Activism: How it limits the effectiveness of organizations

Grunig, L. A. (1992). Activism: How it limits the effectiveness of organizations and how excellent public relations department respond. Excellence in public relations and communication management (pp. 503-531).Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Summary

This article deals with activist groups and their impact on organizations. If organizations are not looking ahead, and resting on their past success, things they have not addressed to prepare for the future can come back to haunt them in the form of activists. The strongest argument in this paper is the evidence for the need to engage in two-way symmetrical communication with activists. Better to engage over the common good as opposed to creating more of an enemy.

There are several approaches this article puts forth to help organizations engage with their publics. Use two-way communications to learn the consequences of their actions with all their relevant publics. Use two-way communications to tell their publics about any negative consequences they are experiencing. Continuous communication with activists is necessary to keep up with their changing positions on issues. Acknowledge the legitimacy of all constituent groups regardless of their size. Employ people with relevant skills to conduct two-way symmetrical communications programs. Research is important for two-way symmetrical communications.

Experience

I don’t have much professional or personal experience dealing with activist groups, so the concepts presented in this paper are a bit abstract. What I do think is relevant is the idea of engaging with people or organizations that have concerns is a smart way to diffuse a potentially inflammatory situation. I’d support the use of two-way communications to help concerned parties feel heard and potentially have mutual control over the understanding of an issue.

KEYWORDS: Activists, two-way symmetrical, publics, public relations