Content Analysis of the Extent of International Coverage in Three American Public Relations Publications, 1985-1995

Abstract

Globalization has become the buzzword in the last ten years. Over the last decade, concerns about international competitiveness of the United States in the new global economy have become a constituent part of public discourse on U.S. foreign and domestic policies. More and more American businesses are working internationally and facing international competition (80% of U.S. industry now faces international competition according to Robert Frederic, chairman of the U.S. National Foreign Trade Council) but many economists think that American businesses "have not adapted to the global economy but collided with it." Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars in their book The Seven Cultures of Capitalism claim that the American value set is causing problems for American organizations in the emerging global economy. They say that American organizations must embrace human connectedness that according to them drives global economic activity. Extended to public relations this means that public relations practitioners need to be able to help guide future economic and social growth of the organizations that work in different cultures. Therefore, public relations assistance is becoming more, not less, important in an environment of global economy. The awareness by public relations practitioners of international practices and associated problems as well as knowledge about other cultures of the global economy also are becoming more, not less important as professionals need to integrate their knowledge with international practice.