Thankyou for visiting this website about my PhD research study.
It’s a six-year project which is exploring one of the most persistent challenges in the field of public relations over the past 120 years: its struggle for recognition as a legitimate management discipline.
Public relations in this context is used to describe a wide range of activities including corporate communications, corporate or public affairs, strategic communication, management communication, stakeholder engagement, and internal and external communication.
While public relations has the potential to contribute strategic value by shaping organisational purpose, building stakeholder trust and supporting long-term business success, it is too often limited to tactical communication and media activities.
The study has its origins in the elevation of the public relations function and demonstrable management value during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is based on an interdisciplinary approach, reviewing decades of literature from both management and public relations to identify points of alignment, divergence and opportunity.
These address:
- Definitions and scope of public relations
- Professional identity and standards
- Critical perspectives and worldviews
- The evolving role of management, from shareholder to stakeholder models
- How excellence frameworks apply to both disciplines
Through a mixed-methods research design, combining literature review, practitioner insights and comparative analysis, the study identifies the barriers preventing public relations from achieving full management recognition. These include as a lack of a unified definition, limited professional accreditation, inconsistent ethical standards and weak measurement of business value.
The purpose of the project is to develop a vision for change:
- Embracing a relationship-centred definition of public relations
- Aligning with ESG-driven stakeholder management philosophies
- Demonstrating tangible contributions to organisational strategy
- Establishing robust professional standards and qualifications
- Strengthening the link between theory and practice
By addressing these conditions, the discipline can move beyond its identity crisis, secure its place alongside other established management functions, and realise its potential as a profession that builds mutual understanding between organisations and society.
This work contributes to both academic discourse and professional practice, offering both a philosophy and a framework for public relations to achieve greater legitimacy, impact and trust in the 21st century.
Public relations and management 