Abstract
D.Litt. et Phil.
The main objective of this study is to determine the role of the communications
manager in the changing South African business environment and the compilation of a contextual
sensitive generic framework of the required outputs for communications managers in South
African organisations. With this objective in view, a comprehensive theoretical study has been
conducted to determine the role of public relations as a organisational sub-system, based on the
principles of the systems approach. The main inward and outward public relations functions and
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the role of the communications manager as cosmopolitan on the border between the organisation
and the environment has thereafter been discussed. As a result thereof, it became apparent that
an integrated approach to communications is central to the effectiveness of public relations in a
dynamic business environment. The validity and approaches of existing models of public relations
have been evaluated as a basis for the development of an integrated public relations model. The
integrated communication approach to public relations suggests that public relations cannot
function in isolation of the other sub-systems in the organisation and that the public relations
function is directly influenced hereby.
With the integrated communication approach as basis, the influence of change and the socioeconomic
implications thereof for public relations in South Africa have been determined. The
implications of the intended standardisation in terms of the National Qualifications Framework
(NQF), the state of professionalisation of the public relations profession in South Africa and the
requirements for competence in communication, have been determined by means of an in-depth
theoretical inquiry and discussions with enlightened individuals and institutions. As a result, a
generic framework for communications management in the South African business environment
has been compiled with a view to contribute to the determination of the requirements for public
relations in terms of the essential outputs as will be defined by the NQF.
In the final section the proposed generic framework has been empirically tested on the basis of
personal interviews conducted with communications managers of thirty of the Top 100
organisations in South Africa. After the results have been analysed and the implications discussed,
the conclusion was reached that the proposed contextual sensitive generic framework has
succeeded in expressing the essential outputs, as defined in the existing business environment.
The framework was then interpreted in accordance with the levels of work and the implications
for the state of public relations, as well as for research in this area, pointed out.
The study illustrates the importance of the role of communications management in the South
African business environment and presents a valuable contribution by creating an output model
as basis for the suggested standardisation in terms of the NQF.