Toward a Concept and Theory of Organization-Public Relationships

Abstract This article explores the concept of relationships in the theory and practice of public relations. Even though the public relations function builds and maintains organizations' relationships with publics, we found few definitions of such relationships in public relations literature. We also found the same paucity of useful definitions in the literature of other fields in which the concept of relationships is central. We concluded that the absence of a fully explicated definition precludes the development of valid operational measures of organization-public relationships and limits theory building in public relations. Without such definition, both scholars and practitioners will continue to use indirect measures to draw inferences about relationships without measuring the relationships themselves. We suggest a concept of relationships with measurable properties distinct from their antecedents and consequences and independent of the parties intherelationships. We also posit a theoretical model for constmcting theory about public-organization relationships.