outlets report and frame the sociopolitical activities of multinational corporations (MNCs), including their corporate diplomacy, that affect perceptions of their legitimacy. Therefore, this study aims to identify how local news media frame corporate diplomacy in a host country and, in turn, benefit the media legitimacy of MNCs.Design/methodology/approachTo identify media frames in the host country, a quantitative content analysis involving factor and cluster analyses of 385 articles published in newspapers in the United Arab Emirates from 2014 to 2019 addressing the corporate diplomacy of large European MNCs operating in the country was conducted.FindingsThis study identified three media frames, two of which establish moral and pragmatic media legitimacy. Results suggest that media legitimacy grows when news media emphasise institutional relationships between MNCs and local, established organisations and corporate diplomacy's benefits for society.Practical implicationsFindings provide insights into how corporate communications can contribute to legitimacy building by emphasising corporations' relationships with institutional actors in host countries and the benefits of corporate activities for local communities.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study was the first in corporate communications to empirically investigate news media's role in corporate diplomacy and how media frames contribute to the media legitimacy of MNCs at the moral, pragmatic, regulative and cognitive levels.

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“…Against this background, new forms of corporate social engagement have emerged, including CSA (Dodd and Supa, 2014, 2015), corporate and chief executive officer (CEO) activism (Chatterji and Toffel, 2019), corporate diplomacy (Marschlich and Ingenhoff, 2021) and political CSR (Ingenhoff and Marschlich, 2019). The distinction between the terms is not always precise, and they are sometimes used synonymously.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corporate social advocacy and gender equality: how call-to-action messages influence corporate reputation

Marschlich,

Bernet

2024

CCIJ

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PurposeCorporations are confronted with growing demands to take a stand on socio-political issues, i.e. corporate social advocacy (CSA), which affects their reputation in the public. Companies use different CSA message strategies, including calling the public to support and act on the issue they advocate. Using reactance theory, the authors investigate the impact of CSA messages with a call to action on corporate reputation in the case of a company's gender equality initiative.Design/methodology/approachA one-factorial (CSA message with or without a call to action) between-subjects experiment was conducted by surveying 172 individuals living in Switzerland. The CSA messages were created in the context of gender equality.FindingsThe authors' study indicates that CSA messages with a call to action compared to those without overall harmed corporate reputation due to individuals' reactance, which is higher for CSA messages with a call to action, negatively affecting corporate reputation. The impact of the CSA message strategy with a call to action on corporate reputation remains significant after controlling for issue alignment and political leaning.Originality/valueCommunicating about socio-political issues, especially taking a stand, is a significant challenge for corporations in an increasingly polarized society and has often led to backlash, boycotts and damage to corporate reputation. This study shows that the possible adverse effects of advocating for socio-political issues can be related to reactance. It emphasizes that companies advocating for contested issues must be more cautious about the message strategy than the issue itself.

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The role of public relations in corporate diplomacy: how relationship cultivation increases organizational legitimacy

Cited by 8 publications

References 60 publications

Organization–government relationships in sub-Saharan Africa: the emerging public affairs industry in Kenya

Organization–government relationships in sub-Saharan Africa: the emerging public affairs industry in Kenya

The role of local news in constructing media legitimacy: how news media frames the sociopolitical efforts of multinational corporations in host countries

Corporate social advocacy and gender equality: how call-to-action messages influence corporate reputation

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