The Global Public Relations Handbook: Theory, Research, and Practice

The body of public relations research categorized as being in the "international" or "global" arena, feel editors Sriramesh (public relations, School of Business, Massey U., New Zealand) and Vercic (public relations, U. of Ljubljana, Slovenia), has predominantly been confined to a few countries of Asia and Western Europe. In response they have crafted this handbook with the primary aim of integrating knowledge from many other regions of the world and providing the foundations for a holistic understanding of the field. Of the handbook's 44 chapters, 27 provide country-specific coverage of Japan, South Korea, Singapore, China, the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian territories, Israel, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Romania, Hungary, Russia, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, andChile. Each of these chapters describes the current status of the public relations profession in that country in terms of specific public relations practices, the knowledge level and professionalism of practitioners, the impact of professional associations on social responsibility and ethics of professionals, the status of public relations education, challenges being faced by the industry, and the extent to which organizations used strategic public relations management (including measurement and evaluation). They also situate country public relations practices in the context of the socio-cultural environment according to a common framework discussed at the beginning of the volume in chapters on political economy and public relations, the relationship between culture and public relations, the mass media and public relations, and activism and public relations. Similarly structured regional overview chapters are provided for Australasia, Africa, and South America. Finally, eight chapters discuss key dimensions and actors of international public relations: transnational public relations by foreign governments; public relations of transnational corporations; nongovernmental organizations and international public relations; conceptual convergence of public relations, public diplomacy, and strategic communication; corporate communication ethics and sustainable development in Africa; public information in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; and the United Nations Department of Public Information. The volume concludes with a discussion of the link between multiculturalism and public relations education. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, PhD, is Professor of Public Relations at the School of Business, Massey University, in Wellington, New Zealand. He taught previously at Purdue University, the University of Florida, and Nanyang Technological University, and has served as visiting professor at universities in three continents. In 2004, he was awarded the prestigious Pathfinder Award from the Institute for Public Relations (USA) for original scholarly research contributing to the public relations body of knowledge.

Dejan Vercic, PhD, FCIPR is a partner at Pristop agency and Associate Professor of Public Relations and Communication Management at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Among his clients are governments, domestic and international corporations, and associations. He organizes the Lake Bled International Public Relations Research Symposia, held annually in Bled, Slovenia.