Benchmarking public relations practice in the Namibian public service with the principles of the excellence theory
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Date
2019
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
The minister responsible for the management of government information in Namibia, as well as commentators, have expressed concern about public relations practice in government ministries, arguing that citizens are disadvantaged and the full spectrum of the advantages effective communication confers are lost at the national and transnational level (Kapitako, 2013; Mutambo, 2014; Namibia News Digest, n.d.). This study sets out to compare public relations practice in the Namibian public service with the tenets of the Excellence Theory of public relations which is seen as an example of generic benchmarking that involves identifying critical success factors (Grunig, Grunig, & Dozier, 2006) that should aid public relations practice in the Namibian public service come into its own. This entailed benchmarking public relations practice in the public service with the principles of the Excellence theory as well as key informant Interviews with stakeholders – government officials and public relations practitioners. The findings indicate that Namibian government public relations still needs working on if it is to qualify as excellent practice, hence the recommendation for practitioners to closely align the practice context with the tenets of the Excellence Theory.
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of of Master of Arts (Media Studies)
Keywords
Public service, Excellence theory