HISTORY OF PUBLIC RELATION:Public Relations as a term was first formally used by Thomas Jefferson in the year 1807 ,while

drafting his seventh address to the congress delegates when he scratched out the words State Of Thought and wrote Public Relations instead. Informally Sir Walter Raleigh used it even earlier during the Land Rehabiliation Movement , while persuading people from different parts of America to settle in the rural parts of Virginia. This was the first organized effort to win and mobilize public opinion. In India , the term of course gained importance later through the Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) in 1958.

Definitions of PR by some renowned people: Frank Jefkins: Public Relations means what it says- relations with the public. It is practically a self-defining term. It aims to create and maintain confidence. It is a system of communication to create goodwill. It produces that intangible quality or assetgoodwill, and earns credit for achievements. K.R.Balan: The discipline which brings out the rewards in generating mutual understanding and the risks involved in misunderstanding between individuals, groups, governments and nations in this restless world the shape and content of which tend to be rapidly changing. Editor of PR news: PR is the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies & procedures, of an orgnisation or an individual with pubic interests & plans & executes a program or action to earn public understanding and acceptance.
Interpretation of the above definition-

1. It measures, evaluates & interprets the attitude of various related public. 2. It assists management in defining objectives for increasing public understanding & acceptance of orgnisations products, plans, policies & personnel

3. It equates these objectives with the interests, needs & goals of various related public.

Elements of Public Relations: 1. Human relations: It is getting along well with the word public both internally or externally. No person can work independently & everyone who works in an organization directly or indirectly depends on one another. 2. Empathy: Empathy means feeling with the other person to analyse others point of view & is regarded as primary pre-requisite for a satisfying experience in a relationship where a certain degree of depth of understanding is expected. 3. Persuasion: There are 2 forms of interaction between individuals or groups a) Force or compulsion b) persuasion. If one party compels another to do something instead of persuing him this is called Depotism. It is against the principle of proper conduct sanctioned by society. A sense of human interest on the person who is being persuaded will understand & appreciate the cause & effect of this action. 4. Dialogue: It is a conversation with purpose. It is not a bargain basement transaction but it is a low form of negotiation. Dialogue is a reasonable exchange of ideas bringing into view a new form of knowledge, the use of dialogue is for influencing behaviour like selling goods or inspiring innovative ideas.

Functions Of Public Relations

The functions that are to be performed by a public relations department may differ from organisation to organisation depending upon the nature and activities of a particular organisation. However, certain standard functions have emerged as common in most balanced departments. They are discussed below: 1. Policy: Public relations policy is required for every organisation. A policy is a statement of guidelines to be followed in the company. The department has to develop and recommend corporate public relations policies. It has to contribute the public relations view point which helps in the formulation of decision. Its function is not merely to provide the policy mainly to the top management but also to other sections and divisions. 2. Publicity : Corporate publicity is necessary to interact with the public. The department has to undertake the development and issuance of announcements of corporate activities to external communications media. It has to handle inquiries from the press. It is part of the functions of the department to develop and place promotional publicity about the company as a whole or any of its units. 3. Product Publicity : Corporate publicity is different from the

product publicity. In this, focus is on the products and how to popularise the product. This includes both new products as well as existing ones. It includes the announcement of new products through the editorial channels of the communications media. The department has to develop and execute the promotional product publicity campaigns. 4. Relations with Government : Relations with government cannot be overlooked. In all spheres of activities the government interferes, regulates, controls and supervises. It is necessary to maintain liaison with appropriate governmental departments. This liaison covers both the local level, state level and national level. Besides, governmental relations includes: (i) advise action as needed. (ii) report trends in government affecting the company. (iii) help in preparing and directing corporate appearances before investigating bodies of legislative hearings. (iv) direct programmes designed to promote the company's point of view in legislative or regulatory matters. 5. Community Relations: Community contacts should be planned. It is the performance and/or coordination of corporate 'good neighbour' activities, including compliance with environmental protection standards, fostering equal employment oppurtunity, cooperating in urban improvement programmes, and

developing community understanding of a company's problems and needs. 6. Shareholders Relations ; Relations with the corporate stockholders is more important to attract public money. This takes the form of communication between the company and the shareholders in particular. Also the investment community in general. It is necessary for the development and acceptance of the company among investors by broadening the exposure of the company's policies and financial results in the investment community. This function includes preparation of annual reports, quarterly reports, dividend cheque inserts etc. It has to plan and stage the annual meetings of stockholders and appearances before meetings of security analysts. 7. Promotion Programmes : Public relations promotion programmes should be formulated and implemented. This may broadly cover institutional promotion programmes designed to build corporate acceptance of key policies, institutional advertising, public relations literature and special events. 8. Donations: A corporate donation policy should be developed for company contributions- Various aspects involved in this function are processing requests for donations administering company's foundation, and the conduct of employees' solicitations for approved drives. 9. Employee Publications: The public relations department has to prepare and publish employee magazines, newspapers, bulletins, management communications etc.

10. Guest Relations : The department must undertake guest reception activities. 11. Coordinating Activities. 12. Conveying and Interpretation. 13. Advisory Functions. 14. Instructing by doing. 15. Public Relations Education Programme.